Among the remains of one of the most ancient civilizations, at the Indus Valley site at

Dholavira, Gujarat, were pieces of earthen ware, surviving in their original form for five
thousand years.
As per Hindu belief the human body is composed of five natural elements, one of them
being earth, and we humans always like to be close to it. Children have loved playing
with wet clay, whether in the present day or a few thousand years ago. Terracotta
toys found in Harappan excavations show that the civilization was expert in mud
related crafts, as the raw material was easily available all around.

Mud relief work is one forte of village dwellers, which they use to decorate their
houses. In the great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, many hamlets have Mud relief walls with
the motifs that usually represent their feelings and beliefs.
The mud is prepared with clay easily found in the Great Rann of Kutch. It is pounded
and sifted through a sieve to get a smooth powder and other ingredients are added
for anti cracking properties. These are thin fibers obtained from sieving donkey dung,
which are then mixed with the mud and kneaded with water as per the requirement of
the desired patterns. It is rolled on a plain surface by the palms, to get a string like
form and then this string is fixed with pressure on water-wetted wall or wooden plaques
to get the desired forms.The beauty of these artistic hands lies in the fact that they
can make any motifs without any visual markings or drawings to facilitate mud relief
work.

Mud relief work is done by different communities in Kachchh, and they have their own
distinct styles.
Kachchhi Rabari Mud Relief Work: Kachchhi Rabari is the biggest sub tribe of Rabari
community and their work is most excellent in its art form. Today it is on the verge of
extinction as the younger generation is not interested in doing this art work. Rabari
work is characterized by thick lines and less care is taken to prepare the cow dung
and clay mixture. Hence it turns out to be very rough and rustic in look. Walls of house
and items like storage chest, quilt-stand and grain-box are embellished with this
art. Elephant, camel, peacock, parrot, scorpion, woman with water pots on her head,
women churning butter milk, trees, flowering vines, hills, and temples are common
motifs to be used with lots of mirrors in round, square, triangle shapes. The Rabaris
believe that mirrors repel the negative effects of the evil eye and so they use them in
mud relief work and embroidery.
Harijan Mud Relief Work: Marvada Harijan of Banni area in the Great Rann of Kutch
had played a vital role to popularize this art and had made efforts to establish this art
in metro cities, as part of interior decoration on walls of drawing rooms and five stars
Hotels. This art has been used to decorate stages for musical programmes and also
to garnish song-settings in Hindi films. Hamlets of Banni area are full of this art, in
every house one can see walls that are embellished with mud-relief work. Most of the
designs and motifs are derived from their own embroidery and stitching designs,
geometrical forms, pheasants; a woman with water pots is most auspicious sign for
this community.
Mutwa Mud-Relief-Work: Being Islamic by religion Mutwa communitys mud-work has
the essence of their recurring motifs. Women of this community are well known for
their tiny embroidery stitches. But mud-relief-work is done by men only. Mr. Mehmood
Mutwa is the master craftsman of this art and his own house is a museum of this art.
Mutwa mud-relief-work is done with thin lines and geometrical Islamic forms, replica of
their own ornaments and non-living forms. The motifs are carefully chosen in their
work as Islam does not permit them drawing of living beings as motifs.