Sohrai - The Wall Art Of Jharkhand

Hazaribagh is the headquarter of North Chotanagpur Division located on a plateau - a township  surrounded by picturesque landscape of forests, hills, and valleys. 

Sohrai painting, a traditional indigenous art form is practised by women of different indigenous communities native to the villages of Hazaribagh region of Jharkhand, India. These practitioners belong to Kurmi, Santal, Munda, Oraon, Agaria, Ghatwal ethnic groups among others.

The landscape is dotted with numerous village hamlets where the art of Sohrai is practised. Here is an image of a painted village house.

Sohrai art also known as harvest art is traditionally associated with the domestication of cattle and their use in agriculture. The traditional term 'Soh' or 'Soro' means to drive away and 'Rai' means a stick.

Sohrai art is integral to Sohrai harvest festival. In Hazaribagh, Mandalas or Aripan are drawn with rice gruel to welcome the cattle into the houses during this festival. The village women scatter rice gruel on the ground with their fingers.

The festival is celebrated twice a year. Once it coincides with Diwali and is celebrated on Amavasya (new moon) in the Hindu month of Karthik (October-November) for three days after the heavy Indian monsoons, when the paddy fields are ready to be harvested. 

Seen here are Santhali women celebrating Sohrai festival.

It is believed that Sohrai art in its current forms evolved from these cave arts, making it a household practice of creative expressions, celebrations, and festivals.

The preparation for creating new Sohrai art for a new year's festival starts with  preparing the mud walls for fresh paintings. The women use various soils, cow dung, husk and water for the surface preparation which is a tedious process.

Sohrai paintings include motifs such as animals, flowers, plants, geometric figures, and representations of Shiva depicted in the form of Pashupati (lord of the animals) in anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms.

This painting reflects the distinctive style of Ganju community.

This painting on a Ganju house  depicts wild and domestic animals and birds - peacock, elephant, tiger, crocodile, snake, jackal, etc.

The customary colours of Sohrai art are red, black, white and yellow which are acquired from natural sources and prepared into liquid earth colours.

Four major painting techniques involve scraping with four fingers, scraping with broken pieces of combs...

use of cloth swabs and...

...use of datwan or twig-brush.

The paintings in this frame depict a stencil  style  symbolising Lord Shiva having the form of a leaf with arms. The artworks seen here are created by the Agaria tribal community from Jihu, Daujinagar village.

The women who paint Sohrai art also paint another form  of wall mural called Khovar. While Sohrai is linked to harvest Khovar relates to marriages. The word Kho means cave and Var means a bridal couple. 

Seen here is a Khovar painting of a marriage mandala locally called 'shadi chowk'.

Seen here is a Santhal women embroidering Ledra at Kendua village.

Being a living heritage Sohrai-Khovar murals portray amazing spontaneity of the women's creativity, making each mural special. Here, a Kurmi woman from Jorkath village is painting at Sanskriti Museum in Hazaribagh.

Both Sohrai and Khovar have the Geographical Indication Tag.