When imagination and creativity fuse together, it gives birth to art. Through it, human beings express their emotions either in tangible or intangible ways. Art can be of different forms such as Dancing, Music, Painting, theatre, etc. Tribal art is one among them, which is mostly done by tribal people. India is often considered a land of diversity, with a mosaic of its unique culture, with different inhabitants of India having different cultures and different societal milieu such as urban, rural, and tribal. Tribal people live in distinct geographical regions having their unique socio-cultural patterns associated with nature. Talking about tribal populations, India is the second country to hold an elevated congregation of tribal people, following Africa. These tribal masses are ingrained with immense potential and diverse skills in themselves; they have a distinct way of doing art. Saura wall paintings are one of the Tribal Arts of India. The Saura tribe of Odisha makes these paintings. It shows the continuation of humankind from the Prehistoric period till modern times. This Blog will mainly highlight the significance of the Saura paintings of Odisha and will acquaint us with the tradition of art making of their own Saura wall painting, also called Italons or Ikons/Ekons.
Saura Tribe
Saura tribe is one of the scheduled tribes of India of population around 94,300, most of them habitating in Odisha, associating themselves with the Hindu religion(82.58%) followed by Christianity(16.77%). They are also called Savara, Saora, Sabara, Savasanokoliva, etc. Saura people are mostly found in Ganjam, Gajpati and Koraput Districts of Orissa and the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, etc. The word Saura comes from the Scythian word ‘Sagories’ meaning ‘axe’ and many believe that it comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Saba Raye’, which stands for ‘carrying a dead body’. Legend has it that it comes from two words: ‘So’ means ‘hidden’ and ‘Ara’ means ‘tree’. These signify that the Saura people were primarily hunters and gatherers and were forest dwellers. Saura people are racially associated with the proto australoid group belonging to the Austric Language family. They also have their own unique script, ‘Soura Sompen – Guru Mangei Gomango’.
Historiography
Saura tribe has historical significance too and finds mention in different epics, puranas, Hindu mythologies and scriptures. According to folklore, Sabari belonged to ‘Ramayana’, who gave ‘Ber’ to Rama for eating while he was in exile for 14 years. It is believed that Sabari belonged to the Saura tribe. Similarly, in ‘Mahabharata’, Krishna was stabbed by the arrow of ‘Jara Savara’. It is believed that the body of Jara was converted into a wooden log and it flowed in the ‘Mahodadhi sea’ near Puri, which is now considered and worshipped as ‘Lord Jagannath’. Prior tradition believes that Viswavasu, chief of Saura, used to worship ‘Nilamadhava Vishnu’ on the blue hills of Nilachal. ‘Eklavya’ outstood Pandavas and Kauravas in the skill of archery as he learnt archery from observing the teachings of Guru Dronacharya. 1st cent BC Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela also mentions about Savaras of Odisha which were Known as ‘Vidyadhardhivasas’. They comprised the ferocious army of the King, and also the Great Ashoka had no control over ‘Atavika Kingdom’, which was the Saura Territory.
Social life
Saura people largely rely on land and forests for their survival. Elwin in his book ‘Tribal Myths of Orissa’ has mentioned the mythology of Saura. According to the Mythology, “When the earth was submerged under water, there was a brother and sister floating on the water and later they built a new world where they planted trees and made men who were supposed to live under the trees. Once, they harvested a large mango crop and the Sauras took it to Kittung Mahaprabhu, their God. After eating the fruit, God was pleased and said that ‘Sauras will never live on ordinary lands and he himself will clear the hills for their habitat’. God gave them Five seeds of Mango and said to sow on four Quarters of the world and one on a hilltop, later ants built their nests over it which converted into the Hills viz.,Thumpa, Tangliya, Bodang and Kintaliya.”.
The People living on hills are called Lanjia Sauras based on their male dressing style which has a loincloth hanging from front and back. Lanjiya means ‘tail-like’. Lanjiya Saura has a Myth of their origin. “They believe that the first Saura Man took birth from a Kureitung (bottle-gourd) and disappeared in the hills and made their settlement. Their oral Literature ‘Kureitung Kotabir’ mentions this.”
Saura Painting
Sauras are well known for their wall paintings called Ikons/Idittals. The word idittal comes from the Saura language itself, from the root word ‘id’ which means ‘to write’ and the word ‘tal’ means ‘Kitalan or wall’. The word varies from place to place; for eg. the Saura of Chandragiri call it ‘Anita’ and the Sauras of Seranga call it ‘Idsing’. These wall paintings play a significant role in Saura life and social system as they play an important role from birth to death and in the afterlife too. Idittal is basically the house for spirits and deities. They are made to please the deities and spirits so that they avoid their attention, anger and malevolence and also to avert disease, promote the fertility of crops, etc. These Murals depict gods and ancestors in different levels of hierarchy and are placed accordingly in the painting. The objects made in the idittal ranges to humans, mountains, trees, elephants, peacocks, dogs, lizards, the sun, moon, stars, weapons, aeroplanes, umbrellas, trains, chairs, tables, beehives etc. These images and objects drawn are called ‘Sonums’. These Saura people make different ikons for different gods, viz., Jodisum, Jananglasum, Andumjappur, Sarpalasum, Sidangpur, Gangsum, Isarsum, etc.
Making of the Ikon
When someone falls ill in the house or has some suffering, the Shaman, also called as ‘Kudan or Kudan Boi’, is invited by the family to find the cause of the suffering. To identify the spirit, the shaman rubs white rice (aura or unboiled rice) in the winnowing pan with some chantings until the spirit is identified. After identifying the spirit she directs the household to draw the respective ikon in the honour of spirit. The Householder calls the painter or the ittalmaran to fix the date to draw the icon and necessary arrangements are made. A day before when the icon is to be made, the designated wall of the house is red washed with haematite clay (geru) and water by the housewife. Also, if the shaman or householder is unsure what to make, the artist sleeps near the designated wall to get the dream of what will be made. The next morning, the artist is clear and ” knows exactly what he has to do”. In the morning housewife places the ritual rice, fruits, ghee, lamp, vermillion, incense stick and a pot of ‘tadi’ in front of the wall for painting on an empty stomach and also prepares white paste with pulverised powder of white rice for making the icon and gives to the ittalmaran. Sometimes they also use lime as white, yellow, red, blue, and black in the Ikon.
Before drawing the icon, the painter seeks blessings from gods and spirits and places some wine on earth and on the wall too. He later takes some wine and before starting the drawing, he says a few lines as documented by Elwin “I am an ignorant fellow: I know nothing: but I have been told to make you a house. If I make any mistake, do not punish me, for it will not be my fault.” After this, the artist starts to make the icon according to the dream or demand of spirits and starts by making a house (rectangle or a square), humans, and animals using geometrical figures. He uses bamboo sticks or a twig of ‘khejur’ as a brush to paint the ikon. To make the human he makes two inverted triangles, a dot for the head and lines for the hands and legs. In a similar fashion, other objects are also made. After the completion of the painting, the shaman comes and invites the spirit to inspect the idittal and the shaman falls in a trance and utters what is needed in the Nikon, such as a comb, bicycle etc, and that is made by the ittalmaran at the same time and the picture becomes overcrowded. After that, a ritual of consecration is performed by the Shaman and a hen or goat is sacrificed and offered to the painting. Further, a pot full of rice, grains, bidi, garlic etc called ‘Sonumdung’ is offered. After the ritual is performed, a feast is organised and the Shaman and the Itttalmaran breaks their fast with the members of the family.
Through acculturation Saura has started praying to the Hindu gods and also started to make Goddess Lakshmi their icon through symbolic representation of Lotus. Lord Jagannath is also depicted in their Ikons. Apart from wall painting, Saura People also do body decoration, tattooing. Motifs which they use are floral figures, human figures, lines, etc which keep them immune from external dangers. This tattoo-making tradition is prevalent in many tribal cultures.
Similar Paintings
Saura paintings look very similar to the prehistoric rock paintings of Bhimbetka, as these people also used the same geometric patterns and lines to make their figures. In contemporary times, there are a few paintings which look similar to the Saura Paintings, such as Muria painting of Chattisgarh done by Muria Tribe and Warli of Maharashtra done by Warli tribe. Although these paintings have similarities, they have differences to distinguish them with each other as they stand independently in their unique socio-religious context.
Conclusion
Saura Painting shows continuity in their paintings, it is not constant but is evolving in nature as we see various images of planes, trains, weapons such as guns etc. Although these paintings were used to cure illness and ward off evil spirits, nowadays they are merely followed as most of them now depend upon medicines and hospitals and are now mostly affiliated with the Hindu religion and pray to gods and goddesses with the concept of higher and lesser gods. Also these motifs, which were earlier considered sacred, are now used as a decorative element in modern scenarios. With the changing times, Saura has moved from walls to canvas, fabrics, toys, decorating objects and many more.