Ajay Chitara

Ajay Dilip Chitara is a sixth-generation Mata ni Pachedi artist. Like his brother Akshay Chitara, Ajay was introduced to this art form when he was 7. Being a part of the 700-year-old transgenerational tradition of painting the Mother Goddess, Ajay’s family is one of the remaining 10 families who are still practicing this art.

With the pandemic bringing down the sales of Ajay’s family, he experimented with painting a Mata ni Pachedi painting on a Covid-19 mask and shared it on social media. This became a huge success and they received around 520 orders in a few days and sold over 2,500 masks.

The contribution of Ajay Chitara’s father Dilip Vaghi Bhai Chitara, to the tradition of Mata ni Pachedi painting, is indeed a striking one. After Dilip Chitara won a state award in 1971, this art form started getting widely recognized.

Ajay wishes to keep this tradition ongoing and hopes to expand it to the extent that his future generation continues their legacy.