Warli
Encyclopedia
The Warlis or are an India
n indigenous people, who live mostly in Dahanu
and Talasari
talukas of the northern Thane district
, parts of Nashik
and Dhule
districts of Maharashtra
, Valsad District
of Gujarat, and the union territories
of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. They have their own beliefs, life, customs and traditions, which is the part of the Composite Hindu
Culture. The Warlis speak an unwritten Varli language which belong to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan languages
, mingling Sanskrit
, Marathi
and Gujarati
words. The word Warli is derived from warla, meaning "piece of land" or "field". Anand niketan school of ahmedabad in gujrat, india has done a play of a girl of the warli tribe, " Niyati". She is not real but they made this girl come into life.
Their oral tradition
tells us that the Warlis moved southwards in search of lands for shifting cultivation
to the foothills of the Sahyadri (also known as the Western Ghats), where they live now. With a view to putting an end to what they considered the wasteful practice of shifting cultivation, the British
evicted Warli villages deep into the forests, and resettled them on the fringes.
In her book The Painted World of the Warlis Yashodhara Dalmia claimed that the Warlis carry on a tradition stretching back to 2500 or 3000 BCE. Their mural paintings are similar to those done between 500 and 10,000 BCE in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, in Madhya Pradesh
.
Their extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. So the central motive in each ritual painting is the square, known as the "chauk" or "chaukat", mostly of two types: Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Inside a Devchauk, we find Palaghata, the mother goddess, symbolizing fertility. Significantly, male gods are unusual among the Warli and are frequently related to spirits which have taken human shape. The central motif in these ritual paintings is surrounded by scenes portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating the bodies.
The pared down pictorial language is matched by a rudimentary technique. The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. The walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth and cow dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings. The Warli use only white for their paintings. Their white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding. They use a bamboo stick chewed at the end to make it as supple as a paintbrush. The wall paintings are done only for special occasions such as weddings or harvests. The lack of regular artistic activity explains the very crude style of their paintings, which were the preserve of the womenfolk until the late 1970s. But in the 1970s this ritual art took a radical turn, when Jivya Soma Mashe
started to paint, not for any special ritual, but because of his artistic pursuits.
Life of the Warlis begins with the cradle ceremony by which a child is admitted into the tribe. The next is the lagin (initiation into adulthood with marriage); and the third is the maran and the dis (rites of death and ancestor-ship). The fourth is the zoli ceremony which has two parts: 'empowering' the child to face life in the forest and introducing the child to the community, which is the basis of Warli life.
The Warlis are simple people with simple beliefs. According to art historian Yashodhara Dalmia, an expert on tribal anthropology
, the Warlis are frugal in their habit and speech. So, before cooking supper, a Warli woman asks her family members how many bhakris
each one of them would eat and makes only that many. This is done every day because their values are that, the bhakris are cooked on the back of Kansaari (their Goddesss of Harvest) and they don't want to give her more pain than what's absolutely necessary.
Warlis speaks very little, almost in monosyllables. That's because they believe that words have an uncanny habit of becoming real. So, they ensure they don't speak anything, lest it comes true.
and a female a sickle
- the two tools necessary to access the bounties of nature. She tells the child not to fear the tiger
or the bear
or any wild animal; and not to flee from the 'forces of nature'. He should live in harmony with them.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n indigenous people, who live mostly in Dahanu
Dahanu
Dahanu is a coastal city and a municipal council in Thane district in the western state of Maharashtra, India.-The Town:The name "Dahanu Gaon" originates from the word "Dhenu Gram" meaning the village of cows. A lot of cattle, particularly cows were owned by the people in Dahanu. Today, Dahanu...
and Talasari
Talasari
Talasari is a city and a municipal council in Thane district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.It is one of the talukas of Thane district where famous Warli art is inhabited.-Geography:Talasari is located at...
talukas of the northern Thane district
Thane District
Thane is a district in northern Maharashtra state in western India. As of 2011 it is the most populated district in the nation. The headquarters of the district is the city of Thane. Other major cities in the district are Navi Mumbai , Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar,...
, parts of Nashik
Nashik district
Nashik district, also known as Nasik district, is a district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Nashik is the administrative headquarters of the district.-Geography:Nashik district has an area of 15,530 square kilometres...
and Dhule
Dhule district
Dhule district is a district of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Dhule is the administrative headquarters of the district.The Dhule district previously comprised tracts of land predominantly inhabited by tribal population...
districts of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, Valsad District
Valsad district
Valsad district is one of the 26 districts in the Western Indian state of Gujarat. It is bound by Navsari district to the north, Dang district to the east and the State of Maharashtra to the south. The Arabian Sea lies west of the district...
of Gujarat, and the union territories
Union Territory
A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or...
of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. They have their own beliefs, life, customs and traditions, which is the part of the Composite Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Culture. The Warlis speak an unwritten Varli language which belong to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
, mingling Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
words. The word Warli is derived from warla, meaning "piece of land" or "field". Anand niketan school of ahmedabad in gujrat, india has done a play of a girl of the warli tribe, " Niyati". She is not real but they made this girl come into life.
Their oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
tells us that the Warlis moved southwards in search of lands for shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
to the foothills of the Sahyadri (also known as the Western Ghats), where they live now. With a view to putting an end to what they considered the wasteful practice of shifting cultivation, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
evicted Warli villages deep into the forests, and resettled them on the fringes.
Warli painting
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
.
Their extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. So the central motive in each ritual painting is the square, known as the "chauk" or "chaukat", mostly of two types: Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Inside a Devchauk, we find Palaghata, the mother goddess, symbolizing fertility. Significantly, male gods are unusual among the Warli and are frequently related to spirits which have taken human shape. The central motif in these ritual paintings is surrounded by scenes portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating the bodies.
The pared down pictorial language is matched by a rudimentary technique. The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. The walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth and cow dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings. The Warli use only white for their paintings. Their white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding. They use a bamboo stick chewed at the end to make it as supple as a paintbrush. The wall paintings are done only for special occasions such as weddings or harvests. The lack of regular artistic activity explains the very crude style of their paintings, which were the preserve of the womenfolk until the late 1970s. But in the 1970s this ritual art took a radical turn, when Jivya Soma Mashe
Jivya Soma Mashe
Jivya Soma Mashe is an artist of the Maharashtra state in India, who popularised the Warli tribal art form.Mashe was born in Dhamangaon village in Talasari taluka of Thane district of Maharashtra. At the age of 11, he came to Kalambipada village in Dahanu taluka of Thane district, where he...
started to paint, not for any special ritual, but because of his artistic pursuits.
Warli Culture
The Warli culture portrays one of the best examples of man - environment interaction. Their indigenous practices are proof of how the tribals, though illiterate, had the mechanism to preserve the environment.Life of the Warlis begins with the cradle ceremony by which a child is admitted into the tribe. The next is the lagin (initiation into adulthood with marriage); and the third is the maran and the dis (rites of death and ancestor-ship). The fourth is the zoli ceremony which has two parts: 'empowering' the child to face life in the forest and introducing the child to the community, which is the basis of Warli life.
The Warlis are simple people with simple beliefs. According to art historian Yashodhara Dalmia, an expert on tribal anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, the Warlis are frugal in their habit and speech. So, before cooking supper, a Warli woman asks her family members how many bhakris
Bhakri
Bhakri is a round flat unleavened bread often used in the cuisine of western and central India, especially in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Malwa, Goa and northern Karnataka . It is coarser than a roti and can be compared to a British biscuit with respect to hardness.Bhakri as...
each one of them would eat and makes only that many. This is done every day because their values are that, the bhakris are cooked on the back of Kansaari (their Goddesss of Harvest) and they don't want to give her more pain than what's absolutely necessary.
Warlis speaks very little, almost in monosyllables. That's because they believe that words have an uncanny habit of becoming real. So, they ensure they don't speak anything, lest it comes true.
Concept of Nature as Mother
Nature is considered as mother by the Warlis. It is central to all their customs and traditions. The midwife gives a newborn male an axeAxe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
and a female a sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
- the two tools necessary to access the bounties of nature. She tells the child not to fear the tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
or the bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
or any wild animal; and not to flee from the 'forces of nature'. He should live in harmony with them.
External links
- The Warlis and the Dhangars: The Context of the Commons
- Warli Folk Painting Summary of Warli art by the Indian government
- www.adiyuva.in Read more about Warli people from this volunteer group
- www.warli.in Warli art dedicated web page by tribals
Further reading
- Dalmia, Yashodhara, (1988). Painted World of the Warlis: Art and Ritual of the Warli Tribes of Maharashtra, New Delhi: Lalit Kala AkademiLalit Kala AkademiThe Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India's National Academy of Arts. It was an autonomous organization, established at New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside the country...
. - Dandekar, Ajay (ed.) (1998). Mythos and Logos of the Warlis: A Tribal Worldview, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, ISBN 81-7022-692-9.