“Tribal Art’ – A historical study in respect of Tribals of Dang District

 

Varun Kumar Damor

Research Scholar, Dahod Gujarat

  

ABSTRACT:

Since ancient time, art has become a true reflection of the society. Today in the modern world, the people seems to be attracted towards the traditional art and craft. They believe that the art is the only medium through which they can transmit the traditional culture of art and craft to the upcoming generations. Tribal people are god-gifted with their art and craft skills. They use these skills to create different artefacts and objects that are their original creativity. They believe that their skills are not for creating the beautiful art objects but in fact their skills are their only way to earn the livelihood. The present research paper is a study about the tribal art which is the famous traditional art form of Dang district in the state of Gujarat. We tend to discuss various art form with their local names, how the tribes of Dang district traditionally utilize their forerunning tradition of art, the usefulness of art resources in practical life and the techniques of making the tribal art. The tribal people used these artefacts and objects in their daily lives, for household purpose, farming purpose as well as during celebrations and festivals. The unique tribal art is their main source of income after their hard work of creating amazingart.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Since ancient times, a wonderful practice of folk art opens up a wisdom, understanding and deep interest in the art of living. The artisans givesan amazing look to the small or large, unwanted, recyclable objects in our home. The artful objects made by the artisans catch the viewer's attention and that is why today the civilized society looks at this art form with a great respect.

 

In the medieval times, the unique atmosphere of art wasspread in each house of Gujarat. The different viewpoint that flies over the furnishings of the locals' houses, the spectacular crevices of the colourful ferries, the traditional metallic veneer of worship and the furnishings of the house, stand out.  The metallurgical systems used in folk art are constantly preserving the continuity of the ancient systems, which are extremely useful in understanding the human culture of the society of the time.

 

The artistic work of the tribal people is natural and original.  For those, who do not understand the art as a tool to create beautiful artistic work, it is an indispensable part of life.  In the same way, there are Konkani punches in paintings, Warley paintings of Warley, and Tribal art of the Tribal people together show a set of an artistic skills in which they portrays the form of traditional art.  In these paintings, sun, moon, insects, birds, animals, cattle, snake, deer, etc. are picturized in their own artistic script.  The tribes create theirown equipment need for art work.  Usually, they use stone, wood, bamboo and other metals to create art.  Tribal people make less use of tools and the required tools are mostly made by themselves.

 

The tribal art of the Dang district is unique.  Today also, tribal people use traditional artistic weapons that has become a necessities for their day-to-day life.  Tribal often use art and folk art on various occasions during the seasonal period, celebrations, festivals, fairs, farming, gardening, for livestock, health, as well as by different people for different purposes. It is important to know how the tribal people of Dang district traditionally utilize the running tradition of art resources in their practical life and which tribal arts and techniques have been presented in their art work. The handmade artistic works are still recognised by its traditional or local name in the Dang district. The name of these art works is based on the local dialects spoken in the Dang region. The whole information is explained through analysis. The following are the local names given to different art of Dang district: “Madi, Maad, katva, saat, bhotali, dalkhi, supada, gawali, sabli, zili, zila, bhot, muchki, tatki, zhadu, desi ghanti, kharata, gawari, godalu, chatu (bhutho), suli, zhadumussal, Adivasi mandir, rajun, desi nadiya, bhit-chitro, , etc.  are various traditional art forms or ancient form of arts that have unlimited uses. A brief introduction and identification of historical art forms have been used here.

 

PURPOSES OF THE STUDY:

In the research, the study is required to specify the purpose of the study which are as follows: 

·         To know what traditional art is like.

·         Information about the use of traditional art in practice.

·         The value, usefulness or significance of the traditional art of the tribes.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

In my research, the objectives of the study chosen are: 

·         What are the traditional arts of the Dang district?

·         What are they known as in the local dialect or in the Gujarati language?

·         How tribes actually use of their traditional handmade artistic skills to make art work in practice?

·         What are the value, usefulness or significance of the traditional art of the tribes?

·         Why the new researchers are keenly interested in tribal art?

 

 

The Tribal Arts of Dang District:

1)       Madi: In Dang district, the people used Madi to catch fish from the river. It is made from bamboo. From the bamboo, a small unit in length of one centimetre are used to make a thick twigs of Madi as shown in the picture.

 

2)       Katva: Both Katva and Maad are used to catch crabs.  Bamboo is used to make the cut.  Katva is made from bamboo. A small pinch is made from a bamboo belt which is used to make Katvaas shown in the picture. 

 

3)       Bhotli: Bhotli is used for laying fish or cereals. It is made up of bamboo stick which is one centimetre thick and round in shape as shown in the picture.

 

4)       Dalkhi (basket): Dalkhi is used for storing the daily breads like rotla, rotli, etc. It is made from one centimetre thick and round twigs of bamboo as shown in the picture. 

 

5)       Dalkha (basket): Dalkha is used for keepingcattle’s dung and grains, as well as for transporting of goods. It is made from three to four centimetre thick and round twigs of bamboo which is shown in the picture.

 

6)       Supada (Supadu): Supada is used for winnowing of grains. It is made up of a long and flat pinch of bamboo as shown in the picture.

 

7)       Gawali: Gawali is usedfor tying the mouth of moving bulls while they move vacant foot after harvesting grain on the field.  It is made from a flat bamboo plate as shown in the picture.

 

8)       Zili: Ziliis used for the transportation or for the storage of cereals. It is made from a flat bamboo plate bamboo whose height is one and a half feet as shown in the picture.

 

9)       Zila: Zila can be made into three types.

It is used for the storage of grain or for the transportation after harvesting of grain.

 

Poultry animals which are covered in poultry as shown in the picture. 

 

Pantezila is used to carry organic waste materials like leaves or shrubs, etc.

It is made up of a small pinch of bamboo bar as shown in the pictures.

 

10)   Bhot (Madhya Kothi): Bhot is a storage tool for storing cereals or grains.  Usually, tribal people used it to preserve or store new grains that are five quintals or more.  Bhot is madefrom a small bar which is shown in the picture.

 

11)   Muchki (a box for filling large grain): Muchki is a means of storing grains in a large quantity.  The tribal people keep the grain in Muchki (a big box) when there are forty-five quintals of grain. Muchki is made of bamboo that is usually six feet high and eight to nine feet tall. It is made from a small bamboo pinch that shown in the picture.

 

12)   Tatki (Saadadi): Tatki (mat) is used to sit or sleep on the floor.  Tribal people still use the tatki from the early to the present, to lie down on during bedtime. It is made up of bamboo which is a special art of tribes. It is six feet long and four feet wide as shown in the picture.

 

13)   Kud (Khapado): Khapado is used as the wall of a house, which can usually be extended as long as needed. Khapadois made from bamboo. The bamboo bars are made of five to six-centimetre-thick and one centimetre inlength and width which is shown in the picture.

 

14)   Quad (door): The quad is used as a door of the fence wall made around the housewhich is made of bamboo like the above mattress shown in the picture.

 

15)   Dhogla: Dhogla is used for protection against rain in the rainy season. Dhogla's craftsmanship is unique among the tribal which is more important as an art form. Dhogla is made of bamboo sticks.

 

16)   Kharato (Kharsato or Sawarno): Kharata is used to clean or dust a house.

 

17)   Gawri: Gawri is a tool for saving fire from monsoon. It is used by the tribal people to protect the labourers who are hired forplantation during monsoon and it also helps to repel mosquitoes in the monsoon.

 

18)   Gada (Gadalu): Gadalu is used for transporting timber, grain, and heavy equipment.  Gadalu is made up of wood and iron.

 

19)   Chula (Chulo): Chula making is a special art among tribes which is made from clay. Chula is found in every house even today from the ancient times which is shown in the picture. 

 

 

20)   Suli: Suliis used to lift the branches that is cut off from the tree.  Suli is usually made of wood.

 

21)   Jhadu (Broom): Jhaduis a special type of tool used for collecting leaves,organicwaste from the forest or from their fields.  It is made from bamboo as shown in the picture.

 

22)   Rajun (Large pot): Tribal people use Rajun to store large amount of water or add more water in it to keep it cool. The practice of storing water in Rajun is still today.

 

23)   Mussal (Sambelu): Mussal is a means for crushing the grains. The tribal peopledo not grind the flour using domestic handmade flour machine made by rock. But in fact, they crush the grains using mortar and pestlewhich is usually made up of wood.

 

24)   Desi Qala (Nadia): The tribal people,who are still below poverty line, lives in hut made up of Nadia which is shown in the picture.

 

25)   Mandir (Temple): The people of Dang district construct temple as shown in the picture during Navratri festival.

 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The present study is designed to conceptualize the approach of historical constructivism in which the following research methodology is used. 

·         Interview method

·         Inspection method

·         Collection of documents

 

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS:

·         The study is limited to tribal art of Dang district only.

·         The collection documents in the presented study is based on the above. 

·         There are no respondents in this study so their findings are not shown. 

·         The tribes of Dang district use traditional crafts in their own practice is shown in the study.

 

CONCLUSION:

Therefore, we get diverse information about the traditional history and culture of the tribal of Gujarat by studying the crafts of the tribal people of Dang district, mainly bamboo, wood, clay, stone and natural resources from forest. These are used to make the traditional tools need for their day-to-day living.  Some items like wall piece, flower vase, sofa, chair, swing, gardenchair, wooden chair, wooden crusher, baskets, shelves, footrest, bow and arrows, various hunting weapons, etc. have been made using their traditional craft skills from the earliest days to till now.  In the modern time, the people of the developed countries, like India and China, believe to keep the traditional crafted items in their house for happiness and peace.The local tourists as well as foreign tourists who visit Gujarat are also attracted by the artefacts and as the demand for these crafted itemshas increased in the society, the local shops or the malls sell it at a high prices. Thus, the handmade arts and crafts have become the main source of income for the Adivasi.  While creating various items of craft, it takes a lot of hard work and skills, but they do not get worth value for their hard work and skills.

 

REFERENCES:

1-       Jadav Bheravatsinh. ‘Gujarat Local and Cultural Information Department, Gujarat’ (1994).

2-       Shah A. G. and Dave J. K. ‘Social Research Methodology.’ Anada Publication.

3-       Shri Duttatriya Bhaskar. ‘Dang: Ek Samyak Darshan.’ Informative Database Department, Dang (1978).

4-       Shri Hakubhai Shah and Shri DhirendraKopar. ‘Gujarati Encyclopaedia Vol.- 1’. Gujarati Encyclopaedia (2009)

5-       Shri LaluVasava. ‘Jai Adivasi.’ Dang Seva Mandal, Ahawa (2001).

6-       Dr. M. N. Gaiyakwad. ‘Social Change in Konkani Adivasis’ (Ph.D. Sh. N.). Veer Narmada University (2000).

 

 

Received on 15.10.2019          Modified on 18.11.2019

Accepted on 20.12.2019      © A&V Publications all right reserved