Sohrai Painting

Sohrai Painting

News: In a village in WB, in a four-day workshop, residents will learn an aboriginal method of mural art (Sohrai) from two rural women coming from neighbouring Jharkhand.

What is Sohrai Painting?
• Sohrai paintings are tribal artworks usually based on natural elements of the universe, including forests, rivers, and animals.
• These ancient paintings are made by tribal (Adivasi) women using natural substances like charcoal, clay, or soil. The word ‘Sohrai’ comes from ‘soro’, which translates to drive with a stick.
• Sohrai painting is practiced by indigenous communities, particularly in the States of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal, but it is the region of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand that has received the GI tag for this art form.

Key Features:
• The paintings depict a matriarchal tradition in which the art form is passed down as a legacy to daughters by their mothers; likewise, one of the key topics of these paintings is the mother-child bond.
• The colours used in this picture (red, black, yellow, and white) are natural earth colours foraged from the wild or purchased from local merchants. Chewing twigs are used as paint brushes, while cloth rags are used to apply the base coat.
• It is the art of the women of the Kurmi, Santal, Munda, Oraon, Agaria, Ghatwal tribes.
• Sohrai paintings are distinctive for their vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and symbolic motifs; and there is a Sohrai festival held every year, marking the harvesting season and the arrival of winter.