the tribal warli art

warli is an ancient east indian tribe.they settled in the western region of india somwhere in the tenth century ad.they were discovered in the early seventies.warla means a piece of land.warli is a maharashtrian folk painting .this small tribe execute their paintings in mud walls of their homes with a red plastered background.their paintings are done on these walls with powdered rice paste. this tribal fork art of maharashtra has been recognised for its originality,simplicity and exquisiteness internationally.tribal routine dalily life is depicted in many of their paintings.by studying these paintings one can make out the life that these tribals led.

the paintngs show their day to day life ,their customs and beliefs.some of the subjects of paintings are:-travelling in bullock carts,applying cowdung on floors and walls,string of mango leaves on the top of their entrance door,musicians at a wedding party,drawing water from wells,carrying stacks of water containers on the head,temple marriages,forms of humans and animals,hunting,harvesting etc. surprisingly there are no gods and goddesses in their paintings.they also paint on paper.

india has rich diversity in its culture.the handicrafts produced in our country are very special and follow historical traditions and artistry.the warli painting stands out as an outstanding example of the efforts of the tribals to exhibit their simple life,thoughts and ideas through the medium of painting.

some four years back i met a warli artiste accidentally in an exhibition.after i had chatted for a while he suggested that he would come over to my house and do some paintings.it was a two day job.he prepared a red background on the front walls of our balconies and did some exellent paintings which are as good as recently done even today. these are open balconies subject to sun and rain.i am happy to have a piece of indian tribal art on my balcony walls which i see every day and admire the painting skills of the warli tribal folks.