Steal a look into the lives of Sauras

Folk Paintings

Here is a chance to peep into the life of one of the most primitive yet dynamic and colourful tribes of Orissa. An exhibition of Saura paintings is going on at Arts of the Earth Gallery in Lado Sarai. Saura paintings are drawn by Sauras tribemen to mark special events in their lives such as the birth of a child, a good harvest, marriage etc.

On display till June 8, are around 20 paintings which were brought by director of the gallery Meena Varma, from a village in Orissa some 20 years ago. Until two years ago, these paintings were a part of her personal collection.

Like many tribal cultures all over the world, the art of the Sauras draws inspiration from their belief that the world is peopled by the great company of Gods as well as spirits of nature and their ancestors. It is a means of worship and invocation for them.

“Unlike other tribal and folk art, Saura paintings never got commercialised. I had visited a village in Orissa some 20 years ago with my husband. I got these works from there. I didn't have a gallery until two years ago. So they were on display at home,” says Meena.

Of the entire lots of paintings, two were exhibited last year also at Arts of the Earth, an exclusive gallery of folk, tribal and popular arts of India. The paintings carry a visual depiction of daily life of Sauras tribes.

These tribals depend on farming for living and are inclined towards depicting the importance of land through their paintings.

It is believed that these paintings are created on the walls of their houses by someone who is possessed by spirits and paints under the diktats of the spirits. After washing the wall with fresh red earth and water to provide a good background, the painter uses a twig as a brush and pigments made from rice, ash, chalk or lime. The general format of the work is the form of a house in a rectangular or square space.

These pictographs were made for ritual purposes, to avoid disease, preserve crops, honour the dead of the tribe and promote fertility. However, with advent of overall development and interaction of Sauras tribal with other communities, their icons are fast losing significance and their practices slowly being discontinued.

“It is being practised only in the isolated village of the Langia Sauras of the hills that one finds the Ittalams (paintings) in their true sacred and spiritual context,” says Meena. In recent times, the Saura artists have started using hand-made paper and cloth as the medium for their paintings.