WARLI ART FORM

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01 Jan WARLI ART FORM

Posted at 01 Jan 2024 in Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs for UPSC by
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UPSC MAINS SYLLABUS GS1 PAPER : Indian Culture – Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times

WHY IN NEWS? 

India’s art represents its rich cultural diversity, which includes over 2,500 tribes and regional groupings.  Recently the Warli art form was in the news for its increasing popularity in mainstream media, passing boundaries of limited reach of Tribal artforms in India.

WHAT IS WARLI ART?

  1. Belonging to the state of Maharashtra, this tribal art is famous for its elementary wall paintings.
  2. Warli art represents the daily routine of rural life, the relationship of the tribal people with Nature, their gods, myths, traditions, customs, and festivities
  3. The triangles, circles and lines in austere white against a mud brown background align to tell stories of village life and their customs and traditions on walls and canvasses.
  4. For example: Images of Dhaan katayi (rice cutting), ant march, the parikrama of the migratory Aasara birds believed to fly around every temple on their journey
  5. It was traditionally practised by women of the Warli tribe called Suvasinis, who decorated the lagn chowk or the wedding square.
  6. The Warli women posts layers of cow dung slapped on the walls of village homes formed the canvas.
  7. When the dung dried, they were painted in mud brown to create a background, and bamboo­stick paint brushes were used to meticulously craft scenes, figures, and objects.

OTHER TRIBAL ARTFORMS IN INDIA:

THANJAVUR PAINTINGS: 

  1. Originating from the town of Thanjavur in the state of Tamil Nadu, this tribal art is a celebration of the region’s rich artistic tradition.
  2. The art form draws its immediate resources and inspiration from way back about 1600 AD, a period when the Nayakas of Thanjavur under the suzerainty of the Vijayanagara Rayas encouraged art such as classical dance and music as well as literature, both in Telugu and Tamil and painting of chiefly Hindu religious subjects in temples.
  3. The faces of the deity are made such that they have a round face, oval-shaped eyes. After this, the main body of the deity is enclosed using an arch, curtain, etc.
  4. It is distinguished by its famous gold coating.

MADHUBANI PAINTINGS:

  1. Madhubani art also called as the Mithila art is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar,India and Nepal.
  2. Artists create these paintings using a variety of mediums, including their own fingers, or twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks.
  3. The paint is created using natural dyes and pigments.
  4. The paintings are characterised by their eye-catching geometrical patterns.
  5. There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja. 

SAURA PAINTINGS:

  1. Saura is a style of mural paintings which is related to the Saura tribe of Odisha.
  2. These paintings are also found in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
  3. They are also called Ikons.
  4. The backdrop of the painting is prepared from red or yellow ochre which is painted using brush and bamboo.
  5. Very simple figures are used which depict the simple yet meaningful everyday life of a village farmer thus sharing similarity to Warli paintings.
  6. The only difference between the two is the use of geometrical figures in Warli paintings which is absent in Saura paintings.

PATTACHITRA PAINTINGS: 

  1. Pattachitra paintings are traditional paintings which originated from Odisha and West Bengal.
  2. It is a cloth-based painting which portrays Gods and Goddesses, made of sharp and fine lines in bold colours, floral designs in borders.
  3. In olden days, these paintings were used as story-telling.
  4. What makes this art different from others is the way clothes are depicted. These paintings are carved on “Patta” which means canvas.
  5. It is said that an original Pattachitra painting is made from 100% natural colours and can take even months to complete.
  6. It is one of the oldest tribal art in India.

KHOVAR PAINTINGS: 

  1. Khovar art originated from Jharkhand.
  2. This traditional wall art is done in the harvest season.
  3. The word Kho or Koh means cave and Var means husband. This matriarchal art is done by the women of the house to decorate the wedding chambers of newlywed couples.
  4. The backdrop is prepared by firstly applying a coat of black mud and then followed by applying a coat of white mud. After this, a tool is used to peel the coating and give the desired design.
  5. Usually, tribal people living in the forest carve animals like, Tiger, Snake, Peacock, etc. while those living on plains carve Cow, Goat, Pigeon, etc.

KAVAD PAINTINGS:

  1. The roughly 500-year-old Kavad or Kawad art of Rajasthan is practised by Jangid Brahmins from Chittorgarh.
  2. It’s a multi-panelled, three-dimensional box that can be opened up.
  3. Several Gods and Goddesses have been painted on this portable temple.
  4. Ramayana, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, and other epic stories are depicted on these panels, which are composed of light wood.

PHAD PAINTINGS:

  1. Phad, which has its roots in Rajasthan, is primarily a religious style of scroll painting that features the folk gods Pabuji or Devnarayan.
  2. The canvas or fabric that it is painted on is referred to as phad and is 30 or 15 feet long.
  3. These paintings are characterised by vegetable colours and a continuous narrative of the lives and valiant acts of deities.

KALAMKARI PAINTINGS: 

  1. Kalamkari is a type of hand-painted cotton textile produced in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
  2. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari, which involves twenty-three steps.
  3. There are various styles associated with Kalamkari paintings: Srikalahasti style, Machilipatnam style etc. 
  4. The style owes its present status to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay who popularized the art as the first chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board.
  5. The term Kalamkari became popular term under the patronage of the Golconda sultanate.
  6. For royal families, a modern style known as Karuppur features fabric that has been embellished with golden brocade was designed.

PRELIMS 2024 PRACTISE QUESTIONS: 

Q1: Consider the following statements regarding the Warli artform recently seen in the news & identify the incorrect statement: 

A.  Famous for its elementary wall paintings, this artform belongs to the state of Maharashtra

B.  It depicts the daily routine of rural life such as Dhaan katayi, migratory birds etc.

C. It is traditionally practised by the women called as Suvasinis

D. Geometrical patterns are mostly absent in Warli art unlike similar Saura paintings of Odisha

ANSWER: D

Q2: Consider the following pairs regarding various Tribal artforms found in India: 

  1. Kalamkari paintings : Tamil Nadu
  2. Kavad paintings : Rajasthan
  3. Khovar paintings : Odisha
  4. Saura paintings : Jharkhand

How many of the above pairs is / are correctly matched? 

A. Only one

B. Only two

C. Only three

D. All of the above

ANSWER: A

 

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