Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting traditional Sohrai murals to modernity.

What is Sohrai?

• Sohrai is a harvest festival of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal.
• It also called cattle festival. It is celebrated after harvest and coincide with festival of Diwali.

What are Sohrai Murals?

• Sohrai Mural is an indigenous art form is practised by the women of Santhal Community.
• Ritualistic art is done on mud walls to welcome the harvest and to celebrate the cattle.
• The women clean their houses and decorate their walls with murals of Sohrai arts.
• This art form has continued since 10,000-4,000 BC. It was prevalent mostly in caves, but shifted to houses with mud walls.

Features of this art

• This Sohrai art form can be monochromatic or colorful.
• The people coat the wall with a layer of white mud, and while the layer is still wet, they draw with their fingertips on it.
• Their designs range from flowers and fruits to various other nature-inspired designs.
• The cow dung that was earlier used to cake the walls of the house is used to add colour.
• The dark outline is visible due to the previously applied contrasting white mud coat.
• The artists are spontaneous in their drawing. The designs are usually drawn from the artist’s memory.
• The personal experience of the artist and their interaction with nature are the biggest influence.

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