Folk Paintings

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There is a very picturesque origin to the art of painting. “Narayan”, the Supreme Being was engaged in meditation when celestial dancing girls apsaras tried to disturb him with a display of coquetry and blandishments.

The God conceived of a plan to cure the maidens of their vanity. He extracted the juice of a mango tree, and using that as his paint, he drew an imaginary portrait of a nymph, large eyed and delicate, with a form so filled with grace that no Goddess or woman, could vie with her in all the three worlds.

The apsaras were put to shame when they saw this painted maiden, Urvashi, and crept away silently from God’s presence. And the picture into which Divine skill had indused the golden breath of life, became the ideal form of feminine beauty. Vishwakarma, the architect of heaven, was then instructed in the art and science of painting so that he might transmit his knowledge to the people of the earth.

So in Telangana, in the tradition of the venerable Vishwakarma, the artists created innumerable scroll paintings. Originally used by bards who went about reciting verses describing episodes from religious texts, the artists evolved a method of painting individual situations taken from Indian mythological sources as well as a whole range of village deities in limited sizes.

These types of paintings are ideal wall hangings, but if you are lucky you can acquire a scroll running into several metres. Cherial in Warangal District is the traditional centre of this art.

Another unique item is the pack of playing cards known as ganjifa, a speciality of the craftsmen of Nirmal. They are circular in shape and richly decorated. The method of making these is rather intriguing.

They are made from pieces of thin cloth pasted in three layers with a gum-like substance, then coated with liquid chalk to give it a white surface. The pieces are then turned into a round shape, polished with stone and painted like a miniature. The rear sides are then coated with lacquer.