Their extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle drawn from nature represents the sun and the moon while the triangle is derived from mountains and pointed trees. The square indicates a sacred enclosure, the square, the “chauk” ; for the Palaghata, the mother goddess, symbolising fertility. Scenes portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals surround the central motif in these ritual paintings. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip, the upper triangle depicting the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolises the balance of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating the bodies.
Trees, birds, men and women collaborate to create a composite whole in Tribal Paintings. Warli Painting and the paintings of the tribe of Maharashtra are the most joyous celebration of that very philosophy. Even spiral formations of men and women and concentric circular designs in Warli Paintings are symbolic of the circle of life. In fact most of these seemingly simple paintings abound in symbolism. The harmony and balance depicted in these paintings is supposed to signify the harmony and balance of the universe. Unlike other tribal art forms the Warli Paintings do not employ religious iconography, making it a more secular art form.
Marriage is the most recurring theme of Warli paintings. Many Warli paintings depict Warli Paintings - Marriage ThemePalghat, the marriage god, accompanied by a horse and of course the bride and the groom. They consider these paintings sacred. Men and women dancing in circles (Tarapa Dance), during various celebrations, is another theme typical to the Warli Paintings. A musician playing a native instrument is usually found in the middle of such spirals (Tarapa). Flora and fauna are also depicted in these paintings. The cracked walls of the village have been adorned with these paintings for centuries and even today they form the primary decoration of most such houses.
Marriage is the most recurring theme of Warli paintings. Many Warli paintings depict Warli Paintings - Marriage ThemePalghat, the marriage god, accompanied by a horse and of course the bride and the groom. They consider these paintings sacred. Men and women dancing in circles (Tarapa Dance), during various celebrations, is another theme typical to the Warli Paintings. A musician playing a native instrument is usually found in the middle of such spirals (Tarapa). Flora and fauna are also depicted in these paintings. The cracked walls of the village have been adorned with these paintings for centuries and even today they form the primary decoration of most such houses.
