IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

Santhali Sohrai murals                                                                                                                                                                              

14th March, 2022 Art & Culture

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Context: The Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting Sohrai murals.

 

Sohrai Khovar Painting:

  • It is a traditional and ritualistic mural art being practised by local tribal women during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area of Hazaribagh district of 
  • The style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.
  • In 2020, Jharkhand received a Geographical Indication tag for its Sohrai art particularly for the murals painted by women in Hazaribagh district who do not belong to the Santhal tribe.
  • The murals of Hazaribagh are more primordial with different motifs, whereas the Santhali Sohrai art features only geometric shapes.
  • Women of Hazaribagh only use earth colours — red, black and white — for their murals.

 

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/santhali-sohrai-murals-an-etch-in-time-81680