The Warli tribe is among the largest tribes of Maharashtra region and lives on the outskirts of Mumbai, in the North Sahyadri region. The womenfolk of this tribe paint indigenous paintings and art known as Warli tribal wall paintings.
The tribal art style dates back to the 10th century AD and has traditionally been used by the tribals to decorate walls of their mud houses on special occasions like harvest and weddings. It generally takes inspiration from normal life routine and surroundings. It portrays daily activities like farming, praying, dancing, hunting, etc.
Tribal people express themselves in vivid styles through paintings which they execute on the walls of their house. This was the only means of transmitting folklore to a populace not acquainted with the written word.
The colors and materials used for the paintings are derived from nature like brown and orange from henna, indigo from dye, red from bricks and white from thick rice paste. They use chewed bamboo sticks as paint brushes to create the paintings.
Geometrical patterns in white against a yellow or red background are some of the main themes. Warli paintings were mainly done by married women to celebrate a wedding, and they were also used to decorate huts of the Warli tribes.
Warli Painting of India
