WALL ART-MD.qxp:Layout 1 28/09/12 12:58 PM Page 10
PHOTOS: MAHADEO SEN
JHARKHAND
Motif on the Wall Tribals here paint with natural colours using their fingers as a brush; each tribe picking its distinctive design TEXT: PREETI VERMA LAL
DISTINCT PATTERN
l Mundas: Instead of brush, they use
their fingers to paint their favourite motifs of snakes and plants. l Teli: Known for their comb-cutting technique of wall art. l Oraon: They use the comb to etch geometric designs, squares, circled lotus, arches on their mud walls. l Turi: They only use earth tones and their motifs take inspiration from flowers and the forest. l Santhal: Warring figures in black are their signature style.
GETTING THERE By Air: The nearest airport is Ranchi. By Rail: The nearest railway stations are Barkakana and Koderma. By Road: State transport and private buses ply between Hazaribagh and major towns and cities.
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typical Oraon home in Jharkhand is usually a good example of the ancient art of comb-cut painting in which the ordinary comb is run over fresh paint to give it a definite style. The colours are assiduously picked out from everyday things — the grey from ash of the hearth, black from pounded charcoal, red from red soil or the vermillion plant, blue from indigo, yellow from the dried pumpkin or squash flowers, orange from palash (flame of the forest) flowers, white from ground rice and when a new colour is required on the palette they pour one colour over another in the earthen pot, blend it with a twig and the wall gets an unusual tinge. All tribal homes in Jharkhand are not as monotonous as the urban homes. A generic categorisation would demarcate tribal wall art into kohvar and sohrai. Kohvar is a marriage art obviously replete with fertility motifs, while
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sohrai is a harvest genre that abounds in designs and pictorial narratives propitiating deities. The motifs are not common either, they are so tribe-specific that if you knew the nuances of Jharkhand wall art, you would know the tribe of the home owners by merely looking at the wall. Not just motifs, even colours are picked scrupulously. Tribals are very innovative about the brushes, and their best brush is their fingers, which they dip in paint and etch their designs. The Munda, Birhor and Bhuiya tribals only use their fingers for wall art. For other tribes, it could be anything from a piece of cloth tied on a stick or a thin fabric held in the hand like a mop. As I drove away I thought of that gorgeous mural on the mud wall in the middle of nowhere and as inspired to give the four walls of my home a new sheath this Diwali. My walls will then look stunning and my urban home shed monotony.
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