Bhubaneswar: The ST & SC Development Department has taken up virtual tour of
Odisha State Tribal Museum on every Sunday. The visitors can visit the
traditional Art and Craft: Gond Painting on 27th June by opening the Facebook
and Twitter pages @stscdev, @scstrti, said Director, SCSTRTI, Prof. (Dr.) A.B.
Ota.
Gonds are one of the largest tribal communities of Central India, spread
over the States of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Eastern Maharashtra and
Chhattisgarh. In Odisha, the Gonds live in Nabarangapur, Sundargarh,
Sambalpur, Balangir and Kalahandi districts. The Gond is numerically the most
dominant tribe of India. Next to the Kondhs, the Gonds are numerically the
largest tribal community in Odisha.
Every clan paint on walls as a part of ritual observances. Each clan has an
animal totem which is painted on walls and worshipped. Some of the totems are
Tiger, Peacock, Tortoise, Eagle, Elephant, Snake which represent a separate clan.
In recent years, the paintings by the Gond community of Central India
have gained much National and International recognition. The Gond community
of Odisha follows the same tradition of style with significant differences from the
more commonly seen Gond paintings from Madhya Pradesh. Earlier Gonds did
not use artificial colours to paint. The distinctive style of the Gond painting was
originally made with natural dyes. They used red earth and lamp black. This has
changed with time. In its present form Gond paintings are a viable commercial
activity and have converted into an income-generating art form for the
community. The scenes of these paintings continue to be drawn from the nature
and the folklore of the community. However, newer materials like canvas and
Acrylic paints are now being used.
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