Tribal huts don colourful look as monsoon arrives

Keonjhar: Tribals, especially Munda, Santhal, Bhuyan and Juang, of Keonjhar district have started painting their mud-walled huts with traditional artworks. They do so once a year to welcome the rains.
Rapid urbanization may have taken a toll on the age-old tribal culture, but those for whom forest is still the sole source of living do not forget to decorate their houses.
Lack of availability of natural colours, used to paint huts, and proliferation of concrete houses are responsible for the declining tradition, said Krushna Chandra Naik, a researcher.
The tribals extract colours from natural sources like clay, mud, soil, barks of trees and coal to do up their houses. "Colours from natural sources are hygienic and keep the houses cool," said Kumarmani Tanty, a retired OAS officer.
"It is difficult to get colourful soil, mud or planks of trees due to rampant deforestation and erosion of soil. We trek long distances to collect them," said a tribal villager.
Before colouring their houses, they first repair the walls with mud. They then colour the walls and draw artworks on them. After that they polish them with stones and bark of trees to give the houses a glossy look.
Aesthetically they paint their houses with different colours to draw the attention of the onlookers.
The design and the colour pattern of huts differ from tribe to tribe. The tribals translate their imagination into the artworks. They also draw different facets of nature, flora and fauna and local deities. Though the process is very time consuming, the tribals stick to their tradition.
Nowadays, people in urban areas are adopting this practice to give the walls an ethnic look, said a researcher.