Gond Painting~Patangarh

Introduction:

Usage:

Art is a way of life for the Gond tribe. They do not draw and paint only on festive occasions. This Art is etched onto  their bodies as tattoos and  flows in the ornamentation of daily use articles such as baskets and pottery. Their unique handiwork is seen on the walls and floors of their dwellings. The paintings depict the nature around them in an expression unique to the Gonds. They consist of animals, birds and human figures in the midst of activities such as hunting and dancing.

The art of the Gonds thrives in the musical instruments they make and the carved doors and panels of their homes. They sculpt memorials out of wood and stone for their dead.
Gond artwork regularly features in art emporiums, museums and exhibitions and is often used for its decorative value in homes and offices in homes and offices.

Significance:

The tribal paintings provide a penetrating insight into cultural ethnography of remote tribal life. They depict their traditions, activities and surroundings in vivid detail. Their gods of worship are depicted in their paintings and are always intertwined with nature, exhibiting their strong intimacy with their environment. The Gonds have a thriving tradition of oral narratives which is the cornerstone of their paintings. Pardhans are the story keepers of the Gonds. Their strong tradition of oral narrative seemingly transfers to their paintings as well. Their pantheon is intimately connected to nature. Many artists depict their folk tales in the paintings while others paint their impressions of urban culture.

A fascinating aspect of Gond paintings is that the style branches out into many more individual styles. Each artist can be recognized by their characteristic style in a Gond painting even though they all come under the same principles of the same art.

Myths & Legends:

There are many folk tales and myths pertaining to the origin and rituals of the Gond tribe. Their artwork is peppered with these engaging stories.
The tribe is very fond of the intoxicating drink ‘Mahua’ (Madhucalongifolia), made from the plant of the same name. Both adults and children consume ‘Mahua’ during celebrations and festivals.

A Gond folk tale about ‘Mahua’ goes as follows :
There was once a king who organized an elaborate feast for his subjects. After the feast, the subjects were full to the brim and laziness took over. At the same time, God walked towards them. He saw them and asked, “Why are all of you so lethargic?- The people replied, “We have no energy in us, no fire, no passion- Hearing this, God himself instructed the people how to retrieve liquor from the ‘Mahua’ tree. From then the world knew fun, frolic, mischief and dance.

The Gond tribes are primarily forest dwellers. Their lives revolve around trees. They believe that trees work hard during the day, providing shelter and nourishment. At night, after the dayâ’s work is done, the birds are asleep and the daytime visitors have gone away, the spirits of the trees step out.

According to folklore, The Almighty had a huge boil. This boil inflamed, became ripe, burst and drained out. The drained fluid gave birth to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. From Lord Shiva’s urine falling on Earth, plants began to grow. Goddess Parvati became pregnant on consumption of these plants. From her womb came the eighteen plantations of the gods of the Brahmins and the twelve plantations of the gods of the Gond tribe. 

According to a myth, from a white gourd came out two men, cutting the flesh of the gourd. The first became a member of the Baiga tribe and the other became a member of the Gond tribe. The Baiga went to cut the jungles with an axe and the Gond proceeded to plough the fields. These stories points towards the agricultural basis of Gond existence.

History:

The oldest wall paintings (20,000 to 5,00,000 years old) in India can be found in the caves of Bhimbetka (1), depicting animals, symbols and scenes of daily life in natural pigments of white, red and black. The principles are very similar to the paintings of the Gond Tribe.

The Gonds are one of the largest Adivasi (tribal) communities in India. They are of Dravidan origin and can be traced to pre-Aryan era. The name is derived from ‘Kond’ which means ‘green mountains’ in the Dravidian dialect.

The majority of Gonds today are found in the state of Madhya Pradesh. They stand out because of their unique tribal culture, vast expanse of habitat and their historical importance.

Verrier Elwin (2) is a central figure in their history. He was an Oxford graduate who came to India in 1927 as a Christian missionary. During his stay, he was greatly influenced by the workings Hindu philosophy and the writings of Tagore. The British government was irked by his camaraderie with the Indian freedom fighters. Elwin (2) exchanged ideas with Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhai Patel and traveled with the latter across India. He felt deeply for the sufferings of the people. He then met a very capable volunteer called Shamrao Hivale and studied with him the Gond tribe of Central India.
However, the church objected to Elwin’s reforms and his generosity to the tribals. He quit his missionary post and went on to live amongst the tribals to understand them better. His reforms included eliminating superstitions and ignorance, teaching them agriculture and opening up a pharmacy.
The British government soon started to harass Elwin due to his alleged ‘anti-establishment’ activities with the tribals for making them self sufficient. He converted to Hinduism and married a Gond girl called ‘Kosi’ and bore a child named Jawahar Singh (4). In accordance to the tribal tradition, he also married another woman called ‘Leela’, the daughter of the Pradhan (village head) of Pathangad. He strongly felt that the family and social habits of the tribals were far superior to those of the ‘civilized’ societies, as there were no sexual inequalities and the responsibilities were distributed naturally.
Elwin had dedicated his life to the tribals. Because of his efforts, they were brought to the government’s notice and attained citizenship in free India. After India’s independence in 1947, the government of India appointed him as a consultant in reform. He went on to serve as the chief of the Anthropological Survey of India and documented numerous tribes all over the country.

Subsequently, the village of Patangarh in Dindori district witnessed a beautiful interdependence of Pardhans and Gonds. As mentioned earlier, the Pardhans were priests and storytellers responsible for carrying on the traditions and history of the Gonds through songs and rituals. Over the years, these songs and stories started becoming extinct. The first Gond artist to be discovered was Jangarh Singh Shyam (4). His paintings on the walls of houses were spotted by renowned artist and writer Jagdish Swaminathan (3). He took Jangarh Shyam to Bhopal and opened up avenues for him to display his art. Shyam was the first Gond artist to use paper and canvas for his art. His talent was soon recognized and his work was exhibited all over the country. His paintings grace one of the domes of Bharat Bhawan; he has drawn a huge aircraft on one of the walls of the State Legislative Assembly and his clay relief of the Narmada can be seen at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) museum in Bhopal.
After Shyam broke the ice, several Gond artists, including many from his family, have now emerged from the village and made a name on the global front.

Design:

Gond paintings done on village mud walls use colors derived from charcoal, colored soil, plant sap, leaves and cow dung and can last up to 20 years. The peculiarity of these paintings is the simplicity of the ideas and their representation of the daily life of the Gonds.

The representation of nature seems almost psychedelic in this art form. The bounty and extravagance of nature is brought out in drawings and vivid colours. Animals and plants intertwine, delicately and intricately, with figures of Gods and deities. The common themes for their paintings are mythological stories depicted in epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, nature in the form of forests, agricultural fields, domestic as well as wild animals and significant events in the life of the painter like marriage, festivals, death etc.

Challenges:

Time and modernity changed the Gond social order and the dwindling number of patrons of the Gonds and Pardhans made them look for sources of livelihood for the first time. Some have become laborers while some do odd jobs for farmers.
The environmental changes also affected the usage of natural colors such as charcoal, soil and various tree products. Chemical colors cannot always substitute a particular shade of a natural color.

Introduction Process:

Paper and canvas are new media of storytelling for the Gond painters. Laden with simple steps but detailed drawings, the Gond paintings are carried out with colors, pencils, pens and endless imagination.

Raw Materials:

The raw materials are simple and easily available. They comprise of poster/acrylic paints, brushes, wooden drawing boards, paper or canvas and outline pencils. Natural colours and charcoal are still used by some artists. The types of tools vary mildly depending on the surface on which the paintings or carvings are done.

The following raw material is required for
Wall Paintings:
Soil: A special soil called ‘Pidor’ is used for preparing the surface of the wall for the painting. This soil is freely available in the Gond area and is transported from from village to village on bullock carts and sold at at very cheap rates.
Natural colors: Various natural materials are used for providing different colorsto the drawings. For example, wooden coal for the color black, Chui soil for white, Red Soil or ‘Geru’ for red, the sap of the Tinsak plant for dark red, Ramraj soil for yellow, Semleaves for dark green and cow dung for light green.

Canvas/Chart Paintings:
Canvas/Chart paper: The canvas is purchased from the local dealers at ratesvarying from Rs.40 to Rs.100 per meter, depending on the quality of the cloth. The chart paper is also easily available in the local stationery shops.
Primer: Fevicol and plastic emulsions are coated on the canvas as a primer.
Paints: Acrylic paints used for painting fabric are used. The rate for acrylic paint is Rs.15 for a 15 ml bottle

Tools & Tech:

‘Koochi’ is an indigenously manufactured brush used for wall paintings. This brush is made with the fibers obtained by crushing the bark of some surrounding trees.
The main tools required for canvas or chart paper paintings include a wooden frame on which the canvas/chart paper is fixed with the help of drawing pins to straighten it. Apart from this, different brushes (numbers 6 to 4) are used depending on the requirements of the drawing.
In earlier days, Fevicol was rubbed onto cotton sheets to make canvas for painting.

Rituals:

The Gond paintings are abundant with depictions of their fascinating rituals.

Gonds protect pregnant women against spells and evil influences and perform several rituals after a baby is born. A mother’s brother generally names a baby boy, while the father’s sister names a girl. Children grow up as part of a family, clan and Phratry (one of the four main divisions of Gond society) and gradually learn the ways of their people. Both boys and girls help guard family crops from birds and monkeys. Males undergo a ritual shaving of the beard, mustache and eyebrows as a sign of adulthood. Girls are considered to be full-grown at their first menstruation.
Gonds cremate or bury their dead. Children, unmarried persons and individuals dying an inauspicious death (for instance, in an epidemic) are buried without much ceremony. Gonds believe humans have a life force and a spirit. On death, the life force is reincarnated into another earthly existence but the spirit remains in the other world. Gonds perform death rituals to help the spirit move into the other world and to ease its acceptance by other clan spirits. This rite, known as Karun must be done to fulfill an obligation to the deceased. Memorial pillars honor the dead. Gonds believe ancestral spirits watch over the living, punish offenders and guard Gond communities.

process:

Paper and canvas are new media of storytelling for the Gond painters. Laden with simple steps but detailed drawings, the Gond paintings are carried out with colors, pencils, pens and endless imagination.

Choosing the Theme
It is an important aspect in the process, which can be inspired by events in the artist’s life, traditional themes of life or animal and plant depictions. Similar designs are used on village walls as on canvas or paper.

Preparing the Canvas
The artist cuts the canvas into the desired size and stretches the canvas over a wooden frame, straightening it with drawing pins. A coat of Fevicol is applied to the canvas, followed by one to three coats of plastic emulsion to provide a smooth surface. Once dry, it can be painted. A paper surface is immediately ready for paint. Artists use acrylic paint and drawing pens to apply color or keep the image black and white.

Painting
While the canvas is still affixed to the frame, the artist begins to apply paint using brushes of different widths or uses pens to apply ink. Some colors have specific associations with emotions. Orange depicts religious thoughts, red depicts fear and green is associated with nature.

The process is similar to the above steps for all artists. The uniqueness of each artist is determined by the pattern they use to fill up the drawings. Some use dots, while others use more intricate patterns like curves, rainbows, circles etc.

Waste:

Cluster Name: Patangarh - Dindori

Introduction:

A cluster that is known for their flamboyantly unique style of expression, the Gond is one of the largest tribes of India. Mainly populating the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India, both men and women take part in the arts equally. Their talent has helped them step out of their villages and popularize themselves worldwide.

History:

In The Folk Songs of Chhattisgarh, (1946), translated by Verrier Elwin and Shamrao Hivale, one song goes:
In this kingdom of the English
How hard it is to live
To pay the cattle tax
We sold a cow
To pay the forest tax
We have to sell a bullock
How are we to get our food?

This was written around the time when the Gonds were gradually deprived of their kingdoms, during the onset of British colonialism. The Gonds or the 'Koiture' are a heterogeneous group spreading over large areas from the Godavari gorges in the south to the Vindhya Mountains in the north. In Madhya Pradesh, they inhabited the dense forests of the Vindhyas, Satpura and Mandla in the Narmada region of the Amarkantak range for centuries. The central province was called Gondwana since the Gonds reigned here. As many as four separate Gond Kingdoms situated in the northern, central and southern parts are mentioned in the Ain-I-Akbari. In this, one can find the mention of the Gond kingdom called GarhaKantanga that consisted of 70,000 villages during the Mughal era.

Post independence and with the efforts of many pioneers in freedom fight including Verrier Elwin, they have been recognized as one of the 'Scheduled Tribes' under the Constitution of India. Gonds are further divided into four tribes, namely: Raj Gonds, Madia Gonds, Khatulwar Gonds and Dhurve Gonds.

Geography:

Patangarh is a small village in the Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh. It is located on the SH-22, 60kms away from Dindori. It is on the way to Amarkantak, which is a unique natural heritage area. It is the meeting point of the Vindhyas and the Satpuras, with the Maikal Hills being the fulcrum. This is where the Narmada River, the Sone River and Johila River emerge.

Environment:

Infrastructure:

The village comes to be strategically placed near the State Highway - 22, which easily connects it to the cities for purposes of supply or traveling, to sell paintings. There are no shops at the village. It is mostly filled with the beautifully painted mud houses of the tribe. The village has ample electricity and is unusually devoid of plastic and other wastes. Clean surrounding, greenery, simplicity and artistic inclination of the people are the inviting factors that lure the visitors to come and stay there. The village is gifted with the serenity of a beautiful sunset.

Architecture:

The dwellings are mostly houses made of cupping mud around a thin wall of brick. Long clay tiles on rafters form the roof of the houses. The walls and floors of these houses are adorned by the paintings of the families residing in these houses. The open verandah serves as meeting space, where the family collectively sits and paints.

A few families presently build their houses with cement and concrete. They consist of a living room, kitchen, veranda, a special room for women to use while menstruating and a shrine for the clan's Gods.

Culture:

The Gonds dress in a simple manner with the men in 'Dhoti' (loincloth) and the women in cotton Sarees and 'Choli' (tight fitting cropped blouse). Many youngsters seem to be contemporarily clothed with pants and t-shirts.

The staple foods of the Gonds are millets known as 'Kodo' and 'Kutki', which they cultivate. They are boiled to make a broth or consumed as dry cereal. Vegetables are either grown in gardens or collected from forests along with roots, tubers and even honey. Rice is luxury and is cooked during feasts and celebrations. They are fond of meat but must abstain from the flesh of animals that are their clan totems. Gonds grow their own tobacco for smoking and brew the Mahua liquor.

Though the Gonds are animistic (the belief that animals,plants and even inanimate objects have souls), there are influences of Hinduism in their culture. There is also sometimes the influence of the hierarchy from Hindu royalty. For example, the Hindu festival Dussera is celebrated by the Raj-Gonds (an influence of the Rajputs).

Persa Pen is the most distinctive feature of Gond religion. Like many other tribes, Gonds worship a high God known as 'Baradeo' (literally meaning the big deity), whose alternate names are Bhagavan, Sri Shambu Mahadeo, and Persa Pen. These are the names for the God popularly known as Lord Shiva. Baradeo oversees the activities of lesser gods. He is respected but does not receive fervent devotion, which is shown only to clan deities. Each Gond clan has its Persa Pen, who protects all clan members. The Persa Pen is essentially good but can be dangerous and violent. Many Gonds believe that when a Pardhan (bard) plays his fiddle, the deity's fierce powers can be controlled.

Another distinct practice is the Ghotul system. Under this system, unmarried young boys and girls live together in separate huts where they can intermingle and live in whatever way they desire. During this period, they participate in dancing, music and local story telling. If everything goes fine and satisfactorily, the duo can get out of the Ghotul and marry. Muria Gonds mainly practice the Ghotul system, which is related with Goddess Lingopan.

Their favorite deities are Ghashyam Deo and Goddess Danteshwari, who they worship in rituals, celebrations and village feasts. During these occasions, animal sacrifices are made and large quantities of Mahua is consumed. The Gonds are an exuberant tribe who believe in good humor and good food.

Their rich cultural heritage is alive and passed on through the songs and dances in their celebrations. These retell the stories from the Gond mythology. Sometimes these dances are just done in frolic when they gather on full moon nights. Cock fighting is another favorite pastime.

Their favourite deities are Ghashyam Deo and Danteshwari Goddess, whom they worship in rituals, celebrations and village feasts. During these occasions, animal sacrifices are made and large quantities of Mahua is consumed. The Gonds are an exuberant tribe who believe in good humour and good food.

Their rich cultural heritage is alive and passed on through the songs and dances in their celebrations. These retell the stories from the Gond mythology. Sometimes these dances are just done in frolic when they gather on full moon nights. Cock-fighting is another favourite pastime.

People:

The story begins at the time when the earth was still in its early teens; its surface changing fast, eruptive owing to the volatile movements below its crust. The primordial ocean, Tethys dividing the Angara-land from the Gondvana-land (today's central India) had in its womb, the Himalayas, which sprung up as the lands collided. Several thousand years later, with the advent of the fiercest of the species on its subdued surface, earth became the fighting grounds for the conqueror races. As the Mahabharata states; after the fateful war at Kurukshetra the vanquished Aryan clan of the Kauravas headed southwards in India, conquering the lands of the native Dravidian tribes, whom they contemptuously called 'Gondvana'. This aboriginal 'Gond' tribe still forms a part of the naturally gifted central province of India.

According to folklore, The Almighty had a huge boil. This boil inflamed, became ripe, burst and drained out. The drained fluid gave birth to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. From Lord Shiva's urine falling on Earth, plants began to grow. Goddess Parvati became pregnant on consumption of these plants. From her womb came the eighteen plantations of the gods of the Brahmins and the twelve plantations of the gods of the Gond tribe.

Famous For:

Paintings, Sculptures and Woodwork.

Gallery

Craftsmen

List of craftsmen.

Documentation by:

Team Gaatha

Process Reference:

Interview: Artisan Community Patangarh
Interview:  Nankusia Syam, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
http://dindori.nic.in
http://ignca.nic.in/tribal_art_intro_gonds_mp.htm
http://verrier-elwin.blogspot.in
http://www.aiacaonline.org/craftmark-certified-processes-gond-painting.asp?links=craftm6http://www.aiacaonline.org/pdf/gond-painting-extended-documentation.pdf
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/pioneers/elwin.htm
http://www.purpleonion.nl/background/bastar
http://www.slideshare.net
http://www.travelindia360.net/gonds-of-central-india.html

Cluster Reference: