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CRAFTS OF INDIA / WARLI PAINTING / THEMES

CRAFTS OF INDIA / WARLI PAINTING / THEMES

 

WARLI PAINTING
Everyday themes

- Cultivation of paddy is their main source of subsistence and their whole life revolves around the various seasons of the harvest. The Warli painting depicts the typical daily chores in a Warli village. While, traditionally the paintings were exclusively farm scenes with huts, off-late modern elements have started creeping in.

- Cityscapes with its vehicles, schools and other contemporary themes are making way to keep pace with the world outside their community - a bit of a sell-out to draw attention, possibly. But largely, these paintings with traditional themes are still a big draw, both domestically and internationally.

- Apart from ritualistic paintings, other Warli paintings covered day-to-day activities of the village folks. One of the central striking aspect of many Warli paintings is the "Tarpa Dance"- the tarpa, a trumpet-like instrument, is played in turns by different men.

- Men and women entwine their hands and move in a circle around the Tarpa player. The dancers follow the Tarpa player, turning and moving as he turns, never turning their back to the Tampa. The Tarpa player plays two different notes, which direct the head dancer to either move clockwise or anti-clockwise.

- The Tampa player assumes a role like that of a snake charmer, and the dancers become the figurative snake. The dancers take a long turn in the audience and try to encircle them for fun. The circle formation of the dancers is also said to resemble the circle of life.

- The Warlis celebrate the onset of each season. Observing minute changes in sunrise and sunset, Warlis predict the onset of Monsoon. The first rain in June announces the birth of a new cycle of life. Peacock is said to be able to foretell rain, and dances when rain is coming.

- Another main theme of Warli art is the denotation of a triangle that is larger at the top is "man" and a triangle which is wider at the bottom is "woman".

Modern day extension of Warli paintings

One of the main canvases for the Warli paintings are sarees, salwar kameez, kurtas, kurtis, other forms of apparel. However the objects of daily life have also taken to the Warli paintings for their unusual look and attractiveness. Warli painted umbrellas, night lamps, tea costers, wall clocks, wall hangings, cards and envelopes, and even rooms in a house are extremely eye-catching and interesting.