Saura Painting www.craftcanvas.com
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Table of Contents • About Us • Introduction • Mythology • Material Used and Process • Motifs • Contemporary Adaptations • Additional References • Image Source
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About Us CraftCanvas is a link between rural artisan communities and the urban customer, translating an ages old craft into something that is relevant today. It is based on the idea of contemporizing Indian Handicrafts through a common platform and canvas where stake holders of the craft community like artisans, designers, craft practitioners, etc can come together to create unique products and experiences suited to modern day living. India has a rich handicraft heritage and we owe this to generations of artisans who have blended tradition, religion, social norms and functionality to bring craft where it is today. However, there has been a significant shift in sensibilities of present-day craft patrons thereby highlighting a need for Handicrafts to adapt to these changes. We believe that there is a place for India’s traditional crafts even in the most modern of spaces and this process of evolution is what CraftCanvas facilitates. Handicraft patrons like you can express your requirements ranging from wall murals, soft furnishings, paintings, furniture and lighting among many others. Our team will assist you in transforming their ideas and aesthetic preferences to final products with a high level of artistry. On the other end, we are constantly forming collaborations between the craft and design community through which an interesting blend of experiences and products are developed. Working with designers, traditional artisans are trained to adapt to this new design scenario. For designers, it gives them an opportunity to create solutions that embody the essence of the craft. Subsequently, these innovations are marketed by CraftCanvas through channels like online store, workshops, exhibitions etc. Please feel free to browse through our site for specific information on our various initiatives and we look forward to welcoming you to our world of crafts.
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Introduction
Traditional Saura Painting
Saura tribal painting is a style of wall mural paintings associated with the Lauda tribals of the state of Orissa in India. The Saura wall paintings are called italons or ikons and are dedicated to Idital, the main deity of the Sauras. These paintings draw upon tribal folklore and have ritualistic importance. Their whole theological system is being dramatized in the wall painting traditions. Ikons make extensive use of symbolically pregnant icons that mirror the everyday chores of the Sauras. In fact, an ikon is done to flatter and propitiate the Gods and ancestors so that the members of the family are saved from evil influence. These paintings are conspicuous for their elegance, charm, aesthetic and ritualistic association. These pictograms are their literature and philosophy. The clear meaning becomes apparent when the priests or the picture men interpret them making the paintings of Lanjia Sauras of Puttasingha region of Orissa unique and interesting.
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Mythology
Saura painting done on the walls of a house
Sauras are among the most ancient of tribes in India and find mention in the Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Savari, Rama’s devotee in the Ramayana and Jara, the hunter who mortally wounded Krishna with an arrow, are thought to have been members of this tribe. Jara’s body is believed to have flowed into the sea near Puri as a wooden log and the idol Jagannath at Puri is believed to have been sculpted from it. Saura paintings are an integral part of the religious ceremonies of the Saura tribals and are found in the southern Orrisa districts of Rayagada, Ganjam, Gajapati and Koraput. Saura paintings were first studied by the famous anthropologist Verrier Elwin.
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Materials Used and Process
Process of Saura painting
All lines are drawn with white colour in the ikon. The white colour is prepared from the powder of white rice or betel-lime, while other colours are procured locally. Besides white, chrome, yellow, red, ultramarine blue and black are also used. The red ochre used for the background is obtained from red clay. In the plains, Sauras buy geru or dhau from the village markets. This is mixed with water and smeared over the wall with help of a cloth. Brushes are made out of khejur palm twigs. The end of the stick is chewed by the painter while brushing the teeth to make it fibrous. It has a hairy texture and is preferred by the painters.
Ikons are worshipped during special religious and cultural occasions such as child-birth, harvest, marriage and the construction of a new house. Ikons are not commissioned frequently and an existing one can be regularly used for mundane rituals. The building of a new dwelling however necessitates the commissioning of an ikon, which is painted in a dark corner inside the home where its creation is accompanied by the recital of a specific set of prayers. Traditionally, Kudangs, the priestly class among the Sauras, painted the ikons since they also had the expertise to explain the symbolic import of the images contained therein to the villagers. Thus the ikons also became a part of the aural tradition of the Sauras that linked them to their traditions and customs. Today the Kudangs have been supplanted by artists and paintings are often executed in non-traditional locales. www.craftcanvas.com
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Motifs Saura painting is painted with figurative pattern and figures are drawn in a stylized manner. A sense of energy and rhythm is seen in Saura painting. Figures are seen holding each other hands and dancing, beating the drums, hunting, riding on the horse, doing their daily chores. All natural scenes are depicted in a very unconventional manner. The central theme of most Saura, Ittal is a house which is represented by a circle. Figures are placed in the panels like circle, triangular around the Ittal. Each icon or idital conveys a separate message. The minute details of pictograms reflect real everyday life pattern of Sauras. They show a strong bond between nature and man. The common motifs of Saura painting include horses, riders, monkeys climbing or perched on trees, deer, peacock, dancing villagers, elephants, lizards, tigers, goats, monkeys, sun, moon, huts, cattle, women with baskets, flowers, birds, combs, villagers playing musical instruments like trumpets, drums, gongs, ‘Idital’ the tribal deity, religious folklore, priests, worshippers. Sometimes they also depict dream sequences, seed sowing ceremony, harvesting, and hunting. Few examples of iditals are presented below: •
Jodisum
Jodisum are two wooden poles with human form installed at the cross roads of a Saura village. It is the village deity. It is drawn to worship Jodisum during the new year ceremony of eating red gram. The Sauras do not eat the newly harvested crop of the year without this ceremony. They first offer these to God and their forefathers. The study of the pictogram is interesting. On the top, seven lady www.craftcanvas.com
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priests (idaibois) are seen praying to God Jodisum to guard and protect the village from evil spirit. On the left a priest pouring wine and a helper taking a hen for sacrifice are seen. In the lower portion we notice five people praying to the deity holding bunches of red gram while a priestly Saura brings a goat for sacrifice. Below this, seven persons play trumpets (flute), drums and gongs. Three monkeys adorn each side of the composition. On the right side, two damsels are seen carrying worship materials in closed baskets. Below this is a tiger which is represented as the vehicle of the earth deity. On the left, two male priests (idaimar) are seen along with a jungle lizard. Elaborate rituals generally follow this ceremony.
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Jananglasum
It is also worshipped along with the village deity during the first eating ceremony of the year for sweet potato (jungle roots).. The deity is also prayed to cure diseases and bestow blessings on the family and community. The icon or idital made on this occasion is a complex one. It is divided into 5 divisions with a triangle shaped shrine at the top being surrounded by many symbols. At the center of the triangle, a man is being blessed by Jananglasum and a lady priest is seen with a garland standing on the right side. On the right, three guards with danda (sticks) are noticed. On the left, we notice three lady worshippers with oblations. In the first row from top, the buya (male priest) is seen offering a pig to the deity visible as a heap of stone. Behind him we find a number of devotees with various offerings like fowl, wine, water and goat. The second part shows the driving out of the evil spirit amid flute playing and other formalities. www.craftcanvas.com
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The third row shows the hoeing of earth by eight persons, thus symbolising fertility. In the other scene, we notice two ildas (ancestral spirits) riding on a horse and an elephant and marching with their retinues and servants. In the lowest block, garden lizard, crab, scorpion, snail and porcupine, the pets of Goddess earth are painted. Two farmers are seen driving out the monkeys with their bow and arrows and other weapons from the red gram field. On the right, a couple with their items and three guards of Jananglasum are seen and a ferocious tiger attacking a man is noticed. On the left, two priests, a couple with oblations and one ilda (benevolent spirit) driving out the malevolent ones. Like these, there are a series of different pictograms for different social and religious occasions.
Some other important paintings are of Andumjappur meant for seed sowing ceremony, Sarpalasum, the God of path, Sidangpur for good crop, Gangsum for preventing smallpox and Isarsum for the departed soul entering the underworld. Comparison with Warli paintings
Saura paintings have a striking visual semblance to Warli art and both use clear geometric frames for their construction but they differ in both their style and treatment of subjects. In Saura paintings, a fish-net approach - of painting from the border inwards - is used while this not the case with Warli paintings. Although both are examples of tribal pictographs that employ stick figures, Warli paintings use conjoint triangles to depict the human body while the figures are not as sharply delineated in Saura paintings. Also, unlike the Warli paintings where male and female icons are clearly distinguishable, in Saura art there is no such physical differentiation.
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Contemporary Adaptations
Their diversity, detail and unique style have given ikons an 'in-vogue-appeal' and increasing popularity in recent years. The influence of markets and increasing awareness about the other’s forms have led to both Saura and Warli paintings picking up details of technique and style from the other. They have also been popularized in recent times as an avenue for skill and job creation and have increasingly been used to decorate items like T-shirts, greeting cards, stationery and items of clothing.
Handpainted Saura home décor products by ARM’S available on décor website, Fabfurnish www.craftcanvas.com
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Additional References
• http://www.dsource.in/resource/saura-painting-raghurajpurorissa/introduction • http://odisha.gov.in/emagazine/Orissareview/jan2005/englishPdf/Souras_Paintings.pdf • http://www.ccsp.it/web/INFOCCSP/VCS%20storico/vcs2009pdf/Pradhan.pdf • http://www.craftrevival.org/CraftArt.asp?CountryCode=india&CraftCode=00 3779 • http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/saurainvocations/article2116963.ece Image Source • http://www.craftcanvas.com/blog/tag/painting • http://www.dsource.in/resource/saura-painting-raghurajpur-orissa/makingprocess • http://indiaculture.gov.in/do-and-learn-education-programme-manavsangrahalaya-samachar-22-05-2015 • https://eksparsh.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/saura-paintings/ • http://wda.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Saura_tribal_Art_of_Orissadone_by_Dr_1_.S._Premalatha__2008.jpg • https://1.fimg.in/p/arm-s-8226-029842-1-product_432.jpg • https://storage.googleapis.com/images.icustommadeit.com/products/1/761307-07-2015-18-21-07-32-P.jpg
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