Warli Art (Warli painting) from India

Exploring Warli Art, the folk tales!

Warli or Varli are the indigenous tribe or adivasis, Warli tribe hailing from mountains, coastal regions in and around the borders of rural Thane district and Dhule district of Maharashtra and Gujarat states of India. The term Warli is derived from ‘warla’ or ‘varla’ meaning a piece of land. Originally hunters, the Warli tribe later settled down as tenders of agricultural lands. The Varlis are non-aryan tribes, who are firm believers of sun and moon. Practically, the Warlis never worshipped man-made idols. Warli people are a simple folk with simple beliefs that govern their lives. The language of communication with them is mostly in Marathi, Konkani, Sanskrit, Gujarati or Khandeshi Bhil. Unique character of this tribe is that they don't much speak, because Warlis believe that words have an uncanny habit of suddenly becoming into reality, so they ensure they don’t speak anything untoward lest it becomes true! The Main occupation of these people is agriculture. Rice is the staple food of the Warlis.

Bhawada festival is also observed by these Warli tribes. They also celebrate Kali Puja after the season of harvesting of crops. Dhumsa Dance, Gauri Dance, Kambadu dance, Tarpa and Dhol Dance are some of the vibrant dance forms that flaunt their tradition. During the festivities, sacrifice of a goat or a chicken is made to the Gods, to be later distributed and eaten by those present. During the first harvest, first rice, the rain god’s festival Naranadeva is celebrated with kamadi dance.Warli houses are artistic and also being referred for the pattern of decoration and designs. Warli artist pours his heart out while painting, Warlis don’t use colour but a white, rice-based paint to create their artworks and 'Marriage' is one of the most important themes in Warli art. Delicate patterns such as hunting scenes, geometric patterns of flowers, wedding rituals, gods, palghat, birds, trees, men and women dancing in circles, various celebrations, etc are popular Warli depictions. Flora and fauna, musicians, agriculture, etc are some other paintings that are generic of Warli art. The theme of Warli art encompasses social life, nature, death, birth and fertility.

Rice paste is used for the color white for drawing, chewed end of a small bamboo stick acts as a paint brush. Warli art sometimes they use common colours and ingredients like henna, indigo, ochre, black, earthy mud and brick red and giving the painting a truly ethereal feel.

The attire Warli women wears normally a one yard saree which is Lugden, that is worn till the knee, this saree is influenced from the Maharashtrian rural regions. The knee length draping looks similar to the Maharashtrian style of draping a saree. You can see some women who drape a loin cloth around them after wearing this one yard saree. This loin(a single piece of cloth wrapped round the hips) cloth covers the upper half of their body. This loin cloth is a garment that is draped around on the opposite side of the Pallu thus covering the upper part of the body completely. Adorn themselves with silver and white metal ornaments. The Varli costume for men includes a loin cloth, waist coat and a turban.

Giving a art-cultural twist, You can see varies vogue products showcasing warli art such as semi dresses, kurtis, pallazzos and other fashion novelties, warli painted sarees, stoles, dupattas, Warli village coasters, handcrafted colorful, warli kulhad tray, warli small utility pouch, hand-painted classy warli kettle, hand-painted warli twist table clock, warli village rectangle table lamp, warli hand-painted stoneware tea set, etc.

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