Sanjay Manubhai

Far from gilded thrones of temples that excluded the marginalized, a young Sanjay Manubhai Chitara started building portable Devi shrines in the form of textiles under the tutelage of his father Manubhai Chitara. They come from Vaghari tribes who were historically prohibited by upper caste communities from entering Goddess Temples. Born in 1978, Sanjay Chitara is part of one of the last surviving families that created the Mata ni Pachedi cloth paintings. They are also called Mata no Chandarvo. They trace their association with the art of painting ritual cloth back three centuries. At present, Sanjay Chitara has moved away from the traditional palette of maroon and black made from oxidized iron and palm sugar and experiments with turmeric, henna, and indigo to create a more varied color scheme while still using the age-old methods of extracting color from natural materials. His works are thus portable shrines that adorn houses of private collectors and organizations.