Some of our subtlest art is embedded in our local traditions. Almost every region has its own traditional form that includes drawings, paintings, embroideries, carvings and more. Sadly, some of these are on the verge of extinction. Courtesy SPIC MACAY, Angela Paljor takes a look at five kinds that need to be saved right away

Irshad Hussain Farooqi

Farooqi comes from a family that has been practising medicine using traditional remedies for generations in Sikar, Rajasthan. After mapping a journey from unaccomplished PHDs to journalism in Persian and enrolling himself as a student pilot, he found his niche in calligraphy while witnessing its beauty at an exhibition in Delhi.

Farooqi not only revived the dying art of calligraphy, especially in Urdu and Arabic but went beyond the conformist form of working on papers and opted for wooden calligraphy. He is also the only practitioner who works on wood in India and feels that there is a lack of interest among the youth regarding the art. He said, “It is the era of computer. While people worked on calligraphy for ages, today it's not a job oriented form of art. People should not look at this art as work, rather preserve it as a legacy and practice it.”

His work is far more refined than the ones engraved on the walls of Taj Mahal. His work is more balanced and visually appealing for which he was awarded the National Award and Shilp Guru Award by the Government of India.

Farooqi also practices both Arabic and Sanskrit calligraphy on paper and then works on wood. Not only does it need practice and hard work but a thorough knowledge of the tools. Since, the work on wood requires depth along with a certain level of elegance; the tools differ from 2mm to 12 mm in width and vary in the range of curviness.

Ishwar Naik

Chittara painting is Karnataka's folk art prominently practiced in the two districts of Shivamogga and Nag Kerala districts. The major community that worked in Chittara was the Naiks and Ishwar Naik is known to revive the art single-handedly.

He was brought up in a joint family of 30 people who loved participating in various occasions where Chittara paintings carried immense value. Naik calls his mother his guru as she was the one to teach him the essence behind the art. Talking about the art in detail, Naik shared, “It is infront of the chittara art that all the occasions take place, due to which it should be facing north when placed inside the house. One of the prominent paintings is for the marriage ceremony. There is a pillar of concept, a palanquin, the bride and the groom along with the musicians and celebrators. On either sides of the canvas, the mother of fertility is placed and on top of it the mango leaves. The top portion of the painting represents the holy water that is kept for the auspicious occasion of marriage. Certain details of how society will progress are also included in the design.”

Chittara paintings have very limited designs including the arti (lamp) chittara, representing the occasion. Another design is particularly to be hung in front of the house, known as the chariot design. The basic idea behind the art is to celebrate the nature and the humans themselves.

The colour used is limited to four and are organic in nature. Powdered rice is used for white colour, for black, rice is burnt, red stones for red colour and yellow flowers available in the forests give yellow. Jute brush is used to paint as it gives the perfect finishing, creating depth on the canvas. Naik still uses jute brush to paint as it helps him gain patience and the perfection required. He was honored with the National Award for his painting Aradhana Chitra.

Mani Mala Chitrakar

Chitrakar learnt painting from her grandparents in the 1970s and today, she has excelled the art of Patua folk painting. Pat means scroll and Patua means painter. The origin of this scroll painting is ancient and untraceable. But in India, the scroll paintings can be traced back to 200 BC in the sacred texts. 

The colours are natural with the use of turmeric and various flowers. The essence of these paintings lies in the songs that accompany them. Together they narrated the mythological stories of Krishna, Ram lila and even the contemporary incidents including the terror attacks of 9/11 and the 2004 Indian tsunami.

Her parents were able to continue with the culture while others preferred the television for entertainment. Chitrakar said, “Villagers were unwilling to listen to the traditional form of storytelling. They would tell us that we will watch Amitabh Bachchan’s movie or Mithun Dada’s action scenes. However, it was television itself that recognised  our art. Now, people personally call us to perform for them.”

She has received several awards including awards from Indira Gandhi Folk Art Museum in Bhopal.          

KR Babu

Babu is an artist from Calicut who works with Kerala murals which is a traditional temple painting. Mural paintings were very popular and were seen in palaces, temples and in palatial homes. Traditionally, the colours used were natural but since they are hard to find, Babu uses certain synthetic paints. There are only five colours that they use, yellow, green, blue, red and black for the final touch. Today, these are only limited to the interiors of certain houses as the walls are specially prepared. The traditional themes basically revolve around the Indian mythology. However, Babu has been working on his contemporary themes that include various textures and geometry.

Babu learnt the art under Guru Sri Mammiyoor Krishnankutty at Guruvayur for five years. He even holds a Master's degree in visual arts and is presently a full time artist with his own studio, called the Mukta art. He aspires to take the art on an international level as it requires intricate detailing and is time consuming. His artistic skills have been awarded with senior fellowship award from Ministry of Culture by the India government.

Sai Kiran

Cheriyal scroll paintings are native to Telangana state which is a stylised version of Nakashi art. Earlier, the paintings were of 20-25 metres, narrating the story of Ramayana, Mahabharata and other stories, especially made for the story tellers. However, the tradition has been lost and they only come as miniature wall paintings.

Kiran belongs to one of the four families that still practice the art. Since, there is no business in Cheriyal, people have been migrating to Hyderabad. Talking about the uniqueness of the art, Kiran shared, “Both the colours and the canvas used are natural. We buy normal Khaadi cloth in the market and apply a paste of tamarine seed paste and rice starch. Two coats of the paste is applied and dried after which the canvas is ready to paint. Black colour is prepared by kerosene lamp smoke, white with shell powder, red from red stone, yellow from turmeric and blue from indigo plant and the rest are a mix of the primary colours.”

He also works with mask-making which had been a part of the narration of various stories varying from Greek mythology to the Puranas and Epics.