Warli painting

Subject: Arts and culture

Context:

With a view to promote Indian folk art, National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) a PSU under the Department of Fertilizers has displayed Maharashtra’s famous Warli painting on the outer walls of its Corporate Office in Noida.

Concept:

• Warli is the name of the largest tribe found on the northern outskirts of Mumbai, in Western India.
• Despite being in such close proximity of the largest metropolis in India, Warli tribesmen shun all influences of modern urbanization.
• Warli Art was first discovered in the early seventies. While there are no records of the exact origins of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century A.D.
• Warli is the vivid expression of daily and social events of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra, used by them to embellish the walls of village houses. This was the only means of transmitting folklore to a populace not acquainted with the written word.
• This art form is simple in comparison to the vibrant paintings of Madhubani.
• Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings. These paintings do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but depict social life.
• Images of human beings and animals, along with scenes from daily life are created in a loose rhythmic pattern.
• These tribal paintings of Maharashtra are traditionally done in the homes of the Warlis. Painted white on mud walls, they are pretty close to pre-historic cave paintings in execution and usually depict scenes of human figures engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, sowing and harvesting.