Pithora horses
A Rathwa Pithora wall for Bhai Bij: Ganesh painted at its head, the sun spinning into its corner, and a brother riding his dotted horse in to his sister’s home.
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Pithora is the ritual wall painting of the Rathwa, Bhil and Nayak Adivasi communities around Chhota Udepur in eastern Gujarat. A family vows a Pithora to Baba Pithora when it asks for a blessing, and when the wish is granted a lakhara, the painter-priest, paints the front wall of the main room of the house. The wall is first plastered with mud and whitewashed, then filled with rows of brightly coloured horses, each carrying a rider, together with Ganesh, the sun and the moon, cattle, farmers and scenes of village life. The horses are the heart of a Pithora: tall, stiff and covered in dots and patterns, painted in strong flat colours.
In this film the Pithora wall becomes a Bhai Bij invitation: Ganesh is painted at its head, the sun spins into its corner, your family photo sits inside a painted Pithora border, and a brother rides his dotted horse in to his sister's home under the date and the place, while the painted procession walks along the bottom of the wall. The artwork is drawn in the Pithora style for this film; it is not painted by a lakhara of Chhota Udepur.
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