Immortal love story of Jitku-Mitki worshiped by Ghadwa community

The love story of Jhitku-Mitki, is still remembered by the villagers in their fables and songs. The tribal community of Bastar, worships ‘Jhitku-Matki’ as the deity of wealth. ‘Jhitku-Matki’ is also associated with a famous folk lore among villagers. ‘Jhitku-Mitki’ are made by the Ghadwa community. Statues made by the Ghadwa art, are formed mainly by Lost Wax techniques. This technique of forming statue is of two types, which includes Solid Casting technique and Hollow Casting technique. In the solid casting technique, the structure is formed by the mixture of termite clay and rice husk. Firstly, soft dough is made of the mixture by adding water in a fixed amount.

The dough, when structured as a model of statue, is left for drying in the sun, after which it is rounded by the wax threads. A porous filter is compressed upon the wax obtained from bee hive, so as to get the fine wax threads, which are also known as ‘Pichki Pharni’ in Bastar. These wax threads are wrapped around the statue, and then smoothened by a wooden plank. Afterwards, the statue is ornamented with the help of wax threads, forwarded its layering from the paste of black soil.             

This soil layered statue is then left for drying under the sun. The statue gets its green colour, when it is rubbed by the bean leaves. The statue is again kept for drying under the sun, after which it is layered two times with black soil and again dried under the sun. The model is heated in order to remove the wrapped wax situated inside the cast. After the removal of wax, liquefied metal is then filled inside the sculptor, which is kept idle for cooling. In the process of hollow casting, a separate pot filled with brass cap is then joined to the channel of brass scrap.

This model is then fixed permanently with clay. It is then kept under the sun to make it dry. After the casting and firing, it is taken out of the furnace and performed upside down to ensure the proper expansion of the metal. The model is then kept for cooling, after which it is broken down and cleaned to give a finishing look.