Under the education programme ‘Do and learn’ organised by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangarahalaya (IGRMS), the participants learnt Warli painting art from Dahanu, Maharashtra. On the last day of the programme, the artists Dilip Rama Bhahota and Malti Dilip Bhahota answered the questions of registered participants.
Warli is the vivid expression of daily and social events of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra. It is used by them to embellish the walls of village houses. Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings. These paintings depict social life. Images of human beings and animals, along with scenes from daily life are created in a loose rhythmic pattern. These tribal paintings are traditionally done in the homes of the Warlis. Painted white on mud walls, they are pretty close to pre-historic cave paintings in execution and usually depict scenes of human figures engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, sowing and harvesting.
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. This colour is obtained from grounding rice into white powder. This sobriety is offset by the ebullience of their content. These themes are highly repetitive and symbolic.
Many of the Warli paintings that represent Palghat, the marriage god, often include a horse used by the bride and groom. The painting is sacred and without it, the marriage cannot take place. These paintings also serve social and religious aspirations of the local people. It is believed that these paintings invoke powers of the Gods. In Warli paintings it is rare to see a straight line.