Tharu Tribal Folk Art and the Identity of Indian Culture and Heritage

• Jayvir Singh

  J.R.D.R. University, Chitrakoot, U.P.

  Author

Our country is home to hundreds of tribes. Tribes exist in various regions of the country. The tribes of India mostly reside in forests or on mountains. Their lifestyle and culture introduce us to many sources of Indian tradition. One such tribe is the Tharu tribe, which lives in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and Nepal. The Tharu population is found in the Terai regions of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Gonda, and Balrampur districts. The Tharu tribe mostly resides in dense forests. The art of the Tharu tribe is vast and extensive in itself and has preserved its artistic heritage. In folk art, the place that folk songs hold in folk literature, the same place is held by folk paintings in folk art. While words are dominant in folk songs, lines and colors are dominant in folk paintings. Dr. Prafulla Kumar Singh has called folk paintings "numeric folk expression" and has included murals, rangoli, alpana, chowk, mehndi, godna, and ritualistic figures under it.

1. Jayvir Singh, J.R.D.R. University, Chitrakoot, U.P.

   Research Scholar, Department of Painting, J.R.D.R. University, Chitrakoot, U.P.

   Dr. Gulabdhar

   Head, Department of Painting, J.R.D.R. University, Chitrakoot, U.P.

• Tharu Tribal Folk Art and the Identity of Indian Culture and Heritage (Hindi)