ges singing and showing the tattooed parts of the body to the people. They did as they were commanded and since then godna marks are considered to be a wealth of people that they can take with them even after death.

A myth related to godana is that when a spirit of the dead person appears before the God, it has to solve godana riddle; but if it is fails to solve, the spirit is sent back to the earth for rebirth and could not get salvation.

Sometimes the tattoo marks signify the specific tribal community of the bearer and it is a symbol of the clan and the identification of the person. Tattoo marks are connected with the magical ideas. A black dot on the forehead of chin protects women folk from the evil eyes. The absence of tattoo marks among the women of some tribes considered to be inauspicious. There is a belief among folks that the figures drawn on the body are the evidence of good deeds which go with a person to his post mortem existence.

Most of the time the process of tattooing is mostly done by women artist known as Godanwali, she roams around the village and makes a call “come and get a beautiful Godna on your body”. The people who want to get their body engraved calls the artist and choose a design from her design collection. Mostly the designs are headgear of Lord Rama( Baashing in Marathi), sun and moon(Surya aani Chandra in Marathi), flowers(Phul in Marathi), lotus(Kamal in Marathi), shivalinga, Tulsi-vrindavan, chariot of Lord Rama(Ramacha rath in Marathi),milkmaids(Gaulani in Marathi), Lord Krishna and Balarama, names of family members, snake(Naag in Marathi), dots(Thipke in Marathi)..etc. Each design carries some meaning and significance. Name of family members signifies love and affection. Dots signify protection from evil eyes, Sun signifies control over nature and moon signifies believe in nature. Flower signifies beauty and lotus is the symbol of Goddess Lakshmi. Tulsivrindavan signifies fertility and snake signifies sexual desire and longevity. Headgear (mukut) signifies the ambition of life and Lord Krishna and Balaram signifies relation bond.  

The traditional process of making gondan is, the tattoo artist or gondanwali first applies mustard oil on the part of body where gondana has to be made, prepares ink by mixing soot with vidali (Ipomoea Digitala) oil then symbols are etched out on the skin by pricking with the help of sharp wooden or metal needle or thorn of Babool tree (Arabica Nilotika) like acupuncture. When blood comes out godanwali spreads ink on the mark. Babool tree is working as an astringent, stimulates the healing and controls the scar formation. It is a painful process so Godanwali and other ladies sing a song to divert the attention. After tattooing Godanhari applies turmeric powder on the motif and gives instruction; not to rub it and sprinkle turmeric powder twice for a week. After this process symbol becomes inseparable part of the body. As an incentive godanwali receives clothes, jaggery, grains and few rupees.