W arli

Warli
Introduction

Warli paintings are folk paintings from Maharashtra and are very different
from other folk and tribal paintings in India. They do not narrate
mythology in primary colours as did the Madhubanis nor did it contain
the robust sensuality of the paintings found in Eastern India. Instead
they are painted on mud, charcoal, cowdung based surface using only
white colour, and are decorated with series of dots in red and yellow.

History and Religion

Warli is the name of a tribe, which resides in Thane district of Maharashtra on the northern
outskirts of Mumbai and extends up to the Gujarat border. They are spread out in the
villages named Dahanu, Talasari, Mokhada, Vada, Palghara and several other parts of the
district as well. The origin of the warlis is yet unknown and no records of this art are found,
but many scholars and folklorists believe that it can be traced to as early as tenth century
A.D when man learnt to build walls of the house. This art was eventually discovered in the
early seventies, and became popular for its unique simplicity and fervor for life.

The warlis were originally hunters but today they are farmers and work according to the
monsoon. Thus their paintings are also influenced by the seasonal cycle as their life around
them is directly reflected in the paintings. Tr aditionally, only women practiced this art form
on the interior walls of their mud houses. Since at that time rice was most easily accessible,
they used the colour white, which was made from ground rice flour. As time passed by, the
men have also begun to paint.

To understand and enjoy the paintings of Warlis, one should know their religion, their rituals
and see life from their perspective. As the life of warlis link closely with nature, they worship
the nature in different forms – Sun and moon, god of thunder, lightning, wind, rain, and
several others. Gods are worshiped according to the seasons. In the coming of the first rice
they worship the god of rain and it’s called the festival of Naranadeva. This is then followed
by the worship of household gods, in the festival of Hirva, Himai, Jhoting and Naranadeva.
Next is the festival of Tiger God, and then is Kansari, the goddess of grain, and finally the
marriage rituals take place, and this time the deity of fertility, Palghata, is worshipped. For
the Warlis, life is cyclic repeating it eternally. Circles best represent the art of warli, which
has neither an end nor a beginning. At all occasions – birth, marriage, and death they draw
circles, symbol of Mother goddess. Death is not the end for them; rather it is a new beginning.
Similar to their religious beliefs the warli paintings carry this circular and spiral movement
that gives an everlasting joy.

Warli Paintings

Usually the warli paintings are done during the marriage ceremony and
they call them as Lagnace citra meaning marriage paintings. The painting
i s very sacred and without it the marriage cannot take place. The warlis
who are simple and happy in nature also include life around them in their
paintings because they express everything they see, feel, and believe in
life. We find animals, trees, birds, plants, houses, and men in their paintings
and they form a loose, rhythmic pattern on the entire surface. Their respect
for nature is from the most gigantic to the smallest creature and plant.

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When looked closely, they have a light singing and swirling movement,
describing their daily activities. The figures and traditional motives are
very repetitive and highly symbolic. These paintings form a bridge
between themselves and the outside world. They communicate through
their paintings and their life style and passion for nature are depicted
beautifully!

Triangular humans and animals with stick-like hands and legs, and
geometrical designs with rows of dots and dashes are drawn on the mud
walls of the huts of Warlis. In warli paintings it is very rare to see a
s t raight line. A series of dots and dashes make one line. The artists have recently
started to draw straight lines in their paintings. The use of space in a warli painting is very
fascinating. From the depths of the painting spring a variety of activities with human, animals,
and trees. A multiplicity of events takes place simultaneously, and the perspective changes
when the baseline of the painting is drawn. Though painted on a flat and muddy surface, it
gives us a three-dimensional effect as if the world of Warlis became alive in front of us.

Subjects: Warli paintings have various subjects or themes, which depict a story from their
daily activities. Each painting has numerous elements giving a vast panoramic view. The
subjects found in these paintings are wedding scenes, various animals, birds, trees, men,
women, children, descriptive harvest scene, group of men dancing around a person playing
the music, dancing peacocks, and many more.

The most famous warli painting is the marriage chauk – a painting made at the time of
marriage. The warli women called Savasini meaning married women whose husbands are
alive, paint a chauk or a square on their walls of their kitchen as they believe they are the
most sacred walls in the house where the gods are placed. Before starting to paint, these
walls are first plastered with cowdung and the most important part of the wall is coated with
geru or red mud. On this a decorative chauk is made and in the center is placed goddess
Palaghata, as she has to be present for the wedding. She is widely known as Mother-
Goddess. In most of the paintings she is without a head and a human figure. The word
Palaghata explains that she represents the over-flowing pot with plants and is the goddess
of fertility. The space around the chauk is filled with dotted trees providing shade to the
goddess, animals, and men doing various activities like dancing, playing music, climbing
trees, carrying loads, or just standing with their limbs flying in the air. Beside the main
chauk a smaller chaukis drawn for the god Pancairiya, and it’s called the deva chauk who
look after the family. This painting is indispensable during the marriage ceremony.

Warli Art – as seen today

Warlis worshipped their paintings and never imagined to commercialise them until twenty -
five years ago when the people of India discovered them. The warli paintings
are liked instantly because it is so alive that one can almost feel the activities
and hear the trumpets, drumbeats and songs of these little people. Today
small paintings are done on cloth and paper, but they still look best on
the walls or murals bringing out the vast and magical world of Warlis.

In the course of our fieldwork we met Kusam Shyam Karpade and Reena
Santhya Umbersada, warli artists from Thane district, Maharashtra and
realised how contented they were with their art. They cannot separate
themselves with the paintings and it plays a vital role in their lives. Life in
the Warli tribe is shown very creatively. With pure imagination and simple depiction, their

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paintings bring an air of authenticity. When W a r l i wor k s hop – Sched ul e

asked about the changes in their artistic Date 15-19, November 2000
t radition, they were glad that their art is
greatly appreciated and as long the art form Venue Centenary Hall, Government
is maintained, changes are welcome. Their Museum, Chennai
goal is to preserve this art and make it known Time 10.15a.m – 4.45 p. m
to the world.
15 November Inaugural function at
Acknowledgements Centenary Hall,
Government Museum,
We are grateful to Mr. Siddarth Kak, Director, Chennai from
Cinema Vision India, for making it possible 10.00 a.m- 1.00 p. m
to meet the Warli artists. We are extremely
g rateful to Father Adrian and Mr. Ajay Lecture:
Dandekar, for sending the Warli artists to Arts and Lives of the Warli
Chennai exclusively for the workshop. We are by
also thankful to Ms. Rajkumari Asthana for M.D.Muthukumaraswamy
providing us with research materials for the
brochure. S ketching and drawing
different Kinds of Warli
Exhibition cum sale of Warli paintings by the motifs
artists at Lalit Kala Academy, 170 Greams 16 November Introduction and
Road, Chennai-600006. demonstration by Warli
artists Warli painting-1
Tel / Fax: 044 – 8277692 (on paper)
Dates: 17-18, November 2000 Lecture:
Indian tribal painting with
Time: 11.a.m – 7p. m
special reference to Warli
Bibliography painting by
K.Lakshminarayan
Dalma, Yashodhara, 1988, The Painted World Continuation of warli
of the Warlis, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi painting-1
Jain, Jotindra , 1 9 8 4 , Painted Myths of 17 November Finishing touches of
Creation. Art and Ritual of an Indian Tribe, painting-1
New Delhi
Warli painting-2 (on cloth)
Jayakar, Pupul, 1981, The Earthen Drum, An 18 November Continuation of painting-2
Introduction to The Ritual Arts of Rural India,
New Delhi Finishing touches of
painting-2
Kapur, Sohaila, 1983, Pictorial Space, New
19 November Warli painting-3 (on paper)
Delhi
Finishing touches of
Kosambi, D. D, 1 9 6 2 , Myth and Reality. painting-3
Studies in the Formation of Indian Culture,
Bombay
Valedictory function at Centenary Hall,
K ramrisch, Stella, 1968, Unknown India: Government Museum, Chennai from
Ritual Art in Tribe and Village, Philadelphia 3.30p.m – 4.30 p. m

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Lannoy, Richard, 1971, The Speaking Tree, programme - Warli painting – Visual Art
London Tr aditions of India Series

Save, K.J, 1945, The Warlis, Bombay Date: 15-19, November 2000
Ve n u e : C e n t e n a r y H a l l , G ov e r n m e n t
Wakankar, Vishnu and Robert Brooks, 1976, Museum, Chennai
Stone Age Painting in India, Bombay
Artists: Kusam Shyam Karpade and Reena
Zimmer, Heinrich, 1946, Myth and Symbols Santhya Umbersada
in Indian Art and Civilization, New York
For registration call Rola/ Jasmine at NFSC
On line resources on Warli
Phone No. 2450553/ 2448589
www.shalincraft-india.com/tribwar2.html
Addresses of Warli artists who are coming
Arts and Crafts of Warli tribe for this workshop:
www.khazana.com/folk/warli.html Kusam Shyam Karpade and Reena Santhya
Paintings of the Warli tribe of India Umbersada
www. e z l i n k . c o m / ~ m a r t i / Ra s h m i / C/O Father Adrian
warli_art.htm Shantivan Shethkari,
What is “Warli Art?” Seva Mandal, Ashaghad, Taluka Dahanu
NFSC in collaboration with Government District, Thane - 401602
Museum, Chennai announces its fourth public

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Folklor e
Support Centre cooperative and experimental activities at various levels. NFSC’s public programming is supported
by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

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