The Living Art Traditions of India
The Living Art Traditions of India
2020-21
Painting Tradition
Among the many popular traditions of painting, Mithila or
Madhubani painting of Bihar, Warli painting of Maharshtra,
Pithoro Painting of North Gujarat and western Madhya
Pradesh, Pabuji ki Phad from Rajasthan, Pichhwai of
Nathdwara in Rajasthan, Gond and Sawara Paintings of
Madhya Pradesh, Pata Chitra of Odisha and Bengal, etc., are
few examples. Here, a few of them have been discussed.
Mithila painting
Among the most known contemporary painterly art forms is
Mithila art that derives its name from Mithila, the ancient
Videha and birthplace of Sita. Also called Madhubani painting
after the nearest district capital, it is a widely recognised folk
art tradition. It is presumed that for centuries, women living
in this region have painted figures and designs on the walls
of their mud houses for ceremonial occasions, particularly,
weddings. People of this area see the origin of this art form at
the time of Princess Sita getting married to Lord Rama.
These paintings, characterised by bright colours, are
largely painted in three areas of the house — central or outer
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Warli painting
The Warli community inhabit the west coast of Northern
Maharashtra around the north Sahyadri range with a large
concentration in the district of Thane. Married women play a
central role in creating their most important painting called
Chowk to mark special occasions. Closely associated with
the rituals of marriage, fertility, harvest and new season of
sowing, Chowk is dominated by the figure of mother goddess,
Palaghat, who is chiefly worshipped as the goddess of fertility
and represents the corn goddess, Kansari.
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Gond painting
Gonds of Madhya Pradesh have a rich tradition with their
chiefs ruling over Central India. They worshipped nature.
Paintings of Gonds of Mandla and its surrounding regions
have recently been transformed into a colourful depiction
of animals, humans and flora. The votive paintings are
geometric drawings done on the walls of huts, portraying
Krishna with his cows surrounded by gopis with pots on
their heads to which young girls and boys make offerings.
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Pithoro painting
Painted by Rathva Bhils of the Panchmahal region in Gujarat
and Jhabua in the neighbouring State of Madhya Pradesh,
these paintings are done on the walls of houses to mark
special or thanksgiving occasions. These are large wall
paintings, representing rows of numerous and magnificently
coloured deities depicted as horse riders.
The rows of horse rider deities represent the cosmography
of the Rathvas. The uppermost section with riders represents
the world of gods, heavenly bodies and mythical creatures.
An ornate wavy line separates this section from the lower
region, where the wedding procession of Pithoro is depicted
with minor deities, kings, goddess of destiny, an archetypal
farmer, domestic animals, and so on, which represent
the earth.
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Pata painting
Done on fabric, palm leaf or paper, scroll painting is another
example of art form practised in different parts of the country,
especially, Gujarat and Rajasthan in the West and Odisha
and West Bengal in East. It is also known as Pata, Pachedi,
Phad, etc.
Bengal patas comprise the practice of painting on cloth
(pata) and storytelling in regions of West Bengal. It is the
most receptive oral tradition, constantly seeking new themes
and formulating novel responses to major incidents in
the world.
The vertically painted pata becomes a prop used by
a patua (performer) for performance. Patuas, also called
chitrakars, belong to communities largely settled around
Midnapore, Birbhum and Bankura regions of West Bengal,
parts of Bihar and Jharkhand. Handling the pata is their
hereditary profession. They travel around villages, displaying
the paintings and singing the narratives that are painted.
Performances happen in common spaces of the village. The
patua narrates three to four stories each time. After the
performance, the patua is given alms or gift in cash or kind.
Puri patas or paintings evidently acquire their claim
to recognition from the temple city of Puri in Odisha. It
largely comprises the pata (initially, done on palm leaf
and cloth but now done on paper as well). A range of
themes are painted, such as the daily and festival veshas
(attires) of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra (e.g.,
Bada Shringar Vesha, Raghunath Vesha, Padma Vesha,
Krishna–Balaram Vesha, Hariharan Vesha, etc); Rasa
paintings, Ansara patti (this substitutes the icons in the
Garbhagriha, when they are removed for cleaning and fresh
colouring is done after Snanayatra); Jatri patti (for pilgrims to
take away as memorabilia and put them in personal temples
at home), episodes from the myths of Jagannath, such as
the Kanchi Kaveri Pata and Thia-badhia pata, a combination
of aerial and lateral view of the temple with the icons and
temples around or depiction of festivals around it.
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Phads of Rajasthan
Phads are long, horizontal, cloth scrolls painted to honour
folk deities of pastoral communities inhabiting the region
around Bhilwara in Rajasthan. For such communities,
safeguarding their livestock is the foremost concern. Such
concerns purposely reflect in their myths, legends and
worship patterns. Among their gods are defied cattle heroes,
who are brave men who sacrificed their lives while protecting
the community’s cattle from robbers. Designated by the
broad term bhomia, these heroes are honoured, worshiped
and remembered for their acts of martyrdom. Bhomias, such
as Gogaji, Jejaji, Dev Narayan, Ramdevji and Pabhuji, have
inspired widespread cult following among the communities
of Rabaris, Gujjars, Meghwals, Regars and others.
Illustrating the valorous tales of these bhomias, the
phads, are carried by bhopas, the itinerant bards, who travel
the territory, displaying them while narrating tales and
singing devotional songs associated with these hero-deities in
night-long storytelling performances. A lamp is held against
the phad to illuminate images that are being spoken about.
The bhopa and his companion perform to the accompaniment
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Sculptural Traditions
These refer to the popular traditions of making sculptures
in clay (terracotta), metal and stone. There are numerous
such traditions across the country. Some of them are
discussed here.
Dhokra casting
Among the popular sculptural traditions, Dhokra or metal
sculptures made from lost wax or cire perdue technique is one
of the most prominent metal crafts of Bastar, Chhattisgarh,
parts of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Midnapore in West
Bengal. It involves casting of bronze through the lost wax
method. The metal craftsmen of Bastar are called ghadwa.
In popular etymology, the term ‘ghadwa’ means the act of
shaping and creating. It is probably this that gives the casters
their name. Traditionally, the ghadwa craftsmen, besides
supplying the villagers with utensils of daily use also made
jewellery, icons of locally revered deities and votive offerings
in the form of snakes, elephants, horses, ritual pots, etc.
Subsequently, with a decrease in demand for utensils and
traditional ornaments in the community, these craftsmen
began creating new (non-traditional) forms and numerous
decorative objects.
Dhokra casting is an elaborate process. Black soil from
the riverbank is mixed with rice husk and kneaded with
water. The core figure or mould is made from this. On drying,
it is covered with a second layer of cow dung mixed with clay.
Resin collected from saal tree is, then, heated in a clay pot
till it becomes liquid to which some mustard oil is also added
and allowed to boil. The boiling liquid is, then, strained
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Terracotta
The more ubiquitous sculptural medium prevalent across the
country is terracotta. Usually, made by potters, terracotta
pieces are votives or offered to local deities or used during
rituals and festivals. They are made from local clay found
on riverbanks or ponds. The terracotta pieces are baked for
durability. Whether it is Manipur or Assam in the North-East,
Kuchchha in Western India, Hills in the North, Tamil Nadu
in the South, Gangetic plains or Central India, there is a
variety of terracotta made by people of different regions. They
are moulded, modeled by hands or made on a potter’s wheel,
coloured or decorated. Their forms and purposes are often
similar. They are either the images of gods or goddesses. Like
Ganesh, Durga or the local deity, animals, birds, insects, etc.
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