Cheriyal scroll painting

About Cheriyal scroll painting: Nakashi art

• It is a popular and modified version of Nakashi art, considered highly rich in the local motifs.
• These paintings were mostly confined to Cheriyal village, and hence called Cheriyal scrolls.
• This art form is unique to the state of Telangana and made mostly in Hyderabad currently.
• The Nakashis are the artists of Telangana and the scrolls constitute a key element of the social and cultural setting of Telangana.
• This traditional art form is considered an inseparable part of the profession comprising the story-telling and balladeer community called Kaki Padagollu.
• Themes:
  • These scrolls are painted in narrative format similar to a film roll or even comic strips, and depict stories from the Indian mythology as well as the shorter stories related to the Puranas and Epics (Mahabharata, Ramayana, Shiva Puranam, Markandey Puranam)
  • The Cheriyal paintings represent a distinct local invention, based mainly on local traditions.
  • The ballads and folk stories of Gauda, Madiga and other communities.
• Characteristics:
  • These are painted in vivid hues with mostly primary colors, showing a predominance of red color in the background.
  • In this form of art, the iconography of major deities like Vishnu, Shiva, etc. too carry a strong local idiom.
  • The subjects of the scroll paintings are mostly drawn from mythological, ancient literary and folk traditions.
  • The main narrative involves scenes from common rural life such as women performing kitchen chores, men working in fields or experiencing merry, festival settings, etc.
  • Artists have displayed these scrolls which are also accompanied by music and dance.
  • The traditional scrolls are mostly of vertical format and illustrate the stories through a series of horizontal panels.
  • Compared to the long scrolls in the past, now artists have adapted to paint smaller versions of these scrolls that only depict any single episode or few characters from the traditional stories.
  • One of the recent innovations is the painting of single pictures instead of a continuous scroll for the purpose of wall decorations.
• This painting also received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in the year 2007.

Q1) What are Ballads?

Ballads are a form of narrative poetry that has been used for centuries to tell stories through verse and song. They are typically characterized by their simple and rhythmic structure, making them easy to remember and recite. Ballads often recount dramatic or emotional tales of love, heroism, tragedy, and other human experiences.

Source: Gifts to spouses of G20 heads draw on the art heritage of India.

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