Merry making villagers-Warli Painting

his rare piece of Indian folk art, known as Warli Painting, presents an image of simple merry making villagers. Figures in their bare minimum details are scattered around the canvas in a loose rhythmical pattern. The image centres around a tribal drummer whose enchanting drumbeats move the whole of human and natural world. Both men and women are seen dancing, singing and drinking life to the lees. Mothers carrying crying babies, fathers dragging families, artisans at their daily work, women peddling their humble goods, snippets of such ordinary details of rural India are included.

Merged intrinsically with the social scenario is the natural world of birds and trees and animals. Together they make the tribal world complete. Simple geometric shapes in monochrome portray the entire gamut of this tribal Indian society.


Pranks of Krishna-Patachitra
This particular handmade Talapatachitra depicts the Rasalila (The Dance of Love) of Sri Krishna and his beloved Radha in the sacred garden of Vrindavan. The standard palette of colors (green, blue, yellow, red, black, white) has been used and the characteristic Patachitra style is evident in the extended noses, elongate eyes, and finely detailed clothes and jewelry. The typical iconographic details such as the blue-hued Krishna and the yellow-tanned Radha are also there in this Patachitra. Krishna, the God of Love, is dressed in yellow, the color of his beloved, while Radha wears green.

Two Gopis (cowherd maidens) carrying pitchers are also standing nearby. Krishna is seen holding a flute in his right hand. The music of the flute is the seductive charm that Krishna uses in mesmerizing his beloved. The vibrant colors and the postures of the figures aptly create a virtual aura of love and devotion associated with the legends of Radha-Krishna.

Indian Flok Painting

ndian folk art painting is a tradition that is as old as its trees and rivers and hills and humans. From time immemorial people or common 'folk' have expressed themselves through the medium of painting. Images have been sketched on pots and pans, on walls of village houses, on dried leaves and later on clothes and paper. Executed in almost all possible ways, painting has been an integral part of Indian civilization. Folk paintings happen to be the most instinctive human expressions, evolving out of a mimetic urge and decorative purpose. Beautifying the world around and reaching out to the heavens above have been the motivating forces behind the tradition of Indian folk paintings.


Started as cave paintings of prehistoric period, Folk Painting continues to be a living tradition. Contemporary society has unearthed this immense treasure of folk paintings that was shrouded in anonymity and neglect. Warli paintings, Madhubani paintings, Patachitra and other forms of traditional Indian folk art are internationally acclaimed possessions today. Guided by no formal school, bound by no orthodox modus operandi, folk painting grows out of life and is sustained by life. Religious rituals, domestic beautification, familial celebrations, seasonal festivals are some of the inspirations behind the rise and growth of folk paintings in India.
Gods and Goddesses, mythical figures, legendary heroes and glimpses of common man's life are the principal themes of folk paintings. Earthen colours were used in traditional folk paintings though currently synthetic colours are also in use. Usually the finery of folk painting is passed from one generation to the other.
People belonging to a particular community assimilate the aesthetic and symbolic essence consciously or at times unconsciously by simply living in the milieu where the art is practiced.