CHERIYAL PAINTINGS OF TELENGANA

Cheriyal paintings in a way are the pictorial documentations of caste genealogies.

As we travel to the interior villages of Telangana, our gaze is spellbound by the vibrantly coloured paintings on the walls of shrines dedicated to ‘Gramadevatas’ and ‘Dargas’. More than the colour, the thematic flow of these paintings draws the viewer’s attention into the sphere of imaginative narration of that particular deity. This unique style of depicting mythological stories in picture is in fact the artistic representation of a painting tradition prevailing in Telangana from hundreds of years. Nakaashi Painting is well known even today because of the traditional artists, known as Nakaashis (people who make ‘Naksh’).They are experts in making scroll paintings that are as wide as 3 feet in width and 6 feet in length.

Scroll painting is one of the ancient expressions in Telangana and dates back to Kakatiya dynasty. The genre of this painting displays the traces of the Kakatiya style of painting, seen in the 12th century wall paintings of Pillalamarri temple and hill temple of Tripurantakam. Eekamranatha, in his literary text Pratapa charitram indicates that 1500 painters’ families were living in and around Warangal at that point. Today, Nakashi painters are engaged in twomajor styles, Cheriyal painting and Nirmal painting each with a purpose of its own.

How Cheriyal painting has evolved is fascinating indeed. Originally, the painted scrolls of Cheriyal were shown to audience/viewers while reciting or performing about the genealogies of 7 local communities/castes (i.e: The Jaamba puraanam is performed for Maadigas by Dakkali sub caste; the Bhaavanaa Rishi and Markandeeya puraanam is performed for Padmasaalis by Kuunapuli sub caste; the madeel puraanam is shown for chakalivaallu by patamvaaru sub caste; the Gauda puraanam is performed for Gauds by Gaudajetti caste; Paandavula Katha is performed for Mudiraajs by Kaakipadagala sub caste; Addam puranam is for Mangalivaallu by addam varu; Kaatama Raju Katha is performed for Gollavallu by Mandechchuloollu. Instead of scrolls, performers in this Kaatamaraju performance use 53 dolls made by Nakashi artists). Usually performed over three nights in a row, the story telling or performing narration could take 20 days of ‘show and tell’ to narrate a 60-feet scroll. The presence of such story telling performers has been indicated from the 10th century Telugu literature.

The process of painting was initiated by the artists when the story narrators/picture showmen provided them with an orientation of a particular story about their particular caste and the iconic character of their caste legend. As per this narration, the painters depict the characters and narrative sequence on the canvas. Though this was how the Cheriyal scroll painting tradition came about, today, the large scrolls of yore is not much in demand. The artists are now making smaller paintings according to market demand as well as other articles using the painting style.

Cheriyal paintings are completely organic right from the canvas used to the paints and brushes even. For the canvas, a fine hand woven cloth mat is coated with three layers of a paste prepared from boiled rice starch, white clay, gum and boiled tamarind seed paste.

The brushes use squirrel hair and brushes required to make different strokes on canvas are made according to their purpose. Colours used in Cheriyal painting are water based and are primarily earth based which yield vibrant colour textures and picturesque frames.

The powder of a stone called ‘inglikum’ elevates the background in bright red colour, pevudi yellow shades, unique ‘zink white’ is used to depict pearl like ornamentations and the thick Indigo blue colours are used across the paintings making these picturesque frames theatrical representations of life. Each frame in the story sequence is marked by the floral borders which is another unique feature of these paintings.

In retrospect, it is certainly not the big canvases that make these paintings worthy of appreciation but the dynamic thought process Cheryal style induces to the creators of the art. It is that these vibrant colourful works of Cheriyal project the whole social universe in miniature form including Gondwana landscapes, forests, animals, birds, people, rituals, the cultural complexities of each and every service caste and their caste genealogies as an expression of self-respect.

In a nutshell, the vibrant colours, the technical skills on canvas, the artists’ growing confidence in using various mediums reflect the dynamic nature of this painting tradition. Moreover they reflect the greater intensity in organic metaphors, rural wisdom in perceptions and the local visions in thematic frames showing the cultural values and ethos that shape the unique aesthetic ideas of Telangana region. It is this rare imaginative quality in conception and areas of vibrant colour which gave inspiration to Kapu Rajayya, a well known Telangana painter for his lifetime aesthetic explorations. Right now only Vaikuntam Nakash and his family (Rakesh, Vinay Kumar, Vanaja and Sarika) are continuing this hereditary practice of painting Cheriyal Scrolls. Vaikuntam Nakash, with his rare sensibilities and great love for art, is struggling to bring out new genre and expressions to this age old Telangana miniature painting style. His only wish is to see Cheriyal scroll painting style being taught at the university level for future generations.

SOURCE: THE HINDU