One of the oldest forms of art in history, Warli paintings is a form of tribal art that originated in Maharashtra in India and is very popular among the tribal community. This form of art has been created the most by the tribal people in the North Sahyadri Range in Maharashtra. The range includes cities such as Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar, Mokhada, and Vikramgad of Palghar district.
With no actual evidence of the origin of Warli art, it dates back as early as the 10th century AD. The 1970s were the time when this art form gained recognition in Indian tribal art. In the late 1970s, an artist Jivya Soma Mashe started practising Warli art daily. His remarkable talent and work in Warli soon got national and international acclaim. He received the Padma Shri award for his contribution to Warli painting, and he even introduced Warli to the world as an art form and inspired many tribal youths to practice Warli as commercial art.
Warli paintings are distinctive with their vivid contrast expressions. The paintings were made on red mud walls with white paint. Their primitive wall paintings are mainly dominated by basic geometric shapes like circles, triangles and squares. These geometric shapes represent various natural elements in our environment. For example, the circle is a symbol for the Sun and Moon, the triangles denote the mountains and the squares are the central motifs of the painting.
