Warli Painting
Introduction
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arli painting is a tribal art mostly done by Adivasi from North Sahyadri Range in India (Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar, Mokhada, and Vikramgadh). The Warlis carry on a tradition stretching back to 2500 or 3000 BCE. Their extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square.Their paintings were monosyllbic. The wall paintings are done only for special occasions such as weddings or harvests. Stylistically, they can be recognized by the fact that they are painted on an austere mud base using one color, white, with occasional dots in red and yellow. These paintings do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but depict social life.
Origin
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he Govardhan Eco Village is located in the Thane district of Maharashtra, which is the home to the traditional Warli art. The Warlis are the aborizgines who originally had their dwellings in the northern part of Thane district extending up to southern Gujarat. Forming the largest tribe in Maharashtra, these Warlis have their own unique beliefs and traditions, and speak an unwritten Varli language which is a combination of Marathi and Gujarati. The art of the Warlis at any rate seems to belong to the phase classified as Neolithic in the rock paintings of central India. We see that this period is characterized by paintings done in white outline, triangular humans and animals with geometrical designs on the walls of the caves. In the Warli area along with the general similarity of the rice paintings to those in the caves, the sudden emergence of a deer, its body covered with diagonals and bearing a striking resemblance to the deer, of the rock paintintgs, Point unmistakably to this period. It seems more likely then, that the Warli are the propagators of a tradition which first originates somewhere in the Neolithic period between 2500BC and 3000Bc. Warli Art was first discovered in the early seventies. While there are no records of the exact origins of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century AD.
cave paintings of bhimbetka
Bhimbetka is a natural art gallery and an archaeological treasure. The footsteps of the prehistoric man can be easily discerned upon the sands of time, since the caves here house rock paintings, created by man from as early as about 15,000 years ago in vivid and panoramic detail. The rock paintings have numerous layers belonging to various epochs of time. The most ancient scenes here believed to be commonly belonging to the Mesolithic Age. These magnificent paintings can be seen even on the ceiling of the rock shelters located at daunting heights. Executed mainly in red and white, with the occasional use of green and yellow with themes taken from the everyday events of eons ago, the scenes usually depict hunting, dancing, horse and elephant riders, animal fights, honey collection, decoration of bodies, disguises, masks and different type of animals etc. It depicts the detail of social life during the long period of time, when man used to frequent these rock shelters. Animals such as bison, tiger, rhinoceros, wild boar, elephants, monkeys, antelopes, lizards, peacocks etc. have been abundantly depicted in the rock shelters. Popular religious and ritual symbols also occur frequently. The colours used by the cave dwellers were prepared by combining manganese, hematite, soft red stone and wooden charcoal. Perhaps, animal fat and extracts of leaves were also used in the mixture.
characteristics
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he Warli art form is similar to the pre-historic cave paintings in its execution. These extremely rudimentary paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. While men and women are depicted in almost identical fashion, the only differentiator is the little knot of hair in the form of a bun, that indicates Warli women.Stylistically, Warli Paintings can be recognized by the fact that they are painted on an austere mud base using one color, white, with occasional dots in red and yellow. The white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding agent. This sobriety is offset by the ebullience of their content. Traditionally, when painting the mud walls, the Warlis use a bamboo stick chewed at the end, to make it work like a paintbrush. Even now, when they paint on cloth, they use a narrow stick dipped in white rice flour paste.
types of warli painting
Tribe Warli Paintings: The Warli paintings essentially depict the basic principals of life, which are the main theme or basis of any tribe. Their major designs include the harvest season, celebration, wedding, rituals and births. Mud Warli Paintings: These are painted using only white color on a simple mud base, which has been well preserved by us using modern techniques, for longevity. We provide these genuine aesthetic pieces at affordable prices.
Design Circle Warli Paintings: Warli, is an extremely rudimentary type of wall paintings which use a very basic graphic vocabulary encompassing a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle are a form of depiction of nature. Gold Black Warli Paintings: These unique Warli Paintings made of henna and lac, could be an ideal gift for your clients.The vibrant vegetable colors used in its natural form accentuates the beauty of the craft. Classic Warli Paintings: Warli, is an extremely rudimentary type of wall paintings which use a very basic graphic vocabulary encompassing a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle are a form of depiction of nature.
Modern Warli Paintings: These are painted using only white color on a simple mud base, which has been well preserved by us using modern techniques, for longevity. We provide these genuine aesthetic pieces at affordable prices. Elements Warli Paintings: Internationally acclaimed, Warli Paintings are available with us. This painting technique was established by the Warli Tribe, centuries ago. It depicts daily life in the form of various elements of nature like man, animals, trees and others.
theme
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rees, birds, men and women collaborate to create a composite whole in Tribal Paintings. Spiral formations of men and women and concentric circular designs in Warli Paintings are symbolic of the circle of life. In fact most of these seemingly simple paintings abound in symbolism. The harmony and balance depicted in these paintings is supposed to signify the harmony and balance of the universe. Unlike other tribal art forms the Warli Paintings do not employ religious iconography, making it a more secular art form. Marriage is the most recurring theme of Warli paintings. Many Warli paintings depict Warli Paintings - Marriage Theme Palghat, the marriage god, accompanied by a horse and of course the bride and the groom. They consider these paintings sacred. Men and women dancing in circles (Tarapa Dance), during various celebrations, is another theme typical to the Warli Paintings. A musician playing a native instrument is usually found in the middle of such spirals (Tarapa). Flora and fauna are also depicted in these paintings. The cracked walls of the village have been adorned with these paintings for centuries and even today they form the primary decoration of most such houses. The typical subjects on which Warli Art is done are Festivals, Harvest, Folk story, Celebration and Temple Marriage. The major highlight is these all have people in group depicting the life.
content
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heir extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: 1. a circle, 2. a triangle and 3. a square. The circle drawn from nature represents the sun and the moon while the triangle is derived from mountains and pointed trees. The square indicates a sacred enclosure, the square, the “chauk� ; for the Palaghata, the mother goddess, symbolising fertility. Scenes portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals surround the central motif in these ritual paintings. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip, the upper triangle depicting the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolises the balance of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating the bodies.
how are they made?
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sually painted on cloth or wood, the Warli paintings are made on a dark backdrop, usually red, made from mud, dung and leaves. A distinctive feature of the Warli paintings is the use of white color. The entire painting is always made in white, which traditionally was made from rice paste. And a bamboo stick chewed at one end was used as a brush, which gives the distinctive appearance to these paintings.
different from other art
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arli Paintings are very different from other folk and tribal paintings in India. Their themes are not mythological, nor their colours as bright as the ones seen in Madhubani Paintings. Neither do they contain the robust sensuality of the paintings found in Eastern India. Instead they are painted on mud, charcoal, cow dung based surface using Natural Dyes in white with series of dots in red and yellow. Their linear nature and monochromatic hues make them similar to prehistoric cave paintings and Aboriginal Art in execution. Warli Paintings usually depict scenes of human figures engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, sowing and harvesting. These paintings also serve social and religious aspirations of the local people, since it is believed that these paintings invoke powers of the Gods.
quintessential Maharashtra
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n Maharashtra, many of its tourism buses and offices are adorned with Warli paintings giving it a status of an official symbol. A lot of merchandise - T-shirts, coasters, linen come with Warli designs and motifs and do brisk sales through exhibitions and tourist outlets. Many schools in Maharashtra take workshops in Warli painting for children. You will find Warli paintings on walls of some five-star hotels in Mumbai, too.
conclusion
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raditionally the Warli paintings were made by the ladies during marriage ceremonies to decorate the walls of their homes. However today even the Warli men have taken up to this art form and have modernized it by using paint in their works. However this rare art form is slowly losing its prominence and has become very much localized to small geographical location of Wada. The Govardhan Eco Village has taken the initiative to promote and revive this rare art form by patronizing various traditional Warli artists by providing a platform for portraying their artistic prowess. Please visit our gallery section to see some of these traditional artistry. One can also purchase these artistic masterpieces from the Govardhan Eco Village store.