Tribal Folk Art And Adiwashi Culture Warli Painting From : Dahanu-Taluka,Thane-Dist

Introduction

Art represents an artist’s relationship with life and everything that is part of it- religion,rituals, livelihood,family,telationaships,death… It is in this context alone the true essence of warli paintings can be appreciated.

Warli paintings take their name from the warli tribe of Maharashtra. Though out in parts of Maharashtra, the warlis are largely in the Dahanu and jawar of Thane district of Maharashtra. The region lies on the Sahyadri Hills north of the Western Ghats.

The warlis have by tradition been cultivators and gatherers growing a single crop, usually paddy, for subsistence or gathering forest produce and domesticating livestock. Their lives are thus inextricably dependent on the vagaries of nature.

The warli relationship with nature is of respectful exchange. The forces of nature active in the various seasons are deified in their pantheon, the central place being accorded to the Mother Goddess. This relationship is the pivotal point of the warli’s cultural life, and painting is a symbolic consecration of these forces.

The paintings are executed inside the hut. Walls are first smeared with cowdung. Red mud is then applied to provide the base texture. Pointed twigs Bahari & bamboo twigs and thin rice paste are used to draw patterns.

Traditionally the paintings have always been done by suvasinis (married women who are hot widows). Dhavaleris (married priestesses) sing alongside creating a festive atmosphere.0

The them and content of the drawings varies with the occasion and the deity being worshipped. The designs are intricate, decorative patterns depicting rituals,folk tales, tradition and the main preoccupations of the peole: hunting, swoing and harvesting, btith, marriage and death.

Trees which play a crucial part in the Warli’s livelihood are given careful attention in the paintings. Different varieties of trees are drawn in detail froming intricate decorative patterns. Birds, squirrels monkeys, snakes and other animals are also depicted in action giving the painting vibrancy and movement. Other elements in nature like streams and rocks are also featured. Human forms are often used to render abstract patterns and geometrical shapes. Stylistically, the paintings suggest a relationship with the Neolithic phase of rock painting in central India. Yashodhara Dalmia, in “The Painted world of the Warlis” noted that this period was characterized by painting drawn in with outline, triangular human and animal forms with geometric designs on the cave walls. Besides these similarities there are the sudden emergence of the deer, its body covered with diagonals which, according to her bears a striking resemblance to the deer of the rock paintings.

There is also the possibility that the Warlis have practiced and preserved traditions of the early agriculturists for whom nature was an in exhaustive source of bounty. Thus nature was seen as the all encompassing mother who sustained life and death within womb.This consciousness of Mother Nature has had an unmistakable influence on every phase of the cultural life of India.

Philosophically, the process of painting for the Warlis appears to be more crucial than the final picture. For the painting is erased or allowed to fade after worship, probably hinting at the transience of the all facets of life. The activity of painting has thus a functional role in the social and spiritual life of the people.

Symbols in the paintings represent the morphology of the Warlis’ universe. Most of them emphasize fertility and productivity in nature. The centrality of the Mother Goddess, Palaghat, in these drawings have prompted suggestion of the symbolic womb, its protective, nurturing qualities finding parallels within the walls of the house.

The repeated act of painting on every occasion of worship emphasizes the repeated refuge in the inner ‘womb space’ enriched with vibrant and frisky life and equated with procreation. Parallels between symbols and cosmology are carried further. The earthen pot is a repeatedly used motif symbolizing abundance.

Of all the paintings it is those rendered on the occasion of weddings which encapsulate the entire existence of the Warlis. The paintings play a critical role and a marriage cannot take place in their absence. These drawings, called chowks, are designed around large ornate squares with elaborate concentric patterns. Besides flora and fauna, the groom’s procession is often depicted in a corner. The chowk is executed in the homes of both the bride as well as the groom.

All the elements in a chowk are replete with symbolism. The most significant of these is the Goddess of Fertility painted prominently in the centre of the chowk. The other important symbol is the horse considered to embody sex and vitality. It is usually shown carrying the newlyweds. Expressions of fertility and vigour are believed to protect one from disease and evil spirits.

Another important occasion for the Warlis in the navakaniya,the festival of corn. Inner wall of the hut, instruments of cultivation such as the plough and sickle and domestic tools like the pounder and flour grinder are imprinted with auspicious motifs and symbols.

Besides marriage and harvest festivals, the warli women decorate their hut on important occasions like birth and death.

Harvest festival:

The agricultural season for the Warlis begins around ‘Vasishaka’(May). With the first rains In Jyestha (June) the paddy seeds are planted. Then the people are busy with agriculture. From the month of ‘Bhadrapada’(Sept) the people begin harvesting. The celebration of the of the “Cheda puja,” every year during harvest, when the people have enough money, is both an act of thanks giving as well as a re-enactment of the first event of settling down at place. The festival of the Tiger God takes place in the month of ‘Karthik’(nov) in the second fortnight, when the villagers can donate enough money from their harvests. The ritual begins with the story of “Vaghasdeva” ( the Tiger God) being sung and the others come to listnn to it. The song continues the whole night and day. The women do not take part in the celebration. No work goes on in the field during this time.

With the festival of the ‘Tiger God’over the villagers begin preparing for the puja of ‘Kansari’-the Corn Goddess. When the paddy has been cut and stacked in front of huts, threshing cannot take place till the goddess has been propitiated. The song of Kansari which is sung during this time is a long narration of the story of the Corn Goddess.

Among the many legends about ‘Mahalakshmi’ one is that she provides children to the Warlis but turn vengeful if human sacrifice is not made to her.

Tarapa Dance:

During the three days of Diwali, drinking and dancing are the main rituals for its their thanks giving to natures bountifulness. The dance, which begins during the day, continues throughout the night. They dance in the open space to the tune of the Tarapa played in turns by different men. The dancers never turn their backs to the tarapa but dance facing the tarapa. The dancers move according to the tarapa plaryer, turning and moving as he turned. When the tune of the tarapa changes the dance changes they will continue to dance to the tarapa until the puja of the ‘Tiger God. After that they cannot play the Tarapa and are only allowed to play the ‘Dhhol’(drum) during Holi, after which only the Kahali (flute) is plated.

The notes of the tarapa were a consistent, deep drone through the night to which the dancers moved with unflagging enthusiasm.To The untrained ear it sounded ‘unmusical’ and ‘repetitive’ but consistent listening to it revealed that sound was more like a barely human drone .it seems to consist of one bass note ,which was stretched to it maximum length without any variation The sound essentially expressed a continuity of life in which all living things had to participate.

Marriage:The marriage season begins usually from the end of Magha(Feb) to Phalguna (March) bringing with it festivity and colour. This is also the culmination of the ritual cycle of the year, the last cat necessary to activate the forces of nature. The Warlis believe that with the marriage of the bride and the bridegroom, all the living things are fertilized reenergize into creativity. Every single marriage then, is a cosmic event and the long process of marriage ritual, desinged a it is to affect creation, is carefully observed according to convention. Unlike the Hindus it is the bridegroom who has to pay the bride price for the bride. A white paste for the painting is prepared for the painting by sieving the rice flour. Then the wall was leaped with cowdung over which geru(red mud) was smeared. Two savasinis (Women shoes husbands are alive) first make a chaukat (Square) and then the goddess palaghata. Simultaneously other women of the village drew trees, animal and men around the square. A goddess is also shown. The fertile goddess of vegetation was now ready and would preside over the wedding activities which take place over three days.

The marriage paintings function in a way similar to the seasonal cycle for the Warlis. They encapsulate their entire universe concerning themselves with fundamental aspects of their lives. Made at the time of marriage, they express their most fertile moment and all that precedes and follows it. A typical painting will be found in the darkest part of the hut. In the center is a large square intricately designed like rich sari pallu. Within this stood a triangular figure which was part human with its body striated like the bark of a tree. On the side is a smaller square containing a five headed figure riding a horse.Trees swirled around the square, the different varieties of leaves a forming the web of foliage. The sun the moon are also seen in the painting rotating on their discs throwing lines of energy in different directions.

These caukats are made at the time of marriage and are essential for without them the wedding cannot take place. The central figure of the painting is the marriage goddess ‘Palaghata’ and it is her presence which is essential for the wedding. The decorative square around her is known as the cauk with the smaller square being called deva cauk.The god inside the deva cauk is known as Pancasiriya. The foliage around the goddess is meant to provide her with shade. The location of each painting is of significance. IT hardly reveals itself to the eye immediately.

Death:

Its not the end of human existence but another beginning. They believe that death is the same as marriage ad observe almost similar rites (as well as during marriage). Since in their daily life the Warlis have to actively contend with Nature God. Thus there are not only the Sun and Moon Gods but the God of Thunder, of lighting, of the beginning of a tentative move towards sculpture. The ancestral sprit which seems to demand a molded from also allows the Warlis to find self-expression in wood and stone. In the backyard of almost every hut are installed three feet high wooden planks with disc-like heads.

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