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Perpetuating the Phad
From performative scroll painting to interactive 3D Game
Pabuji: A Hero-Deity of the Desert
Pabuji, a 14th-century of the Rathore Rajput community, is venerated as a historical warrior but also as a lok-devta (folk deity) worshipped by pastoral communities across western Rajasthan.
Born in the village of Kolu near Jodhpur, Pabuji is believed to have lived a short but miraculous life filled with divine interventions, heroic battles, and an unwavering commitment to justice, dharma, and protection of the weak. He is often described as "the protector of camels and honour," particularly resonant with the Raika and Rabari pastoralist communities who consider him their kuldevta (clan god).
Pabuji’s mythos is a lived oral memory, passed through generations by itinerant performers. His story traverses themes of betrayal, sacrifice, sibling loyalty, divine birth, and eternal vigil. The epic culminates in Pabuji’s disappearance into the heavens during a climactic battle, marking his transformation from mortal hero to eternal deity.
The Phad: A Painted Portable Cosmos
The Phad is a large, horizontal scroll painting made on starched cotton cloth, traditionally ranging from 15 to 30 feet in length. It is the visual anchor of the performance—a mobile temple and storytelling surface that is both illustrative and sacred. The term phad itself connotes something that is "unfolded," suggesting both a literal and metaphorical unveiling of a world of deities, demons, animals, landscapes, and miracles.
Each Phad is composed as a spatial narrative, where the story of Pabuji is painted not sequentially as in a comic strip, but relationally, with scenes unfolding in symbolic order rather than linear time. Key episodes—Pabuji’s divine birth, his marriage, the reunion with the divine mare Kesar Kalami, the rescue of cows, the battle with Mirza Khan, and his final departure—are depicted through iconographic vignettes. Characters are identified by costume, posture, and facial expression. Pabuji is typically shown astride a black mare, larger than other figures, establishing his divine status.
Importantly, the Phad is not complete until it is sung—it is a performative object. The scroll is activated by the Bhopa, who points to figures on the scroll using a lamp, making the audience’s gaze travel through visual cues as the story unfolds in oral form. This interaction between image and narration situates the Phad as a ritual map, a memory device, and a performative script.
The Bhopas: Mediators for Pabuji
The Bhopa (man) and Bhopi (woman) are multifaceted figures—singers, instrumentalists, ritual specialists, oral historians, and community mediators. Drawn from hereditary lineages within the Nayak community, they hold deep spiritual and cultural authority in the regions where Pabuji ki Phad is performed. The Bhopa serves as singer, dancer, and ravanhatta player, while the Bhopi anchors the performance, guiding its rhythm and grounding its ritual energy. Together, they form a sacred male–female duet.
Bhopas are trained orally from childhood, memorising hundreds of verses from the Pabuji ki Vachanika along with musical modes, intonations, and pacing. The ravanhatta, with its haunting sound, becomes the thread weaving together emotion, transition, and climax.
The performance is both ritual and social engagement. Invited by a patron—often for healing, a vow, or spiritual protection—the Bhopa and Bhopi arrive with the Phad, a sacred scroll ceremonially unfurled after sunset. Lamps are lit, prayers offered, and storytelling begins—often spanning seven nights.
The Bhopa’s narration is improvised and alive, drawing from memory, local humour, and reflection. Yet it is the Bhopi who keeps the night steady—through song, intuition, and ritual presence—serving not only as co-performer but as the emotional and spiritual compass of the Phad tradition.
Roop Ro Rajasthan - the Game
Roop ro Rajasthan is a story-driven VR narrative game set in the cultural heartland of Rajasthan. Inspired by the oral epic of Pābūjī, the game follows Roop, a quiet yet determined teenager, on a quest to rediscover his ancestry. Players engage in exploration, interact with villagers and Bhopas, and uncover scattered cultural artifacts. Through puzzle-based storytelling and immersive environments, the game weaves folklore and tradition into a compelling interactive journey.
Ethnographic Methods for Game
In this project, we critically engage with theintersection of tradition and technology. Wetranslate the performative tradition into an interactivegame, preserving its narrative depth and multisensoryengagement while rendering it accessible to globalaudiences.The game keys into the non-linear structure of the Phadinto a dynamic, navigable environment, offering users animmersive experience that blends storytelling witheducation and cultural preservation as an alternative formof research expression, demonstrating how technologycan serve as a conduit for sustaining and revitalizingintangible heritage.
