A prevailing story in the Gond tribes is one regarding Lord Shiva. According to the myth, Lord Shiva once hosted a feast and invited all the Gods. A Gond God was among the attendees. The Goddesses were sitting together; when the Gond God went to fetch his wife, he couldn’t recognize her. Mistaking Parvati for his wife, he put his arm around her, startling and shocking her. Parvati was furious and hence, commanded that the tribal women wear specific tattoo marks to distinguish themselves from others. This myth is among several others that are believed by tribal people and have since become part of their customs. The art of tattooing is extensively prevalent amongst the Baigas. In many sects of the Gond Tribe, the tattoos cover women’s body almost completely.

The artists and people involved with Godna(Tattoo) have been facing a hard decline of their traditional tattoo art and have been struggling to earn and make a livelihood out of it. They live in conditions of poverty and are often overlooked as skilled artisans. This is a stark contrast to the fact that youngsters and modern day art lovers crave for body art and spend thousands of rupees on conventional tattoos.

A temporary tattoo kit that replicates all the designs of the Godna (Tattoo). It will have 100s of designs included in it as well as information about what the meaning behind each of them is. The temporary tattoos will be made from natural and organic materials that are used by the original Godna artists and the raw materials for the product will be procured from the Godna artists themselves and thus financially helping them by sharing 40% of the profits for their welfare and the education of their children.