Storytelling in Tribal & Folk Art: Narratives Through Traditional Art Forms

Stories are an essential part of every tribal community. The tribe’s history, values, traditions and ancestral wisdom are often propagated through stories. These stories are often passed on from generation to generation through various channels like oral storytelling traditions, songs, and performance and visual arts.

Indian tribal art forms like Gond, Madhubani, Phad and Bhil often have a rich visual narrative. They often depict creation myths, mythological stories, folktales, and even contemporary stories and issues. In this article, let’s explore the rich storytelling tradition of Indian tribal arts. We’ll look at different types of stories depicted in the tribal art forms.

Hindu Mythological Stories

Hinduism is one of the most ancient religions in the world and has a profound impact on Indian culture and belief systems. The Hindu mythological stories like Mahabharata and Ramayana have found a unique place in the tribal storytelling traditions. Many tribal communities have their own versions of Hindu mythological stories.

Asamprajnata Samadhi Madhubani Painting By Ambika Devi

Hindu Mythology in Gond Paintings

Tribal art forms portray the Hindu mythological stories and characters in their unique style.

For example, the following Gond art depicts a scene from Ramayana. During the epic war between Ram and Ravan, Ram’s brother Lakshman gets hit by a poisonous arrow. To revive him, Hanuman volunteers to bring Sanjivani, a powerful medicine from a faraway mountain, Gandhamadana. When Hanuman can't recognise the Sanjeevani plant, the powerful monkey warrior plucks the entire mountain and brings it to Lanka to help cure Lakshman. The Gond painting renders this mythological story in its unique style, using bright colours and intricate, wavy patterns.

Hanuman’s Valour: Gond Painting by Venkat Shyam

Another Gond painting depicts the story of Vishnu’s incarnation as Varaha. According to Hindu mythology, when a demon named Hiranyaksha abducted Goddess Earth and hid her under the ocean, Vishnu took the form of a wild boar (Varaha) to rescue her. The Gond painting below depicts Varaha in unique Gond motifs and patterns.

Sacred Swine: Gond painting by Venkat Shyam

Hindu Mythology in Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani paintings that originate from the Mithila region of India (mainly Bihar) also have rich depictions of Hindu mythology. Stories from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are often depicted in Madhubani paintings.

For example, the following painting portrays Rasleela, Krishna’s joyful dance with Radha and the Gopis. This painting portrays the vibrant dance scene in the equally vibrant colours and patterns of the Madhubani art form.

Raas Leela Madhubani painting by Ambika Devi

The following Madhubani painting portrays the story of Vishnu’s Matsya avatar, the incarnation of a fish. The painting has a rich visual narrative where the artist portrays the fish rescuing seven sages and Manu from an epic flood, thus saving humanity.

Savior Of The World: Tales Of Lord Vishnu, Madhubani Art by Ambika Devi

Tribal Myths and Traditions

Every tribe has a rich repository of stories depicting various myths and tribal traditions. The tribal art forms often portray these stories as a rich visual narrative. Different tribal art forms portray creation myths, incarnation stories, and stories of sacred animals and plants.

Let’s explore a few tribal myths and stories depicted in the unique tribal art forms.

Tribal Myths in Gond Paintings

Gond paintings often portray tribal stories about the valour of their kings. In the following painting, a Gond king (believed to be Hira Khan) is riding on a mythical winged horse, fighting off a strange animal with a serpent head and a bird’s body. Interestingly, both the Gond king and his mythical animal foe stand on another hybrid animal. This painting is a contemporary visual narrative of an ancient tribal story.

Gond Myth, Gond painting by Santosh Uikey

Another Gond painting depicts a tribal God named Bhivsen, an incarnation of Shiva. According to the Gond beliefs, Bhivsen is believed to be the God of mountains and rivers. In Gond culture, Bhivsen is often symbolised by an irregularly shaped rock. The following Gond painting is a rich visual narration of Bhivsen, depicting the nature of the tribal God.

Lord Bhivsen, Gond painting by Santosh Uikey

Tribal Myths in Bhil Paintings

The Bhil art form originates from the Bhil tribe, which inhabits Western and Central India. One of the unique features of Bhil art is the use of dots to create unique patterns. The vibrant Bhil art often depicts tribal narratives in rich detail.

The following Bhil art depicts a villager under Akshaya Vata, the sacred fig tree according to Hindu and Jain beliefs.

A Villager under Akshaya Vata in Bhil Painting by Bhuri Bai

Stories of Community Living and Festivals

Tribes live in close-knit communities. They have a close connection with each other and nature. Hence, the stories of community living and common celebrations are also significant themes of tribal paintings.

In the following Madhubani painting, a village scene is depicted. A group of women are lined up near a community well to draw water. The vivid painting in the unique Madhubani style tells an interesting story about these women, their conversations and their daily lives.

Community Threads: Gathering at the Well, Madhubani Painting by Vibhuti Nath

Every tribe has its traditional festivals and celebrations, and tribal art forms often narrate these festivals in great detail. For example, the following Bhil painting tells the story of a festival. Bhil, a farming community, celebrates many festivals to commemorate good harvests and new seasons. The painting tells the story of a celebration, with the men and women dancing and singing, celebrating a good harvest and their life in general.

Celebrating Life Bhil Painting by Shersingh Bhabhor

Every tribe has a traditional way of life and often has a very routined day-to-day life. The daily routine of the community and its members is also an important part of tribal art forms.

For example, the following Bhil painting depicts the daily life of a villager. It is a vivid rendition of the daily life of a tribal person. It describes the elements that are crucial in tribal life. From this painting, we get a vivid idea of the daily routines of a tribe. It depicts animals, birds, fish, and nature in rich detail, indicating the close connection between the tribe and nature.

Daily Routine Bhil Painting by Shersingh Bhabhor

Stories of Nature and Wilderness

Tribes live in close connection with nature, hence, stories that depict nature, animals and birds are a significant theme in tribal art forms. For example, the following Gond painting depicts a lush forest with a prominent portrayal of a majestic tiger. The painting tells a story frozen in time, and it shows the tiger in vivid detail and its anticipation for prey. The painting is dynamic, and it looks like the tiger could jump into action any minute!

Tales of the Wild:Gond Painting by Venkat Shyam

The following Gond painting looks like an epilogue of the above painting. In this Gond art, the artist depicts a dynamic story. A tiger is devouring its prey with great vigour. In the backdrop, we see the lush green forest and other animals.

Tiger in Devouring, Gond Painting by Santosh Uikey

Contemporary Stories

Modern tribal artists do not just tell mythological and traditional stories. They use their unique tribal art forms to render socially relevant, contemporary stories. The following Gond painting captures how the deadly Coronavirus terrorised the world. It’s interesting to see how the traditional patterns, colours and motifs of Gond's painting capture the terrifying form of Coronavirus, depicting it as a demon from mythologies.

Global Pandemic Gond painting by Venkat Shyam

Here’s another example of how traditional tribal art can tell stories to raise awareness. This unique Assamese miniature painting cleverly combines the myth of Gajendra Moksham (where Lord Vishnu rescues an elephant from a deadly crocodile) with the contemporary issue of the destruction of forests.

Gajendra Moksha-2 in Assamese Miniature (Sattriya) by Mridu Moucham Bora

Tribal artists also use unique tribal and folk art forms to commemorate historical events. For example, the following Gond Painting tells the story of India’s successful space mission using traditional Gond motifs.

India, Gond Painting by Venkat Shyam

Conclusion

Stories are an essential part of the tribal communities in India. Many tribal communities rely on oral storytelling traditions to pass on their religious beliefs, traditions, values, and history to the next generations. This strong story-telling culture has also influenced tribal and folk artists. They aren’t just images but rich visual stories that depict a specific aspect of the tribal communities.

Tribal and folk art forms tell us mythological stories, tribal myths and stories about nature and community living. Contemporary tribal artists use their traditional artforms to depict contemporary events like the pandemic and also to raise awareness about social issues. Exploring the tribal arts is a great way to learn about the stories and myths of a tribal community.