Chittara Painting
Nestled deep in the villages of Hasunvanthe, Honnemaradu and Majina Kaanu (in Shimoga district of South Kanara) in the Western Ghats are the Deewaru tribals` huts that spell magic with their age-old Chittara Wall paintings.
These paintings adorn their walls, their colourful imagery bringing out the vivid beauty of the surrounding tropical forests.
White from a mixture of rice paste, red from crushed stone, burnt rice for deepest black, yellow from `gurige` seeds - it is a lyrical creative mosaic that Deewaru men and women conjure up. With auspicious geometric motifs ranging from yogic `asana` poses to tribal figures celebrating life, in style and delineation, the Chittara wall paintings and mural crafts seem to take one back to the Stone Age cave paintings.
Guru Ishwar Naik
Chittara painting is Karnataka's folk art prominently practiced in the two districts of Shivamogga and Nag Kerala districts. The major community that worked in Chittara was the Naiks and Ishwar Naik is known to revive the art single-handedly.
He was brought up in a joint family of 30 people who loved participating in various occasions where Chittara paintings carried immense value. Naik calls his mother his guru as she was the one to teach him the essence behind the art. Talking about the art in detail, Naik shared, “It is infront of the chittara art that all the occasions take place, due to which it should be facing north when placed inside the house. One of the prominent paintings is for the marriage ceremony. There is a pillar of concept, a palanquin, the bride and the groom along with the musicians and celebrators. On either sides of the canvas, the mother of fertility is placed and on top of it the mango leaves. The top portion of the painting represents the holy water that is kept for the auspicious occasion of marriage. Certain details of how society will progress are also included in the design.”
