The Epics, Tales, and Daily Life Stories in Cherial Paintings

The painting has various important scenes from the Ramayana. This detail shows Dashratha, Rama’s father, going out to hunt.

The story of Rama and Sita’s wedding from the Ramayana is a popular subject.

This detail from the Ramayana scroll depicts Rama protecting the sages from the demons while they perform a religious ceremony.

This panel illustrates the episode where Rama frees Ahalya from her curse in the Ramayana.

Various scenes associated with the festival feature in the painting. Seen here, is the ritual of a woman offering a garland of flowers for Bathukamma.

The scroll also illustrates the bounty of the mother Goddess in the form of nature's fertility and its creatures.

Seen here is a woman carrying an offering of cooked food for the Mother Goddess.

The painting depicts the bard’s role in society. The Haridasu, or the bard, sings to bless villagers with a good harvest, for which a woman offers him a container of grain.

Seen here is a woman offering food to a holy man.

This panel depicts scenes from a wedding, which is a celebration of both, life and nature.

This Cherial artwork shows villagers partaking in the bounty of the land as they cook and celebrate. Cooking and feasting are integral parts of post-harvest celebrations in many parts of India.

Men and women work together to perform agricultural tasks. Here, the Cherial art shows a couple at work in the field.

Various scenes from daily village life, like drawing water from the well using a pulley drawn by cattle, are shown in the painting.

Cherial paintings show farmers as industrious and cows as benign. These are subjects to which local viewers relate, as it reflects a part of their familiar lives.

In this curious scene, a man is seen pouring food into anthills to feed the ants. This shows respect for all forms of life and nature.

This section of a Cherial painting shows women collecting crabs from the water.

While drawings of human figures, and even foliage, are fairly detailed, the crabs are drawn simplistically and appear almost comical.

This panel depicts hunting. The double-headed eagle symbolises victory.

Another panel that shows the hunting scenes.

This scene shows fruits being gathered by a woman, while the man tries breaks the ripe ones from the tree.

The gathered fruits being taken home.

Read more about Cherial Scroll Paintings and Masks here:


- Preparing Colours
- Cherial Scroll Painting