The lifestyle of the Warli tribe is distinct from that of the people living in Mumbai. The tribesmen celebrate the natural way of life, depending majorly on farming and hunting for survival. Warli paintings also depict this lifestyle along with the folk dances, rituals, and customs of the tribesmen and women.
Warli paintings are usually done during major festivals such as Holi or Diwali, during marriages, and during rituals such as crop harvesting. Other themes basically include animals, birds, Gods and Goddesses, rituals, and daily activities.
Graphically, Warli paintings use simple monosyllabic symbols, a triangle, a circle, and a square to represent a variety of scenes and stories. The circles represent the heavenly objects such as the sun and the moon, the triangles represent the conical trees and mountains, and the square represents the human elements such as a sacred enclosure.
Motifs
The motifs used for Warli paintings are:
Devchauk Motif: Devchauk, which means God’s square, refers to a square motif drawn on the walls during marriage ceremonies. Chauk, or the square, is also a central motif in many ritualistic paintings
Lagnachauk Motif: Majorly painted by married women, this painting depicts a bride and bridegroom, both riding horses within a square.
Tarpa Dance Motif: Tarpa is both folk dance and a musical instrument of the Warli tribe. Since this dance is performed after sunset and involves men and women of the tribe holding hands and dancing till sunrise, other than the human figures, sun and moon motifs are also used in the paintings.
Human Figures: Circles and triangles are used to depict human figures performing various daily activities such as farming, hunting, praying, or dancing.
Birds and Animals: Domestic animals such as cows bulls, dogs, cocks, and sheep and birds such as peacocks are also shown in Warli paintings as Warli tribesmen follow a mostly farming-centric lifestyle.
Gods and Goddesses: The concept of nature and Gods is used interchangeably as Himai and Hirwai Goddesses that are depicted in Warli paintings are symbolic of nature. Vaghya and Naran Gods, on the other hand, are used to represent saving families.
Nag Panchami Festival: A snake motif is depicted in a variety of ways during this festival.
Holi Festival: This motif depicts the tribesmen and women celebrating the festival of Holi in their natural surroundings.
Marriage: The motif of marriage showcases scenes of celebration, birds, trees, bride and bridegroom, people dancing in circles, and their marriage God, Palghat.
Reaping Season: The reaping season is depicted in these paintings by images of laborer cutting crops.
