“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.” – Michelangelo
There couldn’t be a more comprehensive summing up of the core emotion of Warli art. An art form that is driven by everyday life stories, and these tales also, in turn, become a reminder of traditional values and cultures cherished by the tribe. The Warlis believe that without the ahankaar, there is no kahankar. They have an advanced notion of communication.
A story is the passing of energy from narrator to listener. Warli painting is a form of tribal mural art created by the tribal people from the North Sahyadri Range in Maharashtra, India. The Warlis or Varlis are an indigenous tribe living in mountainous as well as coastal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
They speak an unwritten Varli language which belongs to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Warli Tribesmen and women are traditional storytellers; they follow the oral practice of passing down traditions, knowledge, and culture. This oral tradition translates into beautifully painted elaborate tales on the walls of their houses and other common areas of the community.
These visual canvases capture their daily rhythms in life; the forces of nature they worship, their simplistic belief systems, their laughter, regret, victories, and tears. Without even saying a single word, an uncountable world of tales exists on the wall, some depicting everyday activities like fishing, hunting, cooking, harvesting, etc, while others are more nuanced, teaching many life lessons.
Contrary to popular perception, the Warli Paintings of Maharashtra are very different from other tribal and folk paintings in India but similar in many ways to the African Zulu Paintings. Their themes revolve around the depiction of daily life activities rather than mythological themes. Unlike Madhubani paintings that use bright colours, these are painted on a mud- and cow dung-based surface using earth colours or rice paste in white.
From monochromatic appearance to simple designs and authentic colors, Warli paintings have proven to gain real fame. They are not really colorful, but they depict scenes from the social life of the tribe, rather than religious or mythological characters. They depict different activities such as hunting, harvesting, drawing water, fishing, dancing, etc.
The Warli tribe is one of the largest in India, located outside of Mumbai. Despite being close to one of the largest cities in India, the Warli reject much of contemporary culture. The style of Warli painting was not recognised until the 1970s, even though the tribal style of art is thought to date back as early as the 10th century A.D.
The Warli culture is centered around the concept of Mother Nature, and elements of nature are often focal points depicted in Warli painting. Farming is their main way of life and a large source of food for the tribe. They greatly respect nature and wildlife for the resources that they provide for life. Warli artists use their clay huts as the backdrop for their paintings, similar to how ancient people used cave walls as their canvases.
These paintings seem to be nothing more than Warli figures drawn in white on rich, dark walls to the untrained eye, but a closer inspection shows that Warli is far more than meets the eye. To many, it may seem like just a simple art form of India. Still, the Warli tribes located in the mountains and coastal regions in and around Maharashtra and Gujarat's borders are Warli painting states.
The origin of Warli art can be traced back to around 3000 BC and seems to have an enigmatic appeal to it. Even though the tribal art style dates back to the 10th century A.D., the Warli painting form was not known until the 1970s. Although the primary way of life and a significant food source for the tribe was farming, they had great respect for nature and wildlife for the resources they provided for life.
On various occasions, this type of painting was mainly centred around the concept of Mother Nature and its elements. Quite often, multiple parts of nature are the focal points that are further accentuated in these paintings. A fascinating fact about Warli artists is that they used their clay huts as the backdrop for their masterpieces, much like how ancient people utilised their cave walls as canvases.
In the 1970s, this ritual art took a radical turn when Jivya Soma Mashe and his son Balu Mashe started to paint, not for any special ritual, but because of their artistic pursuits. “Our history is not written, it is drawn: we tell you stories, we tell you about our life”, said Jivya Soma Mashe.
Mashe is the recognised father of modern Warli painting, and Ramesh Hengadi is a follower who has developed his own distinctive style in response to the changes in community life and shifts in local and global economies. Hengadi has participated in a series of events.
Over the years, Warli paintings have evolved drastically. Initially, these beautiful masterpieces were created on mud walls with a paste of rice and water that was used to paint the characters on the canvas, and chewed bamboo sticks were used as paintbrushes; since then, Warli painting characters have come into the picture.
But, on the other hand, today, conventional paints and paintbrushes can create an end product just the same. Other than that, Warli paintings are not just restricted to the traditional mud walls anymore. They’ve expanded on a great scale in the home decor industry and seem to be growing day by day.
From pots and vases to bedsheets and curtain prints, they are becoming increasingly popular and highly liked. The textile and clothing industry is fond of this beautiful Indian art form, not just the home decor world. These days, witnessing a beautiful Warli painting-printed saree adorned by women on the street or the fashion show ramp is a common sight that everyone very much likes.
Earlier, Warli artists used to do the paintings on mud walls of their own houses. In this folk art of painting, design is never traced or drawn. It is a visualisation or creativity of the artisan. Design is directly painted on walls with a wooden stick. The background of the design is an earthen colour or a reddish colour. House walls are painted with cow dung powder, and a coating is given with geru powder. White paste is made from rice flour, and the paste is prepared with water, which is used for painting.
🔸Without tracing the design, it is directly drawn on paper or cloth.
🔸A bamboo stick is chewed at the end to make it as supple as a paint brush, is a simple tool used for painting.
🔸Motifs are painted with white paste on the walls or earthen pots, on wooden articles, or on paper or cloth.
🔸First, the body of the human figure is drawn by connecting two triangles, and hands and legs are depicted in a dancing position, and then the remaining design is accomplished by painting minute details.Cloth is ironed from the reverse side of the cloth.
The attributes characterizing almost all Warli paintings are:
1.) Use of natural and artificial white colour.
2.) A border with simple triangle squares geometric figures.
3.) Symbols like the Sun, Moon, Birds, and trees supporting the main theme.
4.) Abstract-like Human figures, figures of deities, and bride and groom.
5.) The faces of the human figures are circles, the body is represented by two triangles, and females are identified with a protruding curved line symbolising a ponytail. Warli painting is an emblematic expression of day-to-day experiences and beliefs. As such, symbolism, simplicity, and beauty hold them together in a single school of traditional art.
The walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth, and cow dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings.
🔸The Warli use only white for their paintings. Their white pigment is a mixture of rice paste & water, with gum as a binder.
🔸To create variations, geru, Turmeric, Kumkum, leaves, and coloured flowers are used to extract natural dyes, and gum is extracted from trees.
🔸Black colour is extracted from charcoal and used to depict the cruel soul
🔸Red colour from Butea Monosperma (Palas) flowers is used to show the existence of God Naradmuni and is a symbol of departed souls.
🔸Kumkum colour is used as a symbol of prosperity. Yellow colour is extracted from pineapple.
During marriages, the Diwali festival, the Holi festival, during the season of crop harvesting, and during other rituals, painting is done on Warli’s pada with full enthusiasm and freedom. Their folk dance, daily life routine, Nature, gods and goddesses, animals, birds, and similar themes are mainly used in painting. Through their artistic living culture and movements of human figures, they imply certain meanings.
The Warli painting essentially depicts the basic principles of life, which are used to depict human figures, animal figures, houses, etc. ‘White colour’ is used on a red earthen background. Warli paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle & a square, and paintings are monosyllabic.
The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon; the triangles come from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land.
The central motif in each ritual painting is the square, known as the “chauk”. Mostly, chauks are of 2 types: Devchauk & Lagnchauk. This motif is a square motif, drawn during a marriage ceremony on walls, which is known as “Devchauk” (God’s square). Inside a devchauk, palaghat, the mother goddess symbolizing fertility is found. This process of drawing a square with God is called “Chauk Lihine”. In the beginning, they just draw a simple line for the name of God, which is known as “Devregh” (line for God).
The lines are drawn on the name of the bride and groom. In this motif, the bride and groom riding a horse are depicted in the center of the square. This motif is painted mainly by married women by performing rituals. The remaining part of it is painted with various motifs by women from their families and boys and girls with cheerful gestures, a sort of group painting.
Tarpa dance is a folk dance of the Warli tribe. Tarpa is a musical instrument of the tribe. “Tarpa” is made of dry bottle gourd, bamboo tubes and bamboo sticks, cord, and wax. This instrument is beautiful-looking and 2 to 6 feet in length. This dance is performed in a circle by males and females by clasping one another’s hands.
The main dance performer, standing in the centre, plays the Tarpa, and Females get involved in this performance with a free mind. This dance is started at the time of sunset and performed till sunrise of the next day. So, sun and moon motifs are seen in this painting. Sometimes boys and girls, they select their dance partner as a life partner too through tarpa.
The central motif in these ritual paintings is surrounded by scenes portraying hunting, fishing, & farming, festivals & dance. Human figures are represented by two triangles joined at the tip: the upper triangle depicts the trunk & the lower triangle the pelvis. A circle depicts the face without features like a nose, eyes, and ears. Males are identified by the bunch of hair shown, and females by a special hairstyle in a circle called “Ambada”.
The circle is considered a symbol of the lifecycle. Sun, Moon, Trees, Creepers, birds, things used in day-to-day life, Nature and Gods like vaghya god, Naran god and Panchshirya god motif is used to save family and Himai goddess and Hirwai goddess are mainly symbol of nature, depicted in this painting.
As Warli are farmers, animal motifs like Cows, Bulls, Cocks, Hens, sheep, and dogs are used in painting, as these are domestic animals. Bird motifs like Peacock, sparrow is seen; sometimes snake, frog is also seen. The peacock is a beautiful national bird depicted everywhere in traditional textiles, embroideries, and paintings in India. Frogs are depicted for heavy rainfall; scenes of harvesting or farming are shown to grow grains in ample amounts and prosperity.
The snake motif is painted during the special festival of snakes, on which day real snakes are worshipped, called “Nagpanchami”.
The Holi festival is the New Year celebration of Maharashtrian people, mainly celebrated in March.
Marriage is one of the most important themes in Warli art. A Warli painting on marriage clearly shows their marriage god, Palghat, birds, trees, men & women dancing in circles, various celebrations, bride and Bridegroom.
While the reaping season scene is shown by the laborers cutting the crops in the field. On the other hand, modern adaptations in Warli art include bicycles & transistors as well as flora and fauna. Musicians and agriculture are traditional ones.
Their society is more egalitarian, leaning towards a matriarchy; there are a myriad of stories with feminist undertones. In the Warlis, no woman can be married against her will, nor can she be forced to stay in a marriage. If a couple elopes and spends three days together, when they return to their homes, they can get married irrespective of their family’s wishes.
The concept of dowry is reversed and turned into ‘bride price’. One is taking an able-bodied woman away from her family, so the man needs to pay a price for it. Earlier, it used to be paddy or rice; now it is clothes or money. Weddings are conducted by a priestess, the dhaulerin, assisted by a group of suhasins.
The importance given to communality is another feature their stories reveal. The idea of owning property or land did not exist among them before British rule. Children hunt together, learning from older children. And each child gets an equal share of the hunt.
With the back-to-the-roots movement taking over every part of our lives, art lovers flaunt the Warli motif with pride. Traditionally, this painting is done on a red ochre background with white paint, and these are the only two colours used. But today, a variety of colours are being used to replicate these artistic motifs on fabrics, home décor, or other artistic forms.
The first transition of Warli art into the outside world was by means of a change in the medium of painting. It began to be made on paper that promised better durability and longevity of the paintings. Sections of the Warli community slowly came in touch with the urban lifestyle. Many of them completely migrated to the mainstream urban culture in pursuit of better livelihoods.
There are some excellent examples of the display of Warli art in public spotlights. An entire colossal wall of the Tony Garnier Urban Museum was painted in an exquisite display of a Warli canvas. In 1993, a Warli artist named Shantaram Chintya Tumbada was approached for this work, which was part of a series of five paintings depicting the five continents on the walls of the museum.
As a result, this massive mural of Warli art is showcased on the museum wall in Lyon, France. In India, Warli artist Rajesh Chaitya Vangad has his works displayed on the walls of Mumbai International Airport and at Homi Bhaba Block of Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, Mumbai. Of all those who are taking inspiration from this art, the lifestyle sector is the one that is most fascinated by its richness.
It would be surprising if such a beautiful art form were missing from the innovations by the fashion industry. Warli art has a charm of being on the lines of intricate village art that could be adapted to linen collections of earthy and neutral colours. While sarees with Warli prints have a unique aesthetic appeal, the fashion walks have witnessed the use of this curious art style on dresses, kurtis, palazzos, and other fashion novelties.
The use of the Warli art style was also witnessed under the Grassroot label of designer wear by Anita Dongre when she unveiled her collections at Lakme Fashion Week Winter Fest 2015. From brightly coloured umbrellas to coffee mugs and tea cups, rustic wall clocks, accents for walls, and stationery, Warli is pretty much everywhere.
In the past, the famed Indian designer Archana Kochhar introduced the indigenous Warli Art at New York Fashion Week (NYFW), as a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign. It demonstrated how figurines in Warli can be captured very beautifully in our fashion with contemporary silhouettes.
Hence, from adorning the borders of colourful scarves and kurtis to embellishing the luxurious jute and silk sarees, Warli has taken over the ramp for good. Today, Warli art has come along a long way to be filtered into present fashion and design creations.
Once a simple painting technique of a marginal Indian tribe, Warli paintings have gained international exposure by virtue of talented artists. It is indeed heart-warming to see that an ancient art style which is also an element of the Indian national heritage, continuing to flourish in modern times.
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3. Gupta C. Indian Folk and Tribal Paintings. Roli Books, New Delhi, 2008, 36-45.
4. Jain J. Painted Myths of creation, Art and Ritual of Indian tribe. Mapin Publishing, New Delhi, 1984, 10-15.
5. Mookerjee A. Folk art of India. Clarion Books, New Delhi, 1986, 42-55
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