Tribal Arts

The Pre-historic paintings in the cave shelters of Bhimbetka and Pachmarhi are simple designs showing scenes of hunting, farming and dancing against mottled rock and were initially done in black or earth colors. The palette soon expanded to include white, red, yellow, blue and green. This progression can clearly be seen in the wall art of Bhimbetka.


The tradition of painting living spaces continued well into the 20^th century till it was finally overtaken by the Western practice of painting walls a boring old pastel. Art slowly began to jump off the walls and on to palm leaves, wood blocks, cloth and ivory. As you read up more about painting in India, you’ll find that it was entirely dependent on religious and royal patronage. This is perhaps why ‘art’ became a big thing only during the reign of the Mughals. The Delhi Sultanate was too philistine to understand anything but the language of the sword. They probably thought heads impaled on spears were the best exhibit money could buy.


¤ The kinds of paintings you are likely to encounter in India are

Alpana (Bengal), Kolam (South India), Rangoli (Maharashtra), Osa (Orissa), Aripana (Bihar), Sona Rakhna (Uttar Pradesh), Sathiya (Gujarat) are all names for auspicious, multi-colored floor decorations made by Hindus all over the country. Usually drawn at the doorway of a home, they can be geometric or floral and are done afresh every morning.