Tribal Treasures : Art and the Tribes of India

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The tribal art of India mirrors the myriad colourful cultures of the tribes and emanates an earthy essence of rural India. The creative tribal art is truly a living tradition and an iconographic expression of tribal lifestyle of our country. This art brings out the aesthetic sense, exuberant energy, out of the box imaginations of the tribes of India and is appreciated for its stylized symbolic motifs and use of vegetable dyes.

The book 'Tribal Treasures' is an introduction to the various tribes and their panoramic paintings from different corners of India. Some popular art forms are performed by the tribes like Warli, Saora, Gond, Bhil, Muria, Kurumba etc. on their freshly plastered mud hut walls. This book illustrates the pictorial representations and detail descriptions of the actual life situations and the art forms of different tribes. Fair amount information had been contributed by different Government and Non-Government Organizations, renowned scholars and artists connected with this field.

The author has completed her Graduation and Post-Graduation from the prestigious Presidency College, Kolkata and Calcutta University respectively and has done extensive research on the tribes and the tribal art of India. The author has widely travelled across the country and interacted directly with the various tribes and the tribal artists. She was inspired to write this book because of her interest in the tribal lifestyle and their art forms.

She is fortunate to have direct contacts with the eminent professionals associated with the different forms of tribal arts. Their experiences and cooperation contributed immensely to enrich the content of this book to a large extent.

There are numerous tribes living in our country. Their life-styles and cultures are interesting and versatile. Apart from their day to day struggle for survival, they also indulge in various art works while spending their leisure time. They adorn their hut walls with the tribal paintings during auspicious occasions such as child-birth, marriages and festivals etc. Their art works are stylish and are mostly done with organic colours. The styles and symbols of different tribal paintings vary from tribe to tribe.

Now a days these tribal paintings are not just confined to the hut walls, the tribals paint them on papers, clothes and different other mediums and sell them in the local market for earning livelihood. Urban people and the connoisseurs of arts have a great zeal for these tribal paintings and so it is necessary to identify them correctly. Hence this book is written which will help them to understand it correctly. This book also describes the tribal lifestyles and cultures of India in general. Different tribal paintings practiced by different tribes are discussed in details. Along with the paintings, descriptions of the lifestyle of that particular tribe which paint them is also given.

The different types of tribal paintings discussed in this book are-Warli, Gond, Kurumba, Saora, Pithora, Santhal, Midnapur tribal pata, Khovar and Sohral of Hazaribag, Mandana painting of Meena trtibe in Rajashan, Paitkar painting of Jharkhand, Chittrara paintings of Karnataka by the tribal women of Maland and Kalamezhuthu of Kerala.

According to the anthropologists, a ‘tribe’ means a traditional social organization who are the original inhabitants of a particular place from time immemorial. They are restricted to a common territory and are linked by common social, economic, religious beliefs and blood ties. They are indigenous people and have a common identity, culture, language and primitive laws. Their education system selfmade and they usually have a recognized leader. In India they are popularly known as 'Adivasis'. They are also called as Vanavasi, Vanyajati, Adimjati, Girijana, Pahari etc, as most of them live in forests and hills. India is home to a large number of tribal people. A particular tribal society includes many villages, districts and is restricted to a common territory.

Tribes of India form 8.14% of the total population of India, 84.51 millions (according to 2001 census) and they cover 15% of the total area of our country. There are 697 tribes in India as indicated by the central government of India under article 342 of the Indian constitution. According to the 2011 census the tribal population of India is 10.43 crores, constituting 8.6% of the total population of this country.

The myriad colourful tribal cultures of the various tribes in India, their rhythmic dances, melodious music can be metaphorized as colourful threads woven together making a beautiful fabric. These tribes of India have their distinct ethnic identities including dressing, eating and drinking habits. They posses their unique singing and dancing styles and have their sets of social and religious customs. They worship natural forces and primitive tribal Gods. They earn their livelihood through farming, fishing, hunting and collecting forest produce. Some of them are involved in making baskets using bamboo. They also make furniture, handicrafts using canes and other materials.