Folk paintings of India

In India, the tradition of painting has been carried out since ancient times. The style of paintings differs from region to region and period to period.

The description of Indian folk paintings region wise is as follows:-

(1)   MADHUBANI PAINTING AND SANTHAL PAINTING OF BIHAR

Madhubani painting:-

Madhubani or Mithila art is persistent in some areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is told that the painting evolved when king of Mithila, Janak asked the painters to draw the marital ceremony of his daughter Sita with Lord Ram, the prince of Ayodhya. These paintings are made on various mediums such as clothes, handmade paper and canvas.

The main theme of Madhubani paintings contain images of Hindu gods and goddesses such as Lord Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Laxmi, Durga, Saraswati etc. Madhubani is a district of North Bihar situated at a distance of 190 kilometers from Patna city. The village Jitwarpur is around two/three kilometers away from Madhubani Railway station. Madhubani 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 symbols that these Mithila painters use have their specific meanings as, for instance, fish symbolize fertility, procreation and good luck, peacocks are associated with romantic love and religion, and serpents are the divine protectors. Characterized by vibrant use of color, underlying symbolism and traditional geometric patterns supporting the main theme, the Indian folk art form of Madhubani succeeded in creating a place for itself in the international house of fame and is now recognized worldwide. The Government of India is also paying its tribute by starting training programs educating people on Madhubani paintings

Santhal painting:-

The third largest tribes of India are the Santhal tribe. This tribe habitation is mainly in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam. Bihar is the home of Santhal paintings. The main depictions of Santhal paintings include animal & bird motifs, dance, harvest and Hindu deities. The themes for these paintings are chosen from the natural surroundings or from the activities of everyday lives, such as a happy family, fields, dance, quarrel, beating wife, gods and goddess, wine party etc. These paintings reflect the simplicity of artists. All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.

(2)   TANGKHAS PAINTING OF TIBET
Tangkha paintings are traditional Tibetan paintings of a Buddha, Buddhist deity. Although “tangkhas” are framed in rich, colorful silk brocades, they are not simply decorations but religious objects. They can be found in every monastery and family shrine in Tibet. Tangkha are silk painted scrolls executed in vegetable and mineral dyes on canvas and framed by silk brocade especially woven to look like the traditional Chinese brocades. These scrolls are painted by young Tibetan monks and trained lay artists. These are actually ritual paintings displayed only during certain festivals and generally depict the mystical panorama of Tibetan Buddhism and the mythology and lives of Buddhist gods and Bodhisattvas.

(3)   ‘PATAS’ AND ‘TALAPATRACHITRA’ OF ORISSA

In Orissa two types of paintings are popular. They are:-

(1)   Patas

(2)   Talapatrachitra (Palm leaf paintings)

(1) The Pata paintings or Patachitra is a very old form of art in Odisha. These paintings flourished in Odisha in early 15th & 16th centuries and later because of Jagannath. The cult of Jagannath used pata paintings to spread the faith throughout Odisha. Besides Jagannath, themes of Ramayan and Bhagvat are also popular. The basic color of these pata paintings are Vermillion (Hingula), Yellow (Haritala), White (Shankha), Black (Kajal or kala), Indian red (Geru). Blue is a latter addition to this color scheme.

 Talapatrachitra or Palm leaf paintings are equally popular form of art in Odisha evovled in later part of 17th century. Ram-leela & Krushna-leela are the most popular theme of these paintings. This technique has been adapted into an art form in Odisha. Leaves of the palm tree are cut, dried in the sun and then stored in a cool, dry place for two years. They are then cut to size and boiled in water with tamarind, harada, behada (Terminalia belerica) and turmeric for 30 minutes and dried in the sun. The ready leaves are stitched together and the artist etches the form or design on them with an iron stylus. After the etching is complete, the leaf is rubbed with a paste of kajal (fine carbon) and gum. The leaves are washed again and rubbed with bean leaves and then with turmeric to prevent fungus. The artists of Odisha create etchings that are of incredible detail, elegance and beauty. The inspiration for the works is derived mostly from legends, myths and folklore of Odisha.

(4) PHAD PAINTING AND PICHWAI PAINTING OF RAJASTHAN

Phad painting:-

Phad painting is a popular style of folk painting, practiced in Rajasthan state of India. This style of painting is traditionally done on a long piece of cloth, known as phad. The narratives of the folk deities of Rajasthan, mostly of Pabuji and Devnarayan are depicted on the phads. The Bhopas, the priest-singers traditionally carry the painted phads along with them and use these as the mobile temples of the folk deities. The phads of Pabuji are normally about 15 feet in length, while the phads of Devnarayan are normally about 30 feet long. Traditionally the phads are painted with vegetable colors. The large-scale horizontal paintings on cloth portraying the epic lives of the local hero-gods are popularly known as Phad Paintings.

Pichwai Painting:-

Pichwai paintings are works of art that are used to adorn the walls of temples, behind the idol. The pichwai style is from the Nathwara School, and is identified by characteristic features of large eyes, broad nose and a heavy body, similar to the features on the idol of Shrinathji.

Pichwai painting is a form of traditional fabric painting. Pichwai is more refined and detailed than Phads. They are created and used as backdrops in the Shrinathji temple Nathwara. The main theme of these paintings is Shrinathji. Pichwai are painted, printed with hand blocks, woven, embroidered and they are done in dark rich hues on rough hand spun cloth. Presently pichwai are painted din Udaipur and Nathdwara.

(5) WARLI PAINTING OF MAHARASHTRA

THE WARLI TRIBE, living in Thane district, are known for the sacred pictographs they paint on the walls of their modest huts during wedding rituals. Rice paste and straw  was smeared on the walls as base and motifs inspired from their life, nature, epics, legends, local incidents and tales  painted on it with a brush made of twigs. Palaghata, the goddesses of trees and plants symbolizing creative energy, is the central theme of these paintings. The visual energy of the Warli painting is attained through line drawings or cultivating land, color is not the main criteria. Individual artists have received recognition the world over, and in recent years the medium of these paintings has transferred to paper, and cloth layered with cow dung paste which produces the characteristic natural and dull background with the motifs painted white.

(6) GOND PAINTINGS OF MADHYA PRADESH

Gond paintings done on village mud walls use colors derived from charcoal, colored soil, plant sap, leaves, and cow dung and can last up to 20 years. The specialty of Gond painting is the simplicity of the ideas and their representation of the day-to-day life of rural people. Recently, the Gondi artists have started painting on canvas or paper.

(7) KALAMKARI PAINTING OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Kalamkari painting is a beautiful art form of Andhra Pradesh. Kalamkari refers to a method of painting natural dyes onto cotton or silk fabric. Kalamkari literally means, Kalam (pen) and kari (work), which means art work done using a pen. Masulipatnam and Kalahasti are the two main areas where this art is practiced. The themes of Kalamkari paintings are essentially Hindu mythology and Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The colors used are all natural dyes like the ochre, indigo, charcoal black and red. Traditionally, Kalamkari paintings were used to decorate temple chariots in religious processions or stretched behind the idols of Gods. The designs usually have a main central panel and are surrounded by smaller blocks arranged in rows, which depict the major scenes from a legend. It may also have verses from original texts written in black ink beneath the rows.

The cloth to be painted is dipped in a mixture of milk and harada (Terminalia chebula) before being dried in the sun. The design is outlined on the cloth with a bamboo sliver using kasimi – a black dye made from iron filings and jaggery. The interior of the design is then painted with various natural dyes one after another, each involving a laborious process of application and washing. Red color is obtained by painting the relevant part of the design with alum, washing in running water and then dipping in a dye of madder. Traditionally, the craftsmen of Srikalahasti, painted stories and scenes derived from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which include the story of Krishna and themes from the environment such as the ‘Tree of Life’. These days, they also paint social themes, stories of Buddha, his previous births, and Jesus Christ.

(8) KALIGHAT PAINTING AND PATUA PAINTING OF BENGAL

Kalighat painting:-

Kalighat painting derives its name from its place of origin Kalighat in Kolkata. Kalighat is a bazaar near the Kali temple in Kolkata. Patua painters from rural Bengal came and settled in Kalighat to make images of gods and goddesses in the early nineteenth century. These paintings on paper made with water colors comprise clear sweeping line drawings using bright colors and a clear background. Subjects are images of Kali, Lakshmi, Krishna, Ganesh, Shiva, and other gods and goddesses. In this process, artists developed a unique new form of expression, and effectively portray a wide range of subjects commenting on the social life of Bengal. Similar kind of pata paintings may be found in Orissa. This painting form has its roots in the culture upheaved of 19th century colonial Bengal. The Kalighat painting was basically the drawing, the outlines of which were made in bold single stroke with brush which could easily be reproduced by lithography. Such prints were then hand colored. This trend continued up to the early part of the twentieth century and these paintings ended up in museums and private collections. The charm of the Kalighat paintings lies in the fact that they captured the essence of daily life and they influence modern artistes like the late Jamini Roy even to this day.

Patua painting:-

The tradition of patua painting is associated with Paschimbanga (previously, West Bengal), where there are small colonies of patuas (village artists), who create long vertical paintings illustrating stories in a series of descending panels. In these scrolls, the deeds of Krishna, adventures of Rama and other popular figures are depicted scene after scene as the scroll is gradually unwound. Such scrolls are not intended for sale but rather to equip the artist for his second important trade – that of a wandering minstrel. Covering a radius of 10–15 miles from his village, the patua goes from village to village gathering an audience around him, displaying his scrolls and intoning their contents. More often than not, the stories are well-known to the listeners, but each patua or chitrakar furnishes a slightly different inflection to the tale. The patuas (also known as patidars) take a very long, old piece of cloth on which they smear a mixture of black mud paste and cow dung. When dry, a coating of lac is given to stiffen it and fill up the porous surface. The figures drawn on it are symbolic and bold in style and painted in bright colors made from extracts of flowers and minerals.

(9) MATA NI PACHEDI OF GUJARAT

Mata ni pachedi, which translates to ‘behind the mother goddess’, is a cloth that features a temple of the Goddess. When members of the nomadic Vaghri community of Gujarat were disallowed from entering temples, they made their own shrines with depictions of the Mother Goddess on cloth. The boldness of the paintings, which usually follow a set pattern, is reinforced by the starkness of red and black, the only colors used. In the center is the commanding figure of the Mata or Mother Goddess in various iconographic forms, either sitting on a throne or mounted on an animal. In Ahmedabad, artisans make these paintings using the same methods followed 200 years ago. Cotton fabric is first de-starched and then treated with harada paste, to prepare it for absorbing the color. The outlines of the figures are painted first, with black color prepared from jaggery and iron. After this, red color, extracted from tamarind seeds, is filled in and the areas supposed to be white are left blank. After the application of each color, the fabric is boiled in alizarin solution, to bring out the color, and then washed. For washing, the craftsmen go to Sabarmati (a river in Gujarat) as the cloth must be washed in running water only, so that excess color flows away, instead of staining the cloth. It takes days of patience and dedication, to prepare one piece. For instance, painting a cloth of 5x9 inches can take up to two months.

The strong lines and bold use of color, that reflect the power and energy of the goddess, have now transformed to more artistic and detailed illustrations; but the style of depicting mythical characters remains the same. The artists now incorporate many more colors such as indigo, green and yellow in the paintings, using the age old methods of extracting color from natural materials.