Saura

Origin: Saura paintings originated from Odisha, the mountainous region of Eastern India. These paintings are made by the Saura tribe who are the inhabitants of this region.

Etymology: These paintings are named after the Saura tribe who is the creator of this art form

Location: These paintings are found in the southern Odisha districts of Rayagada, Ganjam, Gajapati, and Koraput.

Community: Saura paintings are worshipped during special religious and cultural occasions like childbirth, harvests, marriage, and the construction of new houses.

Relevance: Saura paintings are a mural practice which is a form of documentation of their daily activities, mythologies and legends. These are all important factors of their socio-cultural ethos.

Historical Background: The Saura tribes are situated mainly either on the banks of rivers or around a water body as they are occupationally farmers, harvesters, and fishermen. Furthermore, their location also plays a factor in the raw materials that they use to create the art. In a nutshell, their day-to-day activities also influence the theme of their paintings.

Culture and societies: The Kudangs, who are the priestly class among the Sauras are the ones who make these paintings. Since they had the expertise to explain the symbolic meaning behind the paintings, they were appointed as the artisans to create these paintings. Although today, the Kudangs have been replaced by local artists and the paintings are now executed in a contemporary iconographic manner.

Religious significance: These paintings were originally painted to appease the Gods and ancestors. Hence, they are an essential part of their religious ceremonies. While making these paintings a specific set of prayers is recited simultaneously.

Legends: Sauras are one of the oldest tribes in India, they have been prevalent since the era of our epics. The Sauras have been mentioned in our Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata as Savaras.

Central motifs and their significance: The subjects of Saura paintings entail tribal lore, cults, and myths. Motifs such as humans, horses, elephants, the sun, the moon, and the 'Tree of life' are painted frequently.

Medium used: Red and yellow ochre are used as background colours, which are painted with a natural brush. These brushes are usually a tender bamboo shoot or a chewed khejur palm twig. They use natural resources as pigments. They obtain white paint by grinding white stone or rice paste., The colour red is extracted from red clay or mud called geru, tamarind seeds and other flowers and leaves are also used to create certain colours. These colours are then mixed with a binding agent.

Style: Baring a very strong resemblance to Warli paintings, Saura paintings too have an extremely geometric composition. These paintings follow the monochromatic colour scheme, although, colours like chrome, yellow, red, ultramarine blue and black are also used frequently. They painted the background of their paintings with a red and yellow ochre and the themes they incorporate are daily life activities, religious storytelling, and their local folklore. The figures they paint are very delicate with geometric anatomy, these paintings observe intricate designs and patterns, and they are complex compositions with very little negative spacing to be seen. Saura paintings were traditionally painted on the walls of their huts.

Process: A new wall painting is usually made on an occasion of cultural or religious significance or mostly when a new house is built. Since their houses were made of mud, they would prepare the walls by cleaning them and applying a coat of geru mixed with water. This paste was smeared on the wall with the help of a cloth.

Change in the art over time: Subjects have seen a shift over the years, from being solely religious to the display of a variety of social acts in the present scenario. Modern icons like buses, cars, and televisions are also incorporated in Saura paintings nowadays.

Saura designs have come a long way from being just wall paintings, they are now applied to apparel wear, home decor items and handlooms.

1. Pathy, D. (1996). The painted icons: wall paintings of the Sauras of South Orissa. New Delhi, Bhubaneswar: Harman Pub. House; Crafts Council of Orissa.