The Warlis or Varlis are an indigenous tribe or Adivasis living in the mountainous as well as the coastal regions of the Maharashtra- Gujarat border.
Warli paintings are a very rudimentary style of painting using basic geometric forms of circles, triangles and squares to adorn walls and floors. The circles and triangles come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, and the triangle the trees and the mountains. The square seems to be a modern day adaptation to represent an enclosed space or piece of land called a ‘Chauk’ or ‘Chaukat’.
Warli paintings are traditionally done with locally available ‘Geru’ (a red mud) and figures worked with a rice paste. The walls are coated with cowdung, mud and then with ‘Geru’. Reed like sticks from the ‘Baharu’ tree was used as pens.
Scenes like hunting, fishing, farming, festivals, dances, trees and animals are represented with the mother goddess as a central figure.
However, today these are widely done using commercially available colors- mainly black, indigo, earthy mud, brick red and henna. Realizing that there is a growing demand for this typical art, the Warli’s are now using this art form on cloth, paper, table lamps, saris and dupattas.