Festivities on the wall

In Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district, the agricultural community of Rajwar celebrates the harvest festival of Chherta on the full moon day of the lunar month of Pus (December) by creating bhitti chitras — sculpted and painted clay figures on walls.

During this festival, homes in the community go through a big round of repair. First, they are whitewashed and are then decorated with figures of gods and goddesses, birds, animals, plants, trees and humans, which bring the walls of homes alive. The figures are vividly painted in shades of orange, red, blue, green, yellow with the features delineated in black and are set against a starkly contrasting white clay surface. These 3D images are created and renewed every year on various canvases such as the walls of homes, storage spaces, doors, alcoves and even freestanding bamboo screen structures.

Life-like

First, the women apply a lipai (coating) of a mixture of wet clay and cow dung on the floors and walls. This is then covered with white multani mitti (fullers earth), which forms the base of their artwork. The images are moulded into shapes inspired by the maker’s imagination. The husks of rice form the base that is coated and shaped with clay before painting. The figures of birds and animals with their young ones are often created with human-like expressions, further adding to the spontaneity of the art.

Given the effect of time and the elements, the art is constantly renewed, repainted, reformed and added on regularly. While a variety of surfaces are covered with this art, lattice bamboo and fretwork structures are also constructed to form standalone artworks decorated with figures.

This Rajwar community tradition was first noticed in the early 1980s when Bharat Bhavan, an arts complex, was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi in Bhopal.  Roopankar Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), a part of this complex, was founded and led by the distinguished thinker, painter, poet and writer Jagdish Swaminathan (1928-1994).

It was his thinking that challenged the established canon of dividing the contemporary and modern art from the folk and tribal ones. He, along with some art students and others, travelled extensively across the region to collect and document the regional folk and tribal arts. Their findings formed the core of the Roopankar Museum.

This was how the researchers of Bharat Bhavan came to know about bhitti chitra tradition of the Surguja district. It was Sonabai whose extensive artwork had caught their eye. In her home, they came across an entire universe of figures that she called her ‘companions’. Some of her work was taken to Roopankar and further orders for the figures were placed. Thanks to her art, Sonabai has travelled to Bhopal and beyond, demonstrating her art and creating many more artworks. Many distinctions followed and the recognition of this art of the Rajwar community received worldwide acclaim.

Carrying the legacy forward

Today, much later after the demise of Sonabai in 2007, one of this tradition’s foremost bearers is Sundaribai of Sirpotanga village in Surguja district. Although Sundaribai comes from the Rajwar community, she belongs to a family that was traditionally engaged in restoration mud work for the local kachche (mud houses) in the area. As a young child, she often played with clay, which led her to make pots, cups and jars from it. Soon, her clay-moulded figurines transformed into birds, parrots, monkeys and flowers.

Married at the age of 11, she continued to practise her art and her designs soon found themselves adorning walls, doorways and even standalone pieces. Practising commercially for almost 40 years now, she has the full support of her family today. Right from her husband to her sister-in-law to her son and her six grandchildren, everyone is involved in learning the finer details of this art.

Today, bhitti chitra remains a vibrant tradition with the Rajwar women continuing to sculpt and paint their homes during festivities. The main focus of their artwork’s attention remains to be Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna. The idols of these deities are often created with phool pati (flower designs) and trellis fretwork jaals, along with birds, monkeys, buffalos, horses, dogs, cats as well as human figures.

With the commercialisation of bhitti chitra, the number of people involved in this art has increased considerably. Take for instance, Sundaribai’s family, where her whole family, including the men are now involved in the work. Showcased in museums and exhibitions, bhitti chitra now has both national and international clients. Given the fact that bhitti chitra artists are seasoned travellers today, their work beautifully captures their transitions.