Warli Paintings: Exotic Form of simple art

Origin of Warli Paintings

Warli folk paintings are the painting of Maharashtra. Warli is the name of the largest tribe found on the northern outskirts of Mumbai, in Western India. The word “ Warli” comes from “warla” which means a piece of land or a field Despite being in such close proximity of the largest metropolis in India, Warli tribesmen are still not urban. Warli Art was first discovered in the early seventies. While there are no records of the exact origins of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century AD. Warli is the vivid expression of daily and social events of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra, used by them to decorate the walls of village houses. This was the only means of transmitting folklore to a others who are not acquainted with the written word.

Theme of this simple Art

These paintings do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but depict social life. Images of human beings and animals, along with scenes from daily life are created in a loose rhythmic pattern. Painted white on mud walls, they are pretty close to pre-historic cave paintings in execution and usually depict scenes of human figures engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, sowing ,harvesting, going out, drawing water from well, drying clothes or even dancing.


Warli paintings on paper have become very popular and are now sold all over India. Today, small paintings are done on cloth and paper but they look best on the walls or in the form of huge murals that bring out the vast and magical world of the Warlis. For the Warlis, tradition is still adhered to but at the same time new ideas have been allowed to seep in which helps them face new challenges from the market.