Chittara Art of Karnataka: A Ritual Aesthetic

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  • Art
  • India
  • Folk Art

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    Chittara, a ritual mural art native to the Malenadu region of Karnataka, practiced by the Deevaru community—especially women—is a unique expression of ritual, ecology, and visual tradition. Rooted in cycles of life and the agrarian calendar, Chittara paintings are ephemeral artworks created on the walls of homes during specific ceremonies and seasonal transitions. Far more than decorative motifs, Chittara serves as an intergenerational medium of embodied knowledge, sustainable living, and community identity. This article explores Chittara through anthropological, ecological, and semiotic lenses, highlighting its importance as intangible heritage and the challenges it faces in a changing world.

    Mundige (a bridegroom in a palanquin) in Chittara by Ishwar Chowda Naik

    Introduction: Locating Chittara in Karnataka’s Cultural Matrix

    Chittara paintings are native to the Sagara, Siddapur, and Honnavar taluks of the Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts of Karnataka. The art is practiced by women of the Deevaru community, known for their semi-nomadic origins and matrilineal oral traditions. Chittara is deeply intertwined with domestic rituals, especially weddings (maduve), naming ceremonies (naming: nama karaṇa), house-warming (gṛaha pravesha), and harvest seasons like Deepavali and Nagara Panchami.

    In the local Kannada language, “chittara” means “picture” or “drawing,” but within this tradition, it signifies a ritual painting, traditionally done on the outer or inner walls of homes using naturally sourced pigments and fine geometric lines.

    Marriage painting In Chittara by Ishwar Chowda Naik

    Hasegode, a Wedding Hall: Chittara Art by Ishwar Naik

    Historical Lineage and Cultural Context

    Though there is no precise archaeological origin documented, Chittara art is widely regarded as having pre-modern roots, reflecting the ritual ecology of agrarian communities. Scholars like M.D. Muthukumaraswamy (National Folklore Support Centre) observe that such geometric forms seen in Chittara can be found across early Indian tribal and pre-Aryan artistic practices, often associated with fertility, protection, and cyclical time.

    The Deevaru community’s oral narratives connect the practice of Chittara with ancestral worship, seasonal rituals, and agricultural transitions. It is seen as a way to sanctify space, invoke auspiciousness, and pass down clan identities.

    Materials and Methods: Eco-Aesthetics and Indigenous Knowledge

    The Chittara process reflects deep ecological awareness and zero-waste philosophy:

    • Wall Base: Walls are coated with a mixture of red soil, cow dung, and water. Cow dung acts as a natural disinfectant and binder.
    • White Paint: Made from rice flour paste.
    • Black: Obtained from burnt paddy husk or charcoal.
    • Yellow and Red Ochres: Extracted from locally sourced laterite soils.
    • Brushes are handcrafted from the flower stem of the areca nut tree, trimmed for precision. The art is created freehand, without rulers or grids, demonstrating the intuitive geometry passed down orally and through practice.

    This medium is temporary and often erased after rituals, reflecting a philosophy of impermanence, much like kolam or mandana traditions in other parts of India.

    Semiotics and Symbolism: A Feminist and Ritual Perspective

    Chittara compositions, painted primarily by women of the Deevaru community in the Malenadu region, are more than decorative art—they are a visual grammar of cultural continuity, reflecting deep-seated cosmological, agricultural, and social values. The art form is highly codified, with geometrical and linear motifs, each bearing specific symbolic weight:

    • Triangles are often associated with fertility, fecundity, and the feminine divine (Shakti). Their placement in compositions, especially in relation to other forms, marks spaces that invoke generativity and life cycles, particularly during rites of passage like puberty and marriage.
    • Dots and grids, drawn with rhythmic precision, convey order, harmony, and cyclical balance—central concepts in agrarian and ritual life. The grid also alludes to ancestral presence and the woven nature of community structures.
    • Rhombuses and ladders signify transitions and transformations—be it seasonal, ritualistic, or existential. These are frequently integrated into marriage-related murals to mark the journey of a woman from her natal to marital home, underscoring the embodied passage between social identities.
    • Floral, avian, and animal forms—though sparingly used—act as auspicious symbols and guardians. Peacocks, for example, are linked with rain and harvest, while certain birds and vines imply watchfulness and fertility.

    The use of natural brushes made from pundi kaddi (shaved arecanut fronds) and rice paste or laterite red earth ensures that the materiality of Chittara is intimately linked to the landscape, anchoring artistic expression to the local ecology.

    Drawing from anthropologist Leela Dube’s foundational work on gender, ritual, and kinship in South Asia, Chittara may be viewed as a form of gendered authorship—wherein women articulate social structure, spiritual belief, and cultural memory through visual expression. The act of painting is not isolated artistry but ritual performance, often carried out in groups during festivals or life-cycle events, reinforcing collective memory and intergenerational transfer.

    Dube emphasizes that women’s creative labor in such contexts is often undervalued in patriarchal historiography, yet it plays a pivotal role in organizing ritual space, encoding symbolic knowledge, and embodying emotional labor. In Chittara, this is vividly seen as women don’t merely decorate; they invoke, affirm, and preserve cultural identity through their hands and symbols.

    Thus, Chittara is best understood not just as an art form but as a living archive of symbolic, ecological, and gendered knowledge, where every motif carries forward a thread in the fabric of Deevaru cultural cosmology.


    Theru - temple chariot festival in Chittara by Ishwar Chowda Naik

    Geometric design in Chittara by Ishwar Chowda Naik 

    Ritual Functionality and Temporality

    What distinguishes Chittara from many other folk arts is its deeply ritualistic rather than purely aesthetic orientation. It is not created for commercial display or decorative permanence but is intimately bound to the ritual calendar and life-cycle ceremonies of the Deevaru community in Karnataka’s Malenadu region. Paintings are made exclusively for specific occasions, such as puberty rites, marriage, housewarming, and festivals like Sankranti. Each context dictates a distinct set of motifs and spatial arrangements.

    Chittara is fundamentally context-bound, arising only in transitional or liminal moments—times when individuals or households undergo a shift in social or spiritual status. These moments include a girl's coming of age, the sanctification of new domestic spaces, or seasonal changes tied to agrarian cycles. The motifs and symbols painted are not generic; they are carefully chosen to mark and mediate these transitions, often invoking divine protection, fertility, or communal blessings.

    Importantly, Chittara is ephemeral. The artworks are temporary by design, painted with rice paste, red earth, and natural materials on walls, doorways, or floors. Once the ritual function is completed—such as the conclusion of a marriage or the passage of a festival—the paintings are removed, whitewashed, or allowed to fade naturally. This temporariness reflects a worldview in which art is a performative and sacred act, not an object of static display.

    This alignment of ritual and artistic performance finds resonance in the insights of folklorist A.K. Ramanujan, who observed that in Indian cultural systems, art and ritual are often indistinguishable. According to him, the ritual process and artistic creation form a single continuum, where symbolic action and symbolic representation occur simultaneously. In Chittara, the act of painting is itself an embodied offering, a mode of participation in the sacred, and a transmission of ancestral wisdom.

    Thus, Chittara exemplifies an integrated tradition where the boundaries between art, religion, ecology, and community life dissolve, producing a form of cultural expression that is simultaneously visual, performative, and spiritual.


    Mundige (a bridegroom in a palanquin) in Chittara by Ishwar Chowda Naik

    Threats and Challenges: From Ritual Space to Market Surface

    With increasing urbanization and the decline of mud houses, the walls that once held Chittara are disappearing. Simultaneously, commercialization has recontextualized Chittara onto canvases, sarees, and home decor, distancing it from its ritual roots. While this aids visibility, it risks reducing Chittara to aesthetic folklore devoid of context.

    Erosion of Habitat: With modernization, mud walls and traditional homes are disappearing, eliminating the physical space needed for the art.

    Commercialization: Chittara motifs are now mass-produced on canvases, sarees, and home decor items. While this brings economic value, it often divorces the motif from its meaning, turning sacred geometry into surface decoration.

    Institutional Interference: Despite good intentions, craft policy initiatives have sometimes homogenized Chittara as “tribal art,” stripping its ritual context and placing it within the “folk art for tourism” framework.

    Revival Efforts: Towards a Living Archive

    Government and institutional efforts have played a key role in preserving Chittara art. The Karnataka Janapada Parishat and Shilpa Kala Academy have conducted ethnographic documentation and community-based workshops to sustain traditional knowledge. The Crafts Council of Karnataka and NID have digitized motifs, recorded oral histories, and promoted ethical design collaborations. These initiatives ensure both ritual continuity and contemporary relevance, empowering practitioners while safeguarding this intricate folk art through education, policy support, and respectful, sustainable dissemination.

    Conclusion: Chittara as Intangible Cultural Heritage

    Chittara art is more than a visual tradition; it is a knowledge system embedded in ecology, gender, ritual, and aesthetics. Its patterns narrate stories of ancestry, spiritual transitions, and environmental understanding. Any effort to revive Chittara must resist decontextualization and prioritize community-led conservation.

    It is imperative that we recognize Chittara not just as folk art but as intangible cultural heritage, deserving protection under the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Empowering the Deevaru women as custodians and educators of this knowledge could transform Chittara into a living laboratory for sustainable, inclusive cultural practices.

    References

    • Dube, Leela. Anthropological Explorations in Gender: Intersecting Fields. SAGE Publications, 2001.
    • Muthukumaraswamy, M.D. Folklore, Public Sphere, and Civil Society. National Folklore Support Centre, 2010.
    • Ramanujan, A.K. Collected Essays. Ed. Vinay Dharwadker, Oxford University Press, 1999.
    • Narayan, Kirin. Storytellers, Saints, and Scoundrels: Folk Narrative in Hindu Religious Teaching. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989.
    • Crafts Council of Karnataka. Chittara Documentation Report. Bengaluru, 2019.
    • Srishti Institute. Chittara: A Digital Archive Project. Bengaluru, 2021.
    • IGNCA. Field Documentation of Ritual Folk Art of Karnataka. New Delhi, 2020.
    • UNESCO. 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Paris: UNESCO.
    • Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Padma Awards Archives – Profile: Akkamma Devi, 2010.
    • Jain, Jyotindra. Other Masters: Five Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists of India. Marg Publications, 1998.

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