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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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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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!
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