Pablo Picasso once said ‘Painting is just another way of keeping a diary’. In India painting, since ancient times, was seen as an act of leisure and would usually depict the daily lifestyle of the painter. One of the prominent examples of this is the Gond painting. Practised in Central India, the Gond paintings are a tribal art having a combination of indigenous elements of nature and tribal art. It is usually practised to express the rich cultural heritage of the Gond tribe. The Gond paintings are a combination of unique motifs, exclusive signature patterns, lucid techniques of presentation and a tinge of cultural and traditional heritage.
Despite being the largest Adivasi community in India, the precise history of their origin is unknown. It has been established through anthropological evidence that they existed in Gondwana, the ‘land of Gond’, during the pre-Aryan era in the green mountains of the Godavari gorges in the south to the Vidhya mountains in the north. Gonds were ruling in Central India during the 14th century until the Mughals forced them to leave their area.
They are spread throughout Central India with a population of four million. Although they have long occupied parts of northern Andhra Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, as well as areas of Jharkhand and western Orissa, the tightly woven people of this community have called these places home for generations. This tribe mainly practices agriculture or daily wages.
The word ‘Gond’ comes from the Dravidian expression ‘Kond’ which means ‘green mountain’, while tribal people are called Gondis. The other names used for Gonds were Koi, Koitur, and Gondas. The Gond art was mainly made in Patangarh Village in the Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh.
The Gonds believe that seeing a good image will bring them good luck. Various festivals like Diwali, Karva Chauth, and Nag Panchami, rituals and ceremonies for birth and marriage were the major themes of their paintings. The visual representation features their myths, fables, tattoos and music. The themes and motifs of the painting revolve around indigenous flora and fauna, deities and urban culture. Nature is at the core of the paintings as the tribe believes that man and nature are interconnected. They mainly depict animals like peacocks, lions, tigers, snakes, wild boars, elephants, fish, and the mahua tree as a tree of life, myths, legends and modern design. According to Venkat Raman Singh Shyam, one of the Gond artists, ‘trees play a very important role in Gond art’. Different trees represent different stories such as Ganja Mahua Tree tells the love story of a Brahman girl and a chamar boy who fell in love but to society’s disapproval renounced everything and later were reborn as Ganja and Mahua trees. Saja tree, Pakri tree, Peepal and Tamarind are some other trees depicted in Gond’s art. Gond’s paintings often reflect the professional priesthood activities of shamans, as well as elements of totemism and animism. Hindu gods like Shiva, and Krishna and local deities like marahi devi along with their folktales are also themes of their paintings.
Guilds and artists employed separate and specific patterns and styles which are often called their ‘signature patterns’. For example dots, fine lines, seed shapes, and geometrical shapes are some of such patterns.
The ground painting is made with materials such as handmade paper, canvas, chart paper, and paint brushes. Usually, bright colours like black, red, yellow, blue, green etc are used. These colours can be obtained from a natural source such as charcoal, ram raj soil, Chui soil, geru soil, cow dung, bean leaves, plants etc. The Gond artists are using synthetic colours, poster colours and oil paints because of their wide availability.
The Gonds, in ancient times, would perform the function of passing on the Gond king’s tradition with the help of an instrument called ‘bana’. This statement is supported by Padmaja Shrivastava, an expert in the history of Gond painting. The Pradhan Gonds were believed to have initiated the paintings of Gond folktales. Mainly characters like Baha Dev (the most popular and revered god of the Gond tribe) along with other characters were painted. These paintings would appear on the mud walls and floors of their homes with beautiful images also known as ‘Bhittichitra’ on special occasions and religious festivals.
The modern Indian painter J Swaminathan who was also the director of the Bharat Bhavan Museum in Bhopal found many male and female Gond artists in the 1980s. Jangarh Singh Shaym who was an outstanding painter was one of those painters. He was the very first tribal artist to use canvas, acrylic, oil, pen and paper for his artwork. Along with this, he was also a Pardhan Gond artist in the village of Patangarh in the Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh. Pictures on walls and art have always been an integral part of Gondis, particularly among pradhans. He was also well known for exhibiting his paintings in Tokyo and Paris thus giving worldwide fame to Gond paintings. Many tribal families’ livelihood was dependent on this profession.
Globally, the Gond art and artists are not unknown today. The Gond artists such as Bhajju Shyam, Mangru Uikey and Durga Bai have gained international recognition. A geographical indication(GI) tag was also recently granted to Gond paintings from Madhya Pradesh.
But in modern times we’re seeing specific changes in the art, culture and tradition of the Gond tribe which ultimately affects the socio-cultural lives of the Gonds. The increased modernization and commercialization have specific effects on the style of Gond painting which is now based on profit unlike earlier where it had some cultural and traditional value.
Sanskriti Pundir
Sanskriti Pundir is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in History Honours from Indraprastha College for Women. She is determined and is also a budding writer who actively seeks opportunities to improve her writing skills.