The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya under its popular summer series of ‘Do and learn’ educational programmes commenced training workshop of Warli Painting of Maharashtra on Tuesday.
In the beginning, the artisans explained Warli is a major tribe of Maharashtra and their painting got recognition as Warli paintings. Maharashtra is known for its Warli folk paintings. There are no records of the exact origins of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century AD Warli is the vivid expression of daily and social events of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra, used by them to embellish the walls of village houses. This was the only means of transmitting folklore to a populace not acquainted with the written word.
Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings. These paintings do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but 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 of Maharashtra 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 and yellow. 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.