AN ETCH IN TIME

Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand re changing their ways of painting Sohrai murals

- DEEPANWITA GITA NIYOGI KEONJHAR AND MAYURBHANJ, ODISHA

ON A journey across Keonjhar district of Odisha, one house in Hariharpur village literally beckons. Structurally, the mud house with tiled roofs is no different from most other dwellings across tribal villages in Odisha and neighbouring Jharkhand. But vibrant, attractive murals on the walls set the house apart. One that piques interest depicts two white swans on either side of a flower with pink petals, yellow at the centre and a thick green stem.

Such murals are part of a long tradition of the Santhal community that dominates Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha; East Singhbhum and Seraikela- Kharsawan districts of Jharkhand; and Purulia district of West Bengal. Santhali women usually paint the walls of their houses to mark Sohrai, a harvest festival coinciding with Diwali or Kali Puja. “Women in our village often compete with each other to make the prettiest murals during Sohrai,” says Sumati Marandi, who has made the swan mural. The art also adorns walls during ceremonies or special occasions, such as weddings and childbirth.

Social worker Jaypal Singh Sardar, a resident of Chandpur village in Potka block of East Singhbum, says murals are found in almost every village in the district. Apart from the Santhals, the Bhumij community in the district also paints them.