Cheriyal scroll paintings, a visual memoir of folk art from Telangana

The traditional Cheriayl mask characters, part of a story 

Cheriyal; an artform of painting scrolls for storytelling:

The Indian folk arts are a fascinating blend of excellence in artistry, skills, crafts, cultural and social traditions, and history. They have played a pivotal role in Indian artistic tradition and have been an inherent part of Indian social and cultural life for centuries.

One of the folk art forms of India famous world over is the scroll paintings. Many states in India have traditions of scroll paintings. In earlier times when there were no mediums for communication and entertainment like phone, television, or internet, the scroll paintings served as perfect means for communication, education, and entertainment. Phad scroll paintings from Rajasthan, Pattachitra from Orissa and West Bengal, Jadupatua scroll paintings from Jharkhand, Bihar, and Thangka scroll paintings from Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh are a few examples of this art form and are a brilliant amalgamation of tradition, culture, and social, religious, and professional ideologies of a given place.  

The Cheriyal scroll paintings from Telangana have a unique character that makes them stand out from other traditional scroll paintings. These scrolls are community-based paintings that depict stories in context with caste professions, rooted in the local heroic legends of particular communities.

Each community would have its band of storytellers/bards. Depending on the profession of the community, the bards would be given titles. For example, Gauda Shettys are the bards for the Gaud community, Chakalipattamvarus are the bards for Chakali or washermen community, Padmasalis are the bards for the weaver community, and so on. 

The artists of Cheriyal scroll paintings painted different stories for different communities. And the wandering minstrels/bards would pick up the scrolls relevant to the community they represented. For example, a bard from the weaver community would invariably take a scroll painting narrating tales from Bhakt Markandeya Purana, as Rishi Markandeya was known to be a seer who wove clothes for Gods. A bard from the fisherman community would pick up scrolls depicting tales from the Mahabharata as the writer of the epic, Maharshi Ved Vyasa was born into a fisherman's family. 

A young artist of traditional Cheriyal scroll painting at an exhibition   

 History of Cheriyal scroll paintings  

For centuries, the bright colors of the Cheriyal scroll paintings have brought folk tales and religious texts to life for the people of Telangana. Cheriyal, the village about a hundred kilometers from Hyderabad was a melting pot of many traditional art forms that were culturally and socially significant and provided employment to the artisans in and around the village. 

The earliest known Cheriyal painting scroll is said to be from 1625 when the Qutub Shahis of Golconda ruled the region of Telangana. The earlier version of this art form was known as Nakshi paintings during that era since it involved precision with fine lines. And the artists were called "Nakshas". While the name of the art form "Nakshi" is derived from the caste of people engaged with it, the scroll paintings are now known as Cheriyal scroll paintings. Sadly, few artists from Cheriyal and those who moved to Hyderabad are the only people practicing this art form albeit, struggling to stay relevant. In 2007, the Cheriyal scroll paintings earned GI (Geographical Indication).

Traditional Cheriyal painting depicting the Dashawatara, from my personal art collection 

Traditionally, the bards/minstrels would travel from one village to another, performing; singing, and dancing to every scene depicted on the scroll pinned in the background. The tales depicted in the scroll paintings would typically be from the Ramayan, Mahabharata, Krishna Leela, and Indian mythology and tales of local legends from various communities to impart moral and social lessons.

The storytellers would carry the scroll paintings with them as they were essential visual aids to go with stories and ballads. A well-constructed scroll painting would last for at least a hundred years and thus would be passed down to the generation of bards/minstrels. Unfortunately, due to some customs observed by the bards, after a certain number of years of usage, the scroll paintings were immersed in holy rivers. And this resulted in the loss of many precious Cheriyal scroll paintings. The only heritage scroll paintings we still have are the ones patronized and collected by the affluent class for aesthetic value. 

The Cheriyal artists also make wooden masks and dolls for traditional stories like “The Katamaraju Katha", an epic Telugu ballad about a war between the chieftain and the king of Nellore which consists of fifty-three characters, all made in the form of human-size dolls which when assembled, narrates popular folklore. Each character also has a story of its own. The storytellers would use those dolls and masks for narrating the story or use them as puppets. 

The art of Cheriyal scroll paintings have remained the same by and large but the unavailability of raw material has pushed the use of technology in some aspects of the craft. 

Traditional Cheriyal masks 

How Cheriyal scroll paintings are made:  

Traditionally, the Cheriyal scroll paintings are made on khadi fabric that is glazed with tamarind seed paste, rice starch, chalk powder, and tree gum. The mix of these ingredients is boiled, filtered with a cotton cloth, and then applied to the khadi canvas. Once the canvas is dried, the priming process is repeated once. After that dries, it is ready for use and the painting process begins. Once the painting of the subject is complete, a border with motifs of leaves and flowers is added to the paintings. 

 

The scroll paintings are created on bright red backgrounds and invariably follow a color scheme of blue, green, yellow, black, and white. Originally, the colors used in Cheriyal scroll paintings were natural. Black was extracted from lamp soot, white was obtained from river shells or zinc oxide, red and yellow were extracted from stones called Ingligum, skin color from turmeric, and blues from Indigo, and yellow from pevadi stones. These days, the unavailability of natural colors in the region has compelled the artists to procure color powders in bulk from artists from other states. 

Attempt to stay relevant to modern times 

With the advent of mass communication, the demand for these traditional scrolls has waned with time. From a traditional scroll that was three feet high and about fifty feet long with fifty panels, the Cheriyal scroll paintings have reduced to a single panel, suitable for urban homes. The Cheriyal artists are trying to make utility items like key chains, pen holders, wall decor, and small artifacts thus promoting art in whatever form and fashion possible. 

Cheriyal scroll paintings, the carrier of a rich heritage of history and culture are on the verge of extinction. And if we don't support this art form, this artistic expression of a beautiful region will be forgotten forever!