On Diwali, the festival of lights, as the lamps are lit, the TARPA is used to summon young couples in the village to dance in a ring. (TARPA is a long bulbous musical instrument made from dried gourd) Dancing in a circle around the tarpa player-it is life seen as a celebration of human endeavors. It is a breathtaking round of swinging, swirling movement- a merry-go-round of light and sound festivity. There is an atmosphere of lush celebration around the central theme.
A plethora of trees, animals, and humans weave in and out of the surrounding space with trees dominating the landscape, swaying fervently with the very essence of life. Measured against these are diminutive men and animals. Many different types of trees have been evolved-from those with swirling circles of dots to fan shaped leaves, to those with branches akin to peacock feathers. The heavily stylized trees, some of which have been invented by the Warlis, express a new found confidence.
Animals consist of two sharply formed triangles. The horse with the rider, especially, is fully etched out, sharp and confident in its angularity. The emergence of huts, animals, humans, show signs of domestication. That they are engaged in activity, suggest a primitive level of development.
In this painting, we see a whole wave of movement of humanity as it swirls one way and then another with the ebb and flow of life. The scene around the central depiction is that of day to day lives of the Warlis with a startling exuberance. These activities are separate patterns interlocked into a protoplasmic whole.
This description by Renu Rana. References:
Dalmia, Yashodhara. The Painted World of the Warlis: New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1988.
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