 Each mourn is the first of endless mourns to come hereafter. And each mourn is also the last in the path of mourns that have departed. So says the Rig Veda, a dawn in bloom, nurturing the seeds of perpetual renewal in the eternal cycle of creativity. No one can tell when first the maidens of the Ratva community of Middle Gujarat undertook the task of preparing the sacred wall in their homes for the installation of the painted Mids of Creation. The final coating of white clay over the sacred enclosure for the painting is marked out. The recitation of the Mids of Creation maintains the aura of spiritual rediscovery and envelops the surroundings in a devotional air. The pictorial depiction seeks to retell the mythology and cosmography of the Ratvas. Wooden stencils are used today in outlining the horse. The songs narrating the Mids of Creation are rendered in the set meter. From generation to generation, the compositions have come to us through oral transmission. Horses claim a prominent place with repetitive representations, both in the world of the gods and the earth below. The wall, reserved in all its sanctity for the painting of the legends of creation and Pithuru, a most revered Ratva god. The painting is a collective endeavor with a group of painters working at times on the same figure. The tradition continues and certainly will continue as long as the Ratvas retain their community consciousness. From such sources of time and tradition does Indian folk painting draw its strength and sustenance. The horse has figured prominently in Indian art from those distant days of prehistoric cave paintings of the Stone Age. The Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh, the heartland of India. Stone Age paintings in India are of immense significance in a study of tribal and folk art. The rock paintings and engravings remain the earliest examples of Indian art. The first drawings are casually outlined in subdued reddish brown paint. In course of time, however, the white line was introduced. Similarly, the blank inner surfaces came to be filled in later. Observation and recording bring to a painting the subject matter. Thus, the cave dwellers' early exercises in art relate to hunting scenes and wild animals. Across the centuries, through points of contact and exchanges, Stone Age painting should have found its reflections and resonances in folk art. The cave of the mind absorbs the human consciousness in deep darkness. Community life comes into the frame. The hour of celebration through music and dance. Exits and entrances. The days of wandering are over. The home has now a set location, a welcome doorway. The humble dwelling is made fit for the deities. Every section of a ratva house is designated to a protector right from the entrance. The ritualistic commissioning of the sacred wall is described among the ratvas as installing pithuru in the home. The act of painting is termed as inscribing the name of the particular deity. The sacred painting gives a place of pride to the world of gods. The sun and moon are endowed with great importance in the creation myths of the ratvas. A story behind each figure, a legend behind each animal. Below the kingdom of the gods, under a wavy line of festoons, is depicted the marriage procession of pithuru. Pithuru's marriage with pithuri is one of the most honored sections in the sacred painting of the ratvas. The procession of horses recapitulates the wedding. The bridal couple troops towards the wedding booth, accompanied by select deities. The bottom section of the painting retails the myth of creation with the tiller of the earth, the cowherd and cattle, and creatures of the jungle making the legend. Outside the sacred enclosure, the painting takes on a host of deified ancestors and ghosts, along with symbols of contemporary civilization. Now to the pithuru vaakpo, or the reading of pithura, the consecration of the sacred painting in a ratva household. The badvo, the diviner through whom the divinity speaks, when the badvo is in trance, examines the painting in detail, naming the chief personages and orders the rectification of any error. Pithura is the protector of all ratva households and their cattle. The painting is not a wall decoration, not a narrative illustration. The painting is a sacred summoning of the totality of ratva belief and is periodically invoked after installation for further blessings. Across the face of India, the black thread of magic weaves its design, attuned to a basic folk vision. From the ratva's of Gujarat to the sauras of Orissa, saura pictographs, known to the community as Ittal, honour mostly the dead. Prevention of disease and promotion of fertility in farms and fields, as also the celebration of certain festivals, motivate the pictographs. Geometric and symbolic designs of the ancient past dating from the Indus Valley civilization repeat themselves in tribal and folk imagination. The enclosed square or rectangle have gradually gained precision in terminology to find a relevant place in the folk painting of different regions. The saura pictograph is visualised through a dream experienced by the householder or the painter. Painted in white on red ochre-washed clay walls, the pictograph is ritual bound and presents a host of symbols. The peacock is closely associated with the saura cult of the dead and it must be noted that the sauras have among Indian folk communities the singular distinction of designing elaborate pictographs for the dead. The saura pictograph is regarded as a little temple within the house. The Ittal, in certain cases, is repainted every year, gathering in time a superimposed effect of old and new apprehensions. A world within a world, a world of original dwellers, the wildly adivasis of Maharashtra, nurturing through the clash of centuries their cherished plan and community roots. Warly painting reflects, in essence, the compact imprint of a way of life defined by a compendium of traditional beliefs and ritualistic practices. The clear and crisp style of reducing the world around and the world within to simple symbols gives to warly painting a certain freedom to embark on creative ventures in the contemporary context. The folk element is well preserved, almost perfected to contribute to the painting as art. The past still holds the present in its way in the cradle of time. The present weaves the same pattern for the future. At every important stage of life, the mystery through invocation of the sacred and the spiritual is evoked. With the sun and the moon, the landscape, a section of ancestors and scenes of festive celebration, the warly marriage painting wraps up the past in the present for the future to face any predicament. The occasion of a marriage makes the women of the house call for divine protection. The painting then is not the work of a hand. The chalk or the square is endowed with the power of the divine through elaborate ornamentation and the defecation of the goddess Pulghat. Without whose blessings, no warly marriage can take place. One life meets another to create new streams to repeat itself in a process of perpetual renewal. The alphabets of art, two intersecting lines wait to be transformed into two triangles with the apex as a meeting point to become the body of a human figure. A winding row of triangles presents a long line of dancers. The intrinsic appeal of warly painting lies in the fact that the idiom and imagery can be extended to cover the panorama of life in all its changing perspectives. The contemporary scene is easily absorbed and assimilated to fit into the overall scheme of a warly painting. Folk painting has its own terms of reference depending on the secular or the spiritual aspect. Every figure, every animal, every symbol and motif all governed by the context for connotation. Eventually a painting has to assure auspiciousness or propitiate the gods and spirits. In the season blessed for marriages, the air of romance sweeps across the land. The Mina community in Rajasthan then presents its tour of folklore in song and art to add to the happiness of a wedding. Folk painting brings with it a quiet sense of aesthetics to awaken the community to an appreciation of beauty. To an extent Indian folk painting remains a close preserve of women. The decoration of humble mud walls both outside and inside the home brightens the dwelling, lessening the rigors of a dreary routine. Every season has its own days of rejoicing and Diwali. The festival of lights remains a big bang celebration. The march of time produces its own vestiges but folk painting will still retain a future for a long, long time. Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, comes with the festival of lights. Thank to find this home with thy dainty footprints, O Mother Lakshmi. From the walls, the auspicious designs and symbols pattern the floor as alpona in Bengal. The floor decorations executed in powder or paste for a religious or festive occasion may be viewed as a carpet of welcome or a sanctified seat, the consecrated space. Lakshmi is honored to remain forever with the home for the prosperity of the family. What is alpona in Bengal is rangoli in Maharashtra and Karnataka. In every region, the pattern has its own particular appeal shaped by the design, the beauty of line and the overall treatment as in this elaborate column of Tamil Nadu. The gods rise in epic stature. Here in Mithila, the ancient Videha was born Janaki, the daughter of Janaka who was to become Sita, the consort of Sri Rama. In Mithila, Indian folk painting was destined to reach the heights of glory with grace abounding. The Madhubani paintings the world has since known come to us mainly from the Brahmin and Kais the communities of the region. But the artistic talent appears to be so inborn in the women of the region as to rise above caste and community distinctions. The power of thought behind Shakti worship and the force behind the tantric cult combined with the onset of the epic period to give an element of grandeur to Madhubani folk painting. Household and planned deities, Greha Devatas and Kula Devatas are installed in an inner room, the co-bharkar, the bridal room. This room sanctified for all time is used for every auspicious occasion including childbirth. Celebrations in the family such as a wedding become an invitation to the gods and goddesses to grace the occasion and bless all. The paintings become a collective celebration, a joint invitation from the immediate circle of the family and friends. The sun and moon are witnesses to the offering of Purna Kumbha, the pot full to the brim. The worship of Bhagavati Gauri, the family goddess, after the wedding is a form of final thanksgiving. From village to village, from woman to woman, the paintings vary in style and stress, exaggeration and emphasis. But at all times the substance remains. Madhubani paintings can, in imagination, seek the spatial quality of frescoes. From anonymous wall paintings collectively executed, the art is now perfected on paper with individual talent gaining identity through signed paintings. The act of painting remains however an intense prayer, a committed penance. The painter appears to develop a single-minded devotion to establish an intimate, personal communication with the god or goddess portrayed. The face of the adored one stands permanently reflected in the mirror of the mind. The bindu of the eye, that is the pupil, is the final point marking the completion of a Madhubani figure. The pupil brings light and life and hence is the last touch of veneration. Before the bazaar colours came on the scene, colours were prepared from leaves, roots and flowers. Separate twigs are used as brushes for different colours. The Ramayana casts its epic glory on Madhubani painting. The resplendence of truth that glows with majesty in the story of Rama brings its radiance to the Madhubani creation. After the unfolding of the epics, mythology remains a treasure house to draw upon constantly for themes and topics in Indian folk painting. The important stages of life, as the one marked by the sacred thread ceremony of the Brahmin boy, demands a special invocation of the gods. The home stands transformed into a house of gods and goddesses by the beauty and brilliance of Madhubani painting. The path of religion and ritual stands consecrated by art. In turn, art is blessed by the sacred word. The ritualistic text repeated from generation to generation through eons of time in perpetual renewal. The Brahmin boy is born again, invested with the sacred thread, a second birth for the twice-born. Now, he is pure and sanctified to embark on his pilgrimage towards eternity. On land, time has a long tale to tell, a never-ending tale of centuries. In the land of Orissa, it is the tale of Jagannatha, also known as Purushottama. To the pilgrims at Puri in Orissa, the story of Jagannatha, the lord of the universe, his brother, Balubhadra, and their sister Subhadra, is enshrined forever in the mind after a visit to the temple. The story is told in masterly fashion with simple eloquence by the Chitrakars, a community of Orissaan painters, as exemplified in the paintings of the triad. The Chitrakars have their own settlements and have allotted duties in the service of the temple. The potachitras, the cloth paintings, help the full cart of the region to reach out to the country through the pilgrims. The latter-day identification of Jagannatha with Vishnu has given ample scope to the Chitrakars of Orissa to extend the subject matter of the paintings to other major gods of the Hindu pantheon. The exploits of Krishna, his pranks and his heroic stances, form a special feature of the folk art of Orissa. The potachitra follows the Indian art tradition in the main, but has evolved certain set conventions of its own. All deities have their allotted colour based on their characteristics. The seated or standing poses borrow their stances from classical dance. The profile is much in fashion, with an elongated eye, sharp nose and a prominent chin. In terms of the economics of earnings, the Chitrakars are the most important figures in the world. In terms of the economics of earning, folk painting has its limitations. Yet the tradition among the Chitrakars community makes the youngsters accept apprenticeship to the art from early childhood. In the shadow of the temple, folk painting found new avenues for diversification and development. The temple had its sculpture, its murals. The figures of gods and goddesses had gained iconographic definition. High art could easily contribute to the enrichment of folk painting. The village deities remained in the interior, while the higher divinities won eternal renown through the epics, the puranas and the temple complexes. Kalahasthi, a temple town in Andhra Pradesh, thus came to foster the Kalamkari painters. Painted or printed cloth has several traditional centres in India, with hereditary practitioners of the craft. The various processes of bleaching and treating the cloth still retain a quaint charm. The treatment of the cloth prevents colour spreading in the subsequent step of Kalamkari production. The mordant dye process meets well all the demands of Kalamkari. Once the difficulties associated with the dyeing of cotton fabric are overcome, the cloths can take in a range of colours to project the painting. The painted cloth presents an extension of the mural technique. Kalamkari is best defined as fabrics fashioned through the medium of the dye, rather than the loom. In the village, folk painting has a simple role to play. Once it grows with the town, folk painting has to claim an audience to meet the demands of an occupation. However, folk painting of merit does not compromise and cater to the market taste. The temple Kalamkari painting keeps to its ordained level in the service of religion. The song Celestial, propounded by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the War of Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita sets forth the wisdom of karma yoga in a simple dictum. Therefore, without attachment, perform always the work that has to be done, for man attains to the highest by doing work without attachment. The folk painters indeed exemplify a high note of the spirit of duty. This selfless dedication endows their work with intense religious fervour, or, at the other end, with the rapturous feel of beauty. The round-faced, bright-eyed, bedecked divinities spring to life from under the brush-like pen the Kalam, a short piece of bamboo or date palm stick pointed at the end to form a nib. Traditional painting in the years of renewal is abstracted to the desired essentials. Here, the circle and the curve build the composition with seemingly perfect ease, thanks to years of experience. One cannot think of any other way of arriving at the painting without disrupting the harmony. The family gives a hand in the various stages of Kalamkari production. To the young, it is a delight to make the legends come alive. To the old, it is a duty, a devotional task set for the family and the community. The mordant, the type of colours. The vessels used in dyeing all have their relative merits to contribute to the final emergence of the Kalamkari painting. Folk painting today travels far beyond the narrow confines of the town and temple to enter the homes of the privileged as objects of art, with the prestige of master craftsmanship. The song of the desert floats across the wilderness of sand to gather the chivalrous note of the legends of Rajasthan. Some of the heroes of old descended from heaven and the Rajasthan Bhopa storytellers, the performing narrators, sing of Devanarayan to this day. The backdrop scroll painting is executed by the Purr painters. The singing narrators of ancient legends fuse song and art, word and picture for their program of night-plong entertainment, often stretching on to a period of ten days. The epic legend of Devanarayan is a favourite among the itinerant storytellers of Rajasthan. Considered to be an incarnation of Vishnu, the hero has for company a long panel of gods. The tradition of recounting legends to the public as a form of entertainment with the support of visual aids is both ancient and widespread in India. The Purr painting is invariably commissioned by a donor and gifted to the Bhopa singers in the hope that the good deed would be rated as an act of virtue. The Devanarayan ki Purr is in order to facilitate the reading split into nearly 20 sections. This gives an idea of the difficulties faced by the painters as also the skill demanded from the narrators due to the intricacies of the plot of the legend. The fact that the Purr is only a visual aid has perhaps not laid the full accent of art in the painting. Even so, the intrinsic touch in details and overall stylistic flourishes highlight the inheritance of this particular school of painting. The Purr painting travels far and wide and in the final stages bears the wear and tear of years. But to the painters and the bards, the Purr painting remains forever sacred. The discarding of a Purr painting is a sentimental, reverential send-off with full honours on its way to the bottom of a lake. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. The mighty elephant, the majestic steed, guardians of the glory of art. The Purr painters are not many in number, but often one meets an entire household devoted to the art and sharing individual responsibilities. The fluent style of the folk painter's diction, gained over the years from generation to generation, is translated into strokes and sweeps of line with effortless ease. The elders knew well the path of prayer chalked out in the Purr painting. Every act of ritual is therefore accomplished with faith and fervour. To the young, the joy of initiation kindles the spark of devotion. Along with the story of Dev Narayan, the Purr painters have spread to distant corners of Rajasthan, the epic legend of Babuji Rathore, who, through his heroic deeds, achieved the status of a god. The stories of Rama and Krishna also form a part of the Purr painter's repertoire. In each painting, the story of the gods or heroes is not repeated in stale fashion, but recreated in the spirit of devotion, in the glimmer of the lamp, as the Bhopal storyteller weaves the narrative, the moment of mythology will come alive in the Purr painting. The legend of Babuji dates back to the 14th century and is entwined with the Rajput traditions of chivalry and loyalty. The story centres round the warrior hero and a virgin princess, Deval Devi, who has a splendid black mare. Babuji Rathore accepts Deval Devi as his sister, promising her all protection for the gift of the mare. This angers Jindraja, who covets the beautiful black mount. In a subsequent battle encounter, on the day Babuji was to be married, Jindraja wounds him grievously. Babuji Rathore, however, is rewarded for his act of bravery, the loyal adherence to his solemn promise to his sister and is welcomed into heaven along with his bride. The Bhopal singer and his wife render the narrative of Babuji Kapal in song and dance in dramatic fashion. The vast descends the kingdom of God into the world of man and then there can be no future without the past, for the past is a gift of the gods, a heritage from heaven, cherished from generation to generation, a proud inheritance of the people.