ऐपण (Aipan)
Aipan is a ritual floor and wall painting tradition of the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, executed by women using red clay (geru) ground and white rice paste (bisvar) applied by finger to create geometric and figurative designs at thresholds, courtyards, and worship spaces. Each design (called a 'chauki' when a specific deity platform design) is prescribed for specific festivals and life events — Navratri, Diwali, Janmashtami, marriage, birth, thread ceremony — and each carries a cosmological meaning within the Kumaoni ritual system. The entire body of design knowledge — which chauki for which occasion, what each motif means, how the composition is structured — is held by women and transmitted orally and visually from mother to daughter. Aipan is not made to last — it is renewed for each occasion and allowed to fade. GI Tag granted 2021.
Risk level: Endangered · Not inscribed; GI Tag 2021
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