The subject of
Indian folk paintings is as diverse as the Indian cultural milieu
itself. Indian folk art painting includes a brilliant battery of
calendar and wall paintings, oil, canvas and cloth paintings, cave
paintings, miniatures and so on. The most famous types of Indian folk
art paintings hence include various ancient Indian art forms such as
Madhubani, Phad, Kalamkari, Orissa Paata, Warli paintings and so on.
Indian folk art paintings usually deal with pictorial depictions of
popular Hindu deities such as Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi and
Saraswati. Additionally, we can also find Madhubani paintings of the
sun, the moon and even some plants and flowers used in daily rituals,
such as tulsi (basil) and so on. Many paintings also depict daily
village life, common customs and rituals, birds, animals and the
elements of nature. Folk paintings are very fetching and a visual
treat, as they employ vibrant and natural colors and papers, clothes,
leaves, earthen pots, mud walls and so on, as their canvas to paint on.
Madhubani painting is also known as Godhna, Maithaili and Chaitra figure painting. As a folk art, this type of painting originates from the villages of Madhubani and Mithila in Bihar. The rural women of Mithila, it is believed, used to carve out their imaginations on the walls, floors and doors of their mud houses. They believed that God would then visit their houses and bless them with prosperity and plenty. These later came to be known as Madhubani Paintings. Today, the style of Madhubani paintings has changed completely.
Madhubani painting
had initially been a traditional rural art, only meant to serve as home
decor in the houses of the villagers. But ever since the massive
devastation of the Bihar famine during the year 1964-65, people of
Madhubani were forced to move from agriculture and other form of
livelihood to Maithili paintings. This is when the villagers moved from
painting on walls to painting on satin, sarees, dupattas and so on.
These paintings are carried out on many mediums such as cloth, canvas
and handmade paper. As mentioned above, Madhubani paintings mainly deal
with images of the most popular Hindu deities as also with other Hindu
sacred symbolisms and various aspects of nature as well. One can also
get to see royal court scenes and various Hindu social events (such as
thread ceremony, marriage and so on) being depicted in Madhubani
paintings. Predominantly, Madhubani paintings deal with the following
categories:
Madhubani painting
is a highly skilful art, which strictly adheres to ancient, time-tested
techniques. This art employs the use of simple raw materials
easily available in rural areas, such as bamboo sticks and cotton.
The cotton is first wrapped around a bamboo stick. This serves as a
brush. This brush is then dipped in various colors and is applied on
to the fabric. There is no shading work used here. The outline is given
with double lines and the gaps between these two lines are filled with
cross or straight lines. Colors are not used for these lines.
Madhubani paintings use natural colors taken from vegetable colors.
Black is gotten by blending soot and cow dung. The color yellow comes
from a mixture of lime, milk of banyan leaves, turmeric and pollen. Red
comes from the juice of the Kusam flower or from red sandalwood, while
white is gotten from rice powder and so on.
Kalamkari is yet
another ancient and ethnic folk art, made on painted and printed
fabrics. The term, "Kalamkari", comes from the Persian language and
literally means "pen craftsmanship". Kalamkari evolved and flourished
during the Mughal rule and was patronized by the Golconda Sultanate.
This art form is hand painted and block printed by means of using
natural vegetable dyes.
In Andhra Pradesh, the art of Kalamkari is involved with two very
ancient cities, Masulipatnam and Srikalahasti.
This style comes
with a clear Persian influence and is done with intricate and delicate
forms and motifs. The most commonly featuring designs here are flowers,
trees, creepers, colorful leaf designs and so on. Thanks to the Dutch
influence, Kalamkari art later evolved and is now undertaken on bed
covers, curtains and garments as well.
This particular
style of Kalamkari work shows a heavy influence of Indian temples. The
main subjects of paintings here are scrolls and wall hangings,
narratives and figurines from epics being painted, such as characters
from Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Puranas and so on. The most popular
depictions include those of deities such as Rama, Krishna, Shiva and
Parvathi, Durga, Brahma, Ganesha, Lakshmi and so on.
Kalamkari work goes
through a long-winding process of treatment on the fabric, including
resist-dyeing and hand printing. Here, the fabric is treated
extensively both before and after the dyeing process. The colors
change depending on the treatment of cloth and quality of the mordant
used. Each and every step of this process is painstakingly done and the
artisan has to strictly adhere to perfection. Seventeen long stages
later, the fabric is ready for use.
The cotton fabric first gets its glossiness by immersing it for an hour
in a mixture of resin (myrabalam) and cow milk. Contours are then drawn
with a pointed bamboo stick, soaked in a mixture of jaggery and water.
Then come the vegetable dyes. After each application of color, the
fabric is washed. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to 20 washings.
Various effects are obtained by using cow dung, seeds, plants and
crushed flowers.
This Indian folk
painting art is 3000 years old and the legacy has been handed down from
generation to generation. Kalamkari art was the staple livelihood of
many families in Andhra Pradesh.
In the middle ages, groups of singers, musicians and painters, called
chitrakattis, would travel from village to village, narrating great
stories from Hindu mythology. With time, they started illustrating
their accounts on large bolts of canvas painted on the spot, using
rudimentary means and dyes extracted from plants. This marked the birth
of Kalamkari art. By and by, Kalamkari started featuring in the large
panels of temples too.
Then there was a sudden and steep decline in Kalamkari for a while,
after which it was revived during the British Raj in India. In the year
1957, Kamaladevi Chattopadyaya helped establish a government-run
Kalamkari training center so as to train the next new generation of
artists in Kalamkari. At the present time, there is a clear upsurge in
interest in the art form by designers, NGOs and entrepreneurs living
and working in nearby cities. A range of products are now created using
Kalamkari cloth and are available for sale at craft exhibitions, small
boutiques and even from the artists themselves. Kalamkari paintings now
enjoy flourishing trade on a global scale. The J.J.School of Art in
Mumbai, India, is now experimenting with this art form on Silk Ikat and
Pochampally Silks.
The paintings, once
done, are usually transported from place to place by the artisans,
accompanied by traditional singers, who narrate and sing the theme
depicted on the scrolls. These singers are known as Bhopas.
The legend of the valiant warrior, Papuji Rathod, is a favourite with
Phad painting. It is believed that Pabuji Rathod was born of the union
of a mortal and an apsara. Hence, blessed with divine powers, Papuji
led his bands of Thoris or Bhils on many battles and returned
triumphant. He largely fought these battles to protect the cattle of
the Charan community. His compassion earned him the status of a
veritable God. In return for his good deeds, the Charan Community
gifted him with a magical Black Mare. The complete legend of Pabuji
comprises 52 Panwaras or couplets and these panwaras are performed by
the Bhopas.
Orissa is an Indian
state that is steeped in culture and in various arts, including dance,
music, architecture, and painting. Among the painting traditions, the
devotional art of the Paata paintings or patachitra on cloth, is a very
popular style that centers around the worship of Lord Jagannath, a
manifestation of Sri Krishna.
Orissa is very famous for its Patachitras. This type of folk art
painting includes wall paintings, palm-leaf etching, manuscript
painting and painting on cloth, both cotton and silk. Chitrakar
painters in and around Puri have been practising this living art form
for ages. The main area where the chitrakars live is called the
Chitrakar Sahe village, in Raghurajpur district. The art of Pata
painting on cloth can be traced right back to the very development of
the shrine of Lord Jagannath at Puri in Orissa.
The artists who
paint patachitras are known as chitrakaras. Often, it is one whole
family that is engaged in this craft, headed by the master chitrakar of
the family. Sometimes, this master also operates a studio which trains
other junior artists working under him. The chitrakaras usually live in
the vicinities of temples, such as the Jagannath temple in Puri and
also in the village of Raghurajpur, just outside Puri.
Besides painting these patachitras, the chitrakaras have other duties
as well, such as painting anasara patis. This are paintings, which
temporarily replace the main images of the three deities - Jagannath,
Balaram and Subhadra, at the time
when those deities are considered "inauspicious" and "unfit" for
viewing by the faithful.
The chitrakaras also have to paint on the cars, or chariots, on which
Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra ride during the annual ratha yatra
(car) festival each summer. During this particular festival, the main
deity, Jagannath, rides a 45-foot high car. They ride from the
Jagannath temple, along Puri's wide Grand Road to the Gundica temple
about three kilometers away, and then back again.
Chitrakaras are also expected to paint the walls of a small temple next
to the Narendra reservoir during the chandana yatra (sandalwood
festival), a festival during which images of Krishna, Lakshmi, and
Sarasvati are rowed in boats in the reservoir. The artisans paint pedi,
or dowry boxes, that are given to the bride at the time of marriage.
Patachitra painting,
when done on cloth, follows a traditional process of preparation of the
canvas. Firstly, the base is prepared by coating the cloth with soft,
white, stone powder made of chalk. A glue is then made from tamarind
seeds. This mixture, while coated on the cloth, gives the fabric
tensile strength and a smooth, semi-absorbent surface, which lets it
easily absorb the paint.
Patachitra paintings were traditionally undertaken only by the
mahapatras or maharanas, the original artiste caste in Orissa. These
paintings constituted a vital art form, which was actually used for the
ornamentation of Lord Jagannath in the innermost sanctum. Here,
paintings on especially treated cloth or Paata of the deities were done
exclusively by the temple painter. The painter used tribal and folk
themes.
The main aspect about this art is that the artisan does not use a
pencil or charcoal for the preliminary drawings. He first completes
drawing the borders of the painting. Only then does he start making a
rough sketch, directly with the brush, using light red and yellow
colors. The main flat colors come next. Here, the colors used are
white, red, yellow, and black. Once that is done, the artist proceeds
to finish the painting with fine stokes of black brush lines, giving
the effect of pen work. When the painting is completed, the fabric is
held over a charcoal fire and lacquer is applied to the surface. This
is done so as to make it water resistant and durable, besides giving it
that wonderful shimmering finish.
The materials used
by the chitrakars in patachitra are obtained from natural sources, such
as from vegetables, earth, and minerals. Black is gotten from
lampblack, yellow from haritali stone, and red from hingal stone. The
color white is prepared from crushed, boiled, and filtered shells.
Patachitra usually deals with religious, mythological, and folk themes.
Needless to say, most of the motifs revolve around tales from the
Krishna Leela and Lord Jagannath. The artists have also traditionally
painted playing cards or Ganjifa. Chitra-pothies, a collection of
painted palm leaves stacked on top of each other and held together
between painted wood covers by means of a string, illustrate
mythological themes.
The patachitra artists have now started experimenting with this art on
other surfaces too, such as wooden boxes, ceramic bowls, tassar silk,
outer shells of the coconut, wooden doors and so on. Now, they are even
working planning to create painted wooden toys, using animals and birds
in their motifs. The English alphabet is cut in the wood and painted in
the patachitra style for sale. This is now gaining immense popularity
with tourists all round the world.
Patachitra uses many
themes, but mainly, the following are the themes depicted by the
artists:
The folk art of
Kalighat painting gets its name from its place of origin, Kalighat, in
Kolkata, which was the erstwhile capital of India during the time of
the British Raj. This type of folk art painting evolved in the 19th
Century and has its roots in the several cultural upheavals of
nineteenth century colonial Bengal.
Kalighat painters
used material easily and cheaply available to them, such as brushes
made from calf and squirrel hair, cheaply priced watercolors. The
artisans also painted on inexpensive mill papers. Likewise, low-priced
color pigments were applied in transparent tones. This created a
different genre of folk art painting that vastly differed from the
traditional of Indian tempera. The artistically shaded contours and
articulated gesture and movement gave the painted figures a plaque-like
effect on a neutral unpainted ground.
The Kalighat style of painting is also characterized by formal and
linear economy, meaningful gestures, and quality brushwork and flawless
rhythmic strokes. The drawings are bold and attractive, while at the
same time, also maintaining simplicity of technique.
Kalighat painting
used many strong social themes and focused on creating awareness in
society. This folk art was the first of its kind in the Indian
subcontinent that expressed subaltern sentiment and also addressed
customers directly. Kalighat paintings started with religious
undertones too, just like all other forms of Indian folk art painting.
Hindu deities, such as Durga, Kali, Ram-Sita, Rukmini-Krishna and so
on, featured in most of the initial paintings. With time, social
sentiments came to be expressed in the medium of paper and color.
The painters were
keen observers of life, with a different kind of
humour. The wealthy zamindars (landowners) ravishing wine and women,
sloppy babus spending their day and night at questionable locales, a
priest or Vaishnav "Guru" living with unchaste women - these were some
of the themes depicted by these artists. They had a moralizing intent
and would draw the caricatures in such a way as would repel ordinary
people from such activities. The Babus' slavery to these women also
subtly depicted the then changing facet and eroding values of Indian
society.
Yet another popular theme depicted was something every Bengali held
dear - the legend of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his disciples.
The artists' paintings also depicted different professions and costumes
as well. Even contemporary events like crime were the subject of many
paintings. The artists also portrayed famous figures during the
pre-Independence Era, thus playing a major role during the Independence
movement. They also painted heroic characters like Tipu Sultan and Rani
Lakshmibai.
Interestingly,
scholars and critics alike had neglected the art Kalighat painting for
many years on end. In India, the ancient Sanskrit texts had generally
served as the yardstick for judging the merit of art forms. The written
word was considered far more important than pictorial expressions.
Since Kalighat art had lacked the authority of the sacred text, the
rural and folk visual forms of the Kalighat Paintings were considered
to be some sort of inferior expression, unworthy of so-called scholarly
attention.
Kalighat painting started getting its deserved acknowledgement and
appreciation only in the twentieth century. Indian art was, at the
time, facing a serious threat from the aggressively invasive western
culture. Thus the preservation of traditional Indian art became a prime
concern. Local traditions suddenly assumed supreme importance and there
was an acute need for protecting, documenting and reviving rural art.
This finally led to a renaissance of Kalighat Painting. Since then,
this folk art form has been recognized as a brilliantly inventive
aesthetic movement, and has received significant international
attention as well.
Warli art follows a specific technique, which is as follows:
Like every folk art,
Warli has also evolved through the ages. Warli painting was the
preserve of the womenfolk until the late 1970s, but after that, things
took a radical turn and it is now a very popular art not only India,
but abroad as well. Now, Warli art is treated as part of home décor and
Warli paintings have an international appeal and demand too. Nowadays,
Warli art has evolved and is also being painted on paper, vases, mugs,
bedsheets and apparel.
This article was written by:
Priya Viswanathan, a teacher/performer of Bharata Natyam, Classical Music and Classical Instrumental Veena. A recipient of several awards for both music and dance, Priya is also a freelance writer online. She currently writes for About.com, a subsidiary of IAC - the parent company of Ask.com. (http://mobiledevices.about.com)