Comparative Traditions in Village Painting and Prehistoric Rockart of Jharkhand By Bulu Imam

Comparative Traditions in Village Painting and Prehistoric Rockart of JharkhandBy Bulu Imam

Fig.1- A Kurmi women painting a wheeled spotted bull in the cattle and harvest festival of Sohrai during October. Note the wheels and spotted body marks which are found in similar figures in the rockart. The cattle deity Pashupati is standing on the top of the animal.

Fig.2- The Wheeled spotted animal found in the rockart paintings is here taken from the Central Panel of the Isco Rockart and appears to be a wild spotted deer and is probably at the transition phase from the Mesolithic culture into the Meso-Chalcolithic cultural phase.

Fig.3- In the murals of the Sohrai harvest art in the villages of Hazaribagh the lotus-headed Mother Goddess appears on the spotted bull and it is again found in the central panel of Isco rockart

Fig.4- The lotus-headed Mother Goddess appears in the central panel in the rockart of Isco in this form depicting the temple

Fig.5- On the day of the Sohrai cattle festival the animals are taken to the jungle and washed and when the are broght back to the village they are welcomed into the house into the rooms in which they live along a path painted with rice gruel. The design of this welcome path or Aripan is in a form of connected circles representing the hoof-prints of Cattle. This sacred motif is found in the rockart

Fig.6- Welcome Aripans in Khandar rockart found in the contemporary village Sohrai ritual art

Fig.7 A line of domestic and wild animals painted along the walls of a tribal house is common in the Sohrai festival. In the rockart of Hazaribagh we find a similar motif

Fig.8- A line of wild spotted deer in the Satpahar rockart is similar to the lines of animals painted on the village houses during the Sohrai festival.

Fig. 9- The zig-zag and other motifs in this picture may be found in the rockart

Fig. 10- The zig-zag and other motifs found in this photo graph appear in the village paintings

Fig.11- The square with crossed diagonals called Shaadi Chowk (marriage icon) is a motif sacred to the marriage ceremony. Here it appears in a highly decorative form in the bridal room or Khovar where the married couple spend their nuptial night. This is a common motif found in many places in the rockart and is recognized by the village women as the source of the motif. During the traditional marriage ceremony the bride and the bridegroom sit on the individual squares

Fig. 12- At the bottom left we can see the Shaadi Chowk or marriage motif which is a square with crossed diagonals found here in the rockart of Isco and common to most of the other rockart sites of Hazaribagh

Fig.13- The hand stamp is a common motif found in India. Here it is shown on the wall of a house painted for the Sohrai festival. Rice gruel is used for the stamping and in the middle of each palm a spot of vermillion is put to mark its sacred significance.

Fig.14- This hand-stamp motif has been painted in red haematite with white markings and it is found in the Nautangwa pahar rockart

Nautangwa Pahar rockart, North Karanpura Valley

Thank You! Bulu ImamConvener, INTACH Hazaribagh Chapter Director, TWAC "Sanskriti", DipugarhaP.O.Hazaribagh- 825 301Jharkhand, INDIATel: 06546-264820; Fax: 06546-270815Email: rch_buluimam@bsnl.in / buluimam@gmail.comWebsite: www.sanskritihazaribagh.com / www.karanpuracampaign.com

Comparative Traditions in Village Painting and Prehistoric Rockart of Jharkhand By Bulu Imam