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Crafts / Warli

Warli

State
Maharashtra
Material
Mud wall · Rice paste
Rarity
Popular

A whole village life in circles and triangles

About

White rice-paste wall paintings in which tiny triangle-bodied figures dance, farm and celebrate around a sacred square.

Warli painting is a tribal art of the Warli people, who live in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, in places such as Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar and Mokhada. The paintings are traditionally made on the inside walls of village huts, in white paint made from rice flour and water, on a background of red-brown mud.

The art is simple in its means. It uses only three shapes: the circle, the triangle and the square. A person or an animal is drawn as two triangles joined at their points, a larger one for the torso and a smaller one for the pelvis, with a circle for the head. Rows of these figures form scenes of farming, hunting, fishing, festivals and dance.

Traditionally the painters are women, and the paintings are made for special occasions such as weddings and harvests. Central to a ritual painting is the chauk, a square which holds a drawing of Palghat, the mother goddess. Today Warli is also painted on cloth, paper, canvas and objects by both women and men.

How it’s made

In the traditional method, the wall is prepared first. Village huts are built of branches, earth and sometimes red brick, and plastered with earth and cow dung so that the surface is a reddish-brown ground. The paintings are made on this wall only on special occasions such as weddings, festivals and harvests.

The paint is white, made from rice flour mixed with water, and a little gum is added as a binder. The tool is a bamboo stick that is chewed at one end to make a soft brush. The painter starts with the central square (chauk) and then builds out from it with figures, trees, animals and circles of dancing people.

The drawing language is simple. A circle stands for the sun and moon, a triangle for mountains and cone-shaped trees, and a square for a sacred enclosure or piece of land. People are drawn as two triangles joined at the tips, which gives the figures a lively, balanced look. In modern Warli on cloth and paper, artists often use white or other paint on a dark or brown background, keeping the same shapes.

Key features

  • White paint of rice flour and water on a red-brown mud wall
  • Built from only three shapes: circle, triangle, square
  • Humans and animals drawn as two triangles joined at the tips
  • Central square (chauk) for rituals, with the mother goddess Palghat
  • Scenes of farming, hunting, fishing, dance and festivals
  • Painted with a chewed bamboo stick
  • Traditionally painted by women for weddings and harvests

History

Warli painting is a living tribal tradition of the Sahyadri region of Maharashtra. Some writers suggest that the style may be very old, dating back to around the tenth century or earlier, but there is no firm written record, and the paintings, made on mud walls, have not survived from long ago. Warli painting is part of the Warli people's way of seeing life, built around farming, rain and the natural world.

For most of its history the art was known mainly inside the community. The paintings carried folklore and social life to people who did not read, and the central square of a ritual painting is linked to worship of the mother goddess Palghat.

In the 1970s Jivya Soma Mashe, an artist from Thane district, began to paint Warli figures outside a ritual setting, on cloth and paper, and his work helped make the style known beyond the villages. Since then Warli has become a widely recognised folk art, painted in many materials and used in design, and communities have worked to protect the tradition as traditional knowledge.

Facts

  • 3 shapes Only three shapes. The circle, triangle and square are the basis of all Warli paintings. The circle stands for the sun and moon, the triangle for mountains and trees, and the square for a sacred enclosure.
  • Rice paste Painted in rice flour. The white colour is rice flour mixed with water, applied with a chewed bamboo stick on a red-brown mud wall.
  • Tarpa dance The tarpa dance circle. Many paintings show people dancing in a circle round a musician playing the tarpa, a trumpet-like instrument. The ring of dancers is said to resemble the circle of life.
  • Chauk The sacred square. Each ritual painting is centred on a square called a chauk. In a devchauk it usually holds a drawing of the mother goddess Palghat.

Market

From huts to cloth, paper and design

Warli is sold as paintings on cloth and paper, sarees, dupattas, wall hangings, cushion covers and stationery. The style is simple to copy and widely printed, so many products are not made by Warli painters. Buying from community groups and cooperatives in places such as Dahanu and Jawhar supports the families who carry the tradition.

Sustainability

Rice, earth and bamboo

The traditional kit is rice flour, mud and bamboo, which is low-cost and biodegradable. Modern Warli on cloth and paper uses paints and fabrics that vary; look for natural fabric, and recognise the painters who do it by hand.

Products

  • Wall paintings: On mud huts, for weddings and festivals, as in the traditional form
  • Paintings on cloth and paper: The most common modern form
  • Sarees, dupattas and stoles: Hand-painted on cloth
  • Wall hangings and cushion covers: Decor for the home
  • Bookmarks, cards and notebooks: Small stationery pieces in Warli style

Words to know

  • Chauk / Chaukat: The central square of a ritual Warli painting.
  • Devchauk: A type of chauk with a depiction of the mother goddess inside.
  • Lagnachauk: A chauk painted for a wedding.
  • Palghat: The mother goddess shown inside a devchauk.
  • Tarpa: A trumpet-like instrument played in the Warli dance.

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