Warli Painting

What is Warli Painting?

A lovely folk art of Maharashtra, the Warli painting is synonymous with the Warli tribe .  The painting is very distinct.The tribe hails from the North Sahyadri Range in India. They are  simple yet beautiful  & powerful wall paintings. For instance, the tribes use three basic geometric shapes: a circle, a triangle, and a square to create the painting.Further,these paintings depict a lot of rural scenes, wedding rituals & hunting scenes.  In addition,  artists playing musical instruments are an integral part of Warli paintings

Using red ochre walls as the background for their work of art, Warli artists portray intricate patterns in white colour. They are very distinct.

Available at Kolkata:- Gurjari

Delhi:- Maharashtra EmporiumA Look at the History

Warli Painting -History

The Warli tribe is believed to be the largest tribe from Palghar District of Maharashtra.  Farming is the main occupation for the Warli tribe.It is located on the northern outskirts of Mumbai, near Thane and on the border of the State of Gujarat. This art has existed since the 10th century A.D. but they gained recognition only in the 1970s.

Distinct Feature -Warli Paintings

Another distinct feature of the Warli painting are concentric circles of humans walking around a musician.The musical instrument is the Tarpa. It is a long and trumpet like instrument.  One may not find any influence of the contemporary culture on Warli paintings as the tribe has deep reverence for nature and wildlife. In other words, the images are mostly rural life. Hence, trees, bullock carts ,rural settlements, animals and rural life are well represented.Humans and animals are represented by two triangles joined at the waist. The limbs are portrayed by thin lines representing arms & legs.

Warli Painting – Process

Further, rice paste, gum and a bamboo stick are the basic materials used for these rustic Warli paintings. This art form has come a long way from just using white paint on a red ochre background. The painting is done on fabrics, metals & panels. Moreover, today, Warli can be found everywhere in a variety of bright colours for home décor as well as other artistic forms.

In fact, fashion designers like Anita Dongre and James Ferreira have started using these impressions in their designer collections as well.