Fifteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

The Chhota Udepur, once a princely state, lies between the boarder of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. It lies in the heart of tribal area which is rich in its indigenous history and culture. The Chhota Udepur has 699 Lakh Rathwas tribes living across 820 villages. The community has being slowing moving out of their habitat and moving to the cities to find jobs. The community had a tradition of paintings called the Pithora which is slowly dying due to the change of their houses from Kachha houses to the present day concrete. The Rathwas are on their way of losing their traditions since more and more people of the tribe are finding it difficult to maintain the strict rules of keeping a Pithora in their houses.The paper looks into this tradition as the intangible cultural heritage of the Rathwa community and possible methods of safeguiding their tradition and folklores, which are part of the representation of sacred paintings.