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6/17/13 BANGLAPEDIA: Alpana (Ritual Painting)

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Alpana (Ritual Painting) is a kind of folk art and a spontaneous expression of the

artistic sensibility of people. It retains the past experience of the community and, at

the same time, is very much contemporary in feeling. It is mainly the womenfolk who

have kept the art alive in this part of the subcontinent. They retain connections with

age-old traditions and at the same time are bold enough to experiment with new

forms and new colours. They are conscious of the changing moods of the seasons

and their creativity thus marks the changing cycle of the year.

Hindu women observe a number ofVratas in Bengal. It necessitates the making of

clay images as well as alpana designs. They decorate their houses and paint theirwalls in patterns learnt from earlier generations, in which each one of them quite often

creates a world of her own imagination. Generally, they do this with a small piece of

cloth soaked in a solution of grinned rice. It is likely that alpana designs were

originally drawn by spreading white rice powder or by drawing lines on a layer of this

powder.

The word alpana might have originated

from the Sanskrit alimpana, which

means 'to plaster', or 'to coat with'.According to some authorities, however

Alpana is probably derived from

alipana, ie the art of making ails or

embankments.Alpana does not occur in

any of the ancient books on art, although

the word Rangavali is mentioned in

some of them.Alpana drawing

Rangavalimeans 'creepers painted in colours', and the description of this art clearly

indicates that it was a kind of alpana. In Sanskrit works like Kadambari and

Tilakamanjari, one finds vivid description of the beauty and technique of these

designs. Detail description of alpana paintings is found in later works like

Kajalrekha and others.

It is difficult to determine the origins of the art. Many authorities hold that many of the

vratasand pujaswith which alpanas are associated can be traced to pre-Aryan

times. It has come down to us from the Austric people who lived in the country long

before the coming of the Aryans. According to these authorities the ritualistic and

traditional folk arts of Bengal (including alpana) originally belonged to the early

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6/17/13 BANGLAPEDIA: Alpana (Ritual Painting)

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Ingredients used in such drawings mainly consist of rice-powder, rice-paste diluted in

water, dry colour powders produced from dried leaves, charcoal, burnt earth etc.

Alpana is generally done on the floor and not on the wall or ceiling as was the case

with the cave-paintings ofAjanta. From time immemorial, womenfolk of Bengal have

been using these designs for religious and ceremonial purposes.

Representations in alpana have become conventional to a certain extent. Thus we

find a certain mechanical monotony, a stereotyped symmetry in the design ofalpana,

yet the inherent vitality of the motifs of these designs is such that it invariably asserts

itself through the conventional fetters. On the other hand, the separation and

uniformity of the motifs in these designs give a subtle character and a utilitarian aspect

to the alpana. Circularalpanais used as a holy pedestal in the time of worshipping a

deity, especially in the case ofLaksmipuja. Motifs used in alpana are: sun, rice

stem, owl, ladder, plough, leg of goddess Laksmi, fish, betel, lotus, shankhalata,

container ofsinduretc.

In modern times alpana is very much influenced by the Santiniketani style of art.

Santiniketani Alpana is abstract, ornamental, secular and compact in nature. Atpresent even Muslims draw alpana on different occasions such as marriage and other

socio-cultural and religious ceremonies. On 21 February the SHAHEEDMINARin Dhaka

and roads leading to it are decorated with alpana paintings. They have, in fact,

become an inseparable element in the observance of EKUSHEY FEBRUARY in

Bangladesh. It is true that in modern Bangladesh alpana has attained a purely secular

character. [M Rafiqul Alam]

Bibliography Ajit Mookerjee,Folk Art Of Bengal, Calcutta, 1939; Gurusaday Dutta, 'The Living

Tradition Of Folk Arts in Bengal',Indian Art and Letters, vol. x, No. 1.

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