Warli is one of the oldest forms of Indian folk art and has its origins in the Warli region of Maharashtra.

This form of tribal art mainly makes use of geometric shapes such as circiles, triangles and squares to form numerous shapes depicting life and beliefs of the Warli tribe. Circle means sun and moon, triangle means Mountains andtrees. Square shape means piece of land or sacred location.

In olden days, Warli art was done on walls on special occasions. The painting would be done over a brown background which would basically be a mixture of mud and cow dung cakes. The white pigment used to draw shapes and figures would be a mixture of rice mixed with water and gum.

The central figure in each painting is the square, known as the ‘chauk’. There are two types known as Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Chauk in painting is surrounded by scenes showing hunting, fishing, and farming, and trees and animals. Festivals and dances are common scenes.

People and animals are shown by two inverse triangles joined at their tips: the upper triangle meas the torso and the lower triangle the pelvis. Apart from traditional paintings, other Warli paintings covered day-to-day activities of the village people.

Watch the Video of this DIY art and try at home, this simple yet elegant art.

The stylist in me couldn’t help, I went away and styled this canvas in my in-laws bedroom’s side table.

I love how it adds that traditional touch to entire setting of the table.

I hope you like this post and the video too. Let me know what do you think?- Ambika