Cakapurā: A Unique Ritual-painting Tradition of India (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Contemporary Tribal Art of The Satpura Ranges
XXIV Valcamonica Symposium 2011, 2011
The contemporary tribal art of the Satpura Ranges The tribal society of Satpura ranges, the Korku honour their deceased members with carved and decorated teak wood memorial boards, which are placed under a sacred tree in their memories during the highly religious ceremony. This may last for seven to eight hours during the ceremony the tribe females dance in a circle around the sacred mango tree. In between they hold the memorial board in their hands and dance.The memorial broad is known as Gatha among them, Gatha means narration of story about their ancestors Following the carved board is venerated and wept over.Later, a goat or jungle fowl is sacrificed and eaten, while the local liquor made from the flowers of the Mahua tree (Bassia latifolia) is consumed. One such sacred tree is situated in the "Gond Baba Udhayan" (lit.-Garden of the Gond deity) located in the Pachmarhi town itself. Tribal who come from the surrounding villages of Pachmarhi use this site for their religious rituals followed by feasts. Memorial boards are placed at the base of the sacred tree within ten years of a death. The subjects carved into the board are selected form a limited list of elements. These are usually horse riders; group of geometrical human figures holding hands, representations of sun or moon and the name of the deceased. In carvings of the horse and its rider the Korku do not depict their own ancestors, as they did not have horses. The figures mounted on horse represent their conquerors. This element of the carving is totally unrelated to the loves of the deceased, but its stylistic form and that of other human figures is similar to the more recent rock paintings situated in rock shelters only a few kilometers away. Many of the present day tribal communities decorate the walls of their house with paintings. The selected subjects relate to their natural and cultural environments, depicting birds, floral patterns, whilst other appears to be of symbolic or ritual importance. These wall paintings also seem to have their roots in the rock art tradition. At present the Korku tribal live in wattle huts whose walls are coated by clay colored white. The tradition of paintings continues as the korku women decorated their house walls with paintings and sketches. They use local colour such as the dark or Indian red, yellow ochre, blue and white. The paintings are executed during the slack rainy season or occasionally, during festival events. The women folks in the Korku society carry out all domestic work and look after the children. Riassunto-L'arte tribale contemporanea di Satpura Ranges I Korku, società tribali del Satpura Ranges, onorano i loro defunti intagliando e decorando tavolette votive in legno di tek che vengono deposte sotto l'albero sacro durante una particolare cerimonia religiosa che può durare 7-8 ore. Durante la cerimonia le donne danzano in cerchio attorno all'albero sacro di mango. Dopo la deposizione della tavola il defunto è venerato e pianto. Il cerimoniale è noto come Gatha che significa "narrazione della storia degli antenati". Dopo la deposi-zione vengono sacrificati e mangiati un pollo o una capra e si consuma un liquore locale fatto coi fiori dell'albero Mahua (Bassia Latifolia). Uno degli alberi sacri si trova nel "Gond Udhayan Baba" (letteralmente giardino delle divinità Gond) nella città di Pachmarhi, i fedeli delle tribù vengono dai villaggi vicini per celebrarvi i riti religiosi e le feste. Le tavolette in legno sono deposte ai piedi dell'albero sacro dieci anni dopo la morte dell'antenato. I soggetti intagliati sulle tavole hanno un repertorio molto limitato: raffigurazioni di cavalieri (che non rappresentano il de-funto ma i conquistatori, perché i Korku non allevano i cavalli), figure geometriche, figure umane che si tengono per mano, rappresentazioni del sole e della luna e il nome del defunto. Questi soggetti non hanno relazioni stringenti con la vita del defunto ma derivano stilisticamente dai soggetti delle pitture rupestri recentemente individuate in ripari sottoroccia a pochi chilometri di distanza. Anche le tradizionali decorazioni murarie dei villaggi Korku sembrano avere radici nella tra-dizione d'arte rupestre: ancora oggi, in molte comunità tribali è diffusa l'abitudine di decorare i muri delle abitazioni con soggetti che rimandano al mondo naturale (uccelli, motivi floreali) e ad un universo simbolico e rituale. Queste decorazioni (pitture e disegni) sono realizzate dalle donne sull'argilla bianca usata per intonacare le semplici pareti di canniccio delle capanne usando i colori reperibili in loco come il rosso scuro o indiano, il giallo ocra, il blu e il bianco. Questi dipinti sono realizzati durante la stagione delle piogge o, più raramente, per celebrare feste o eventi. Il ruolo delle donne nelle comunità Korku è relegato alle attività domestiche e alla cura dei bambini.
Madhubani Painting: The Marker of Indian Civilization
This article tries to throw light upon how the elements of Indian civilization, mainly the mythical anecdotes of the Purānas, are portrayed in the Madhubani folk paintings. The endeavour is to contextualise how the folk elements of Madhubani folk art genre construct an ethos of Indian civilization and tries to continue its tradition in the frame of Indian civilization. The folk elements in Madhubani painting and its relation between local myths, the little tradition, and the Hindu mythology, the great tradition, are evident. Hence it can be opined that in this case, the oral tradition has been combined with ritualistic visual expressions to produce a complete art tradition. It bears specific cultural meaning and usually bound by the customs and conventions in form and content, style and pattern, as well as by their holistic folkloric character. The folk artists of the Madhubani tradition have bound themselves within the limits of social and cultural milieu of their own community. Madhubani folk paintings have four distinct styles, each with its different identity along with different art historical background. These four styles are Mithilā painting, Godhna painting, Gobar painting and Tantrā painting. All these styles are intimately interwoven with Indian tradition and civilization. With this background, this article ventures into salient issues-the networks of relationship among the castes, themes and styles of paintings, the emergence of specialised artists from a folk painting tradition, the transformation folk artists' village into the specialists' centre, and the way a traditional community art shifts from its traditional authenticity to more individualistic exercise of contemporary art production. This article also tries to document different internal and external social and cultural factors that act upon this folk art form.
Indian Art In Context : Pattachitra
class project
This is a collective work of me and my colleague Mythili Narayanaswami regarding our course "Indian Art in Context". In this project we explore the unique scroll painting art of West Bengal and Odissa : Pattachitra. We have analyzed the different forms of Pattachitra, it's origin and current form , aesthetics and functional value. We also discussed the life of the Patta painters, socio-economic structure grown around this folk art form, current market condition, and technology used in this art form. The data and images in this project are collected entirely from the internet.
2013
CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE TRIBAL ART IN CENTRAL INDIA: A CASE OF THE BODY DECORATION OF THE BAIGA TRIBE Dr. Basanta Kumar Mohanta Dr. Mohan Lal Chadhar Abstract The tribal arts, crafts and architectures are one of the most fascinating parts of their culture. The knowledge of this art is a hereditary one which transmits from generation to generation through oral tradition. The art of tattooing or body decoration is widely found among the tribal of India in general and the tribals of Central India in particular, which is treated as an integral part of their life and culture. Baiga is one of the Particularly Venerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Central India, known for their traditional method of treatment and shifting cultivation. They live in a particular forested area of Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh, identified as “Baigachawk” and its neighbouring area. Both the male and female Baigas are very fond of body decoration. Besides, the female members like to decorate their body with different kinds of tattoos, known as Godna. Each of these tattoos has a specific cultural significance and tattooed at a particular age and a specific location of the body. It is related to their religion, belief system, health care practice, body decoration, social status, wealth etc. In this present paper an emphasis has been given on the importance of tattoo in the tribal life; symbols used in tattoo and their significance; method of tattooing and the continuity and change in the process, materials and symbols of tattoo. Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (M.P.)-484886. Email: drmohantabk@gmail.com. Mob: 09407343438 Assistant Professor, Department of A.I.H. C & Archaeology, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (M.P.)-484886. Mob: 09301599008
W hen you go to the market or to a museum you will find many paintings, wall hangings or work done on terracotta. Do you know that these paintings have their origin in ouir ancient past. They depict the life and customs followed by the people of those times. They also show how the kings and queens dressed or how the courtiers sat in the royal assembly. Literacy records which had a direct bearing on the art of painting show that from very early times painting both secular and religious were considered an important form of artistic expression and was practised. This need for expression is a very basic requirement for human survival and it has taken various forms since prehistoric times. Painting is one such form with which you may have been acquainted in some way or the other. Indian painting is the result of the synthesis of various traditions and its development is an ongoing process. However while adapting to new styles, Indian painting has maintained its distinct character. " Modern Indian painting in thus a reflection of the intermingling of a rich traditional inheritance with modern trends and ideas ". OBJECTIVES After reading this lesson you will be able to: trace the origin of painting from the prehistoric times; describe the development of painting during the medieval period; recognise the contribution of Mughal rulers to painting in India; trace the rise of distinct schools of painting like the Rajasthani and the Pahari schools; assess the development of painting in local centres like Kangra, Kulu, and Basoli;
A STUDY OF SCROLL PAINTING IN INDIAN ART WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE OF WEST BENGAL FOLK ART
Granthaalayah Publications and Printers, 2023
Paintings by patua women exploring various themes are currently found in museums and private collections worldwide. They have recently been on display at museums, galleries, art markets and fairs in various parts of the world. Today's patua women have participated in a wide range of artistic and social projects, and some have been either the central or secondary subjects of academic research. In recent decades the dissemination and recognition of these women's work have been impressive. This is particularly true not only in terms of its global reach, but also from the perspective of the diversity of the venues that have shown an interest in the women's work. In their various live presentations locally and internationally, these women are capable of an exemplary interweaving of localism and cosmopolitanism when they perform traditional or contemporary themes while unrolling jarano paintings and singing in rural Bengali. A sketch of the recent trajectories of Naya women painters or their paintings gives the impression that the world has "discovered" these women and their patachitra work. However, by merely acknowledging these trajectories, one does not gain a sense of the subjectivities of Naya patua artisans, specifically in the case of the women painters. In his work exploring the existence of differentiated cosmopolitanisms, Velho (2010) emphasizes the relevance of stressing the various consequences of globalization dynamics in the world today. He offers the example of two people from different generations who live in the same urban setting but who have different trajectories and understandings of their own accomplishments. He points out that it is important to draw attention to the diversity of people's trajectories, to the particular activities in their lives, and to the specific meanings people give to them. In rural Naya, women recently started pursuing trajectories similar to those of patua men. Thus, to begin my discussion of patua women's own perspectives on what they currently do, I will first briefly introduce a figure who played a key role in establishing women's visibility as patua artisans. Dukhushyam Chitrakar is a patua master who exemplifies the supportive role played by some men in the development and recognition of the women's activities, and his worldview frames the relationship between tradition and cosmopolitanism in the contemporary work of Naya's patua. This will be followed by a brief exploration of some of the women's own views. Some chose territories of Indian work of art have been taken to investigate and to show the expressive highlights of lines. Those are cavern painting of Ajanta, Mughal smaller than usual, Rajasthani scaled down, Pahari painting, Bengal school of craftsmanship and some individual specialists of present-day time span. The examination likewise suggests that the components of custom workmanship and people artistic creations of India how reflect in the canvases of Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Assam. These artistic creations are wealthy in society components. Use of lines, hues, European impacts all are talked about. Goal of the examination is to distinguish the famous workmanship themes delineating in the composition just as direct quality. Complex highlights, topics, components of patachitra works of art are examined.
Pata Painting Tradition of Bengal
Almora Book Depot, 2016
The word “pata” is derived from the Sanskrit word patta which means “a piece of cloth”. Pata or “pot” as pronounced in Bengali means a woven surface, a paper or wooden panel on which painting is done. The artists who do this kind of works are popularly known as patuas; but they are also known as chitrakars, which literary means picture makers. Traditionally patuas were men, who were assisted by their womenfolk in several stages; but in recent time women have also come forward to lay their claim as pata artists. These itinerant painters are part of a long lineage that has passed the tradition down for generations.
A Comparative Study of Bhavacakra Painting
Historical Journal, 2020
The Bhavacakra is a symbolic representation of Samsara, a powerful mirror for spiritual aspirants and it is often painted to the left of Tibetan monastery doors. Bhavacakra, ‘wheel of life’ consists of two Sanskrit words ‘Bhava’ and ‘Cakra’. The word bhava means birth, origin, existing etc and cakra means wheel, circle, round, etc. There are some textual materials which suggest that the Bhavacakra painting began during the Buddha lifetime. Bhavacakra is very famous for wall and cloth painting. It is believed to represent the knowledge of release from suffering gained by Gautama Buddha in the course of his meditation. This symbolic representation of Bhavacakra serves as a wonderful summary of what Buddhism is, and also reminds that every action has consequences. It can be also understood by the illiterate persons not needing high education and it shows the path of enlightenment out of suffering in samsara. Mahayana Buddhism is very popular in Asian countries like northern Nepal, Ind...