Warli Painting: Heritage Art of Maharashtra
A recent visit to the ‘Traditional Art’ exhibition here in Bangalore had me visually feasting the treasured art forms of India. Not just the art pieces, the artists were there too to exhibit their colors, brushes and strokes. ‘Art’ really doesn’t have to be complicated to appreciate it. It is the simplest strokes that sometimes wins your heart! Warli art and painting is one such simple artform.
Warli Paintings by Tribals
Warli paintings are done on walls of village huts when these paintings are done for their rituals. In tribal villages walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth and red brick that make a red ochre background for the paintings. They use white pigment based paints made of rice paste, water and gum as binder.
The fact that these art of painting has survived several centuries stand are a proof of existence of Warli Tribe.
Warli Art Pieces
I am sharing the Warli Art pieces with you in this post. Most common form of Warli art is sketches of white paint on Ochre walls. And they are found on the walls of traditional homes in northern outskirts of Mumbai in western India. They used rice powder, turmeric powder, kumkum (vermilion) in various combinations to add color to their art. The colorful substances are mixed with gum to make them long lasting.
However today you will find Warli art in almost everything and in every color possible. In the exhibition too I found greeting cards, terracotta pots, baskets, photo frames all decorated with Warli sketches.
The artists were from the Warli district, in the foothills of Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India. Tribal people of this place are in international limelight today for this unique art. Studies in this field indicate that this form of art started some time in 10th century AD.
Warli Art was used as a medium of instruction, to impart knowledge, probably passing on folklore from one generation to another. With near absence of written scripts then this mode of transferring knowledge was more common. Warli artform highlights the base of human communication that existed then. The various themes portrayed revolve around spectacular human bond with mother nature and family life. No wonder why this art is the foundation of the Warli tribe’s wedding ceremony. The art also depicts the farmer’s lifestyle and their contribution to the motherland.
Today Warli Art can be used to teach the lessons of geometric patterns and shapes to the kids in the easiest way. Concepts like dots, lines, shapes are easily explained through this art form.
Women were the ones who were mostly engaged in Warli Paintings. They smeared the walls with wet cow dung, which was then coated with red mud. They used thin bamboo twigs dipped in rice paste to draw various motifs which depicted their daily life events.
Materials required for Warli art
Basic stationery items required for Warli art are: Drawing pad, white paper, ruler, eraser, pencil, marker pens, acrylic paints, and canvas. Walls of huts are made of a mixture of branches, earth, and cow dung that make a red ochre background for the wall paintings. Traditional Warli paintings are use white paint on ochre mud walls.
Meet a woman Warli Painting Artist – Faces of India 4
During ceremonial events like harvest seasons, marriages, births, the walls are repeatedly coated and then painted, thus passing down the art through generations.
Warli art on pots
Warli Paintings
Creativity knows no boundaries and now this art comes in various color combinations. Warli art is being done on anything and everything, from cards to pots, from pencil holders to bags and even on dress materials and sarees. You will find Warli paintings on walls of Hotel lobbies, Metros of Indian cities and also on several international platforms too.
Warli Painting Design
If you observe carefully these stick figures aren’t just simple straight lines. You will find the lines inclined at various angles along with dots, circles and triangles. Together they define new stories.  How simply they have depicted human and animal bodies with just two triangles joined at their tips!
There are various art centers teaching this art form and it has become more of fashion statement among the youngsters today!
Interested in more India art? Check Usta Art from Bikaner Rajasthan
Types of Warli Paintings
Warli painting is portrayed during times of the year themed around farming and also at the time of the wedding. Here are some of the main types of warli painting painted during the wedding season.
Marriage Warli – This is the most initial and essential type of warli painting. Marriage Warli is drawn a day prior to the marriage by a Suvasini or a married lady. It is believed that Marriage warli protects the newlywed couple from evil spirits.
Kanna – Kanna Warli Painting signifies virginity. Suvasinis paints the kanna warli on the ground of bride’s home while using auspicious items like turmeric, rice powder, and kumkum, mixing them for different shades.
Tarpa Dance – Tarpa dance, the folk dance of the warli tribe, is performed by artists of the warli tribe at night post-dinner. The dance derives the name Tarpa from the huge phallic instrument created by the tribes. Tarpa instrument players stand in circular formation, starting from the middle, and then the whole Tarpa wheel formation moves forward in the clockwise style in a rhythmic fashion.
Ceremony Paintings – This unique Warli design depicts the groom on a horse to the bride’s home, basically the barat scene. Rows of human figure depict dancers and musicians with their instruments.
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(Updated post. This was first written on Mar 19, 2009.)
Beautiful paintings !!
Warli painting is their own way to attract more to aapreciate
Beautiful!!I love warli figures!
its so amazing…….really good work
Lovely art pieces.
The beauty of the art leaves one spell-bound.
loved the art.. ive bought a few in Mumbai earlier..didnt know there was an exhibition here
This great art! Very happy! Not sure how I feel about cow dung on my wall though. 🙂
Sorry I’m late to your post …… it will not happen again ……….. LOL
Its a beautiful piece of art, Its my taste :))
Thanks for sharing 😉
Very beautiful.
Lovely lyrical pieces these are, full of joy in the daily round.
Very beautiful artwork. I find the pottery particularly striking.
An Arkies Musings
I guess the cow dung mooootivated them. 😉 Thanks for sharing these lovely photos.
those pics feel so real
Hi Indrani, it is the combination of the different patterns what attracts me. And yes, the tribal figures look good and ‘easy’ to try out. But, if I make something like this, I first want to know more of these paintings and the people who make them. I did this too with my Native American craftworks. If this interests you, you can find them under label, Native American on my blog. It is a chance, to honour the people who make such beautiful arts for decades. So, not just copy them, but respect the way of living. Thank you, for asking me and giving me this opportunity. Best wishes, from Jeany
Lovely pictures. True, art does not have to be complicated to touch the heart.
Lovely patern and design and you are true “Creativity knows no boundaries.” In between, I shot those reflection images in front of Akshardham Temple.
Oh, I loves those baskets and fgabrics. So beautifull. I’m getting a lot off ideas trhow this pictures, thank u again for sharing. Best wishes from jeany’s Brunnen
Warli painting has its own charm.
we were recently gifted a set of coasters by a friend and only after seeing your blog figured out what the hand paintings on them are all about..
Interesting and so, so beautiful.
love this traditional art!
I very much like this kind of drawing ! it is so simple but beautiful and expressive !
Very different from what I’ve seen. It’s amazing how this technique is still used.
Gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing pictures of this ‘simple’ but beautiful art.
thanks for sharing. the pictures are beautiful. i need a trip to a museum!
I love the “primitive” look of the artwork and how funny that it has become trendy with the kids!
Very beautiful, Indira! It’s interesting to see how indigenous people draw human figures. Compare these drawings to those of of the Australian Aborigines in the caves, the Egyptian drawings in the graves of the kings and the North American rock paintings.They are all different but beautiful.Thanks for this post and your visit and comment on my blog.
Hi Indrani!
Lovely post with lovely crafts!
Also adored the Menal Temple! Would love to visit… 😉
Meanwhile, my India 2008 is coming to its end at Blogtrotter. I know you’re getting a bit tired, but there are still some marvels to come ;). Look forward to reading your comments! Enjoy and have a great weekend!
I love this Warli art work and you have put together a really interesting post with beautiful photos.
I was wondering if they treat the pots some way so that the paint doesn’t come off? I will read it again in case I missed something!
beautiful pots in the 2nd photo
It does not seem so simple to me and yet you can see it. Beautiful art. You do such a great job capturing your moments..Thank you!
I absolutely love warli art. The pots are fabulous!
those Warli Art pieces look amazing. thankyou for sharing the pictures
This is really beautiful. I am always interested in different types of art and mediums. I’m glad I wasn’t one who smeared cow dung on the walls, however… not matter how lovely it turned out@!