The Eastern State of Jharkhand which was carved out of the Southern part of Bihar is famous for its temple sites, rock and cave paintings, carvings, inscriptions, engravings, pottery, paintings and sculptures which have been located at Khandhar, Isko, Banda, Barakatta, Karharbari, Badam, Ramgarh, Itkhori and Satpahar sites. One can see cross cultural influences of a number of tribal and non tribal communities with an amalgamation of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islamic influences. There are around 32 tribal groups like Santhals, Gonds, Bihors, Banjaras, Mundas, Asurs and many more who have influenced the traditions of Jharkhand and contributed to the richness and diversity that exists there.  

Most of the art forms are named after the tribes with which they are associated. Each tribe has its own unique form of expression and art. Some of the art forms are as follows

Folk Paintings or Paitkar

These are one of the oldest tribal paintings in India and due to their appearance, they are also called scroll paintings. Artisans from the Paitkar community use natural colour and vermillion to paint on soiled or used papers. The hair of a goat or the help of a needle is taken to apply the colour. The essence of these paintings is found in the Garuda Purana. The themes of the paintings almost always remain the essential existentialist question that confronts most people, what happens to a person after death. The scroll paintings are used during storytelling performances too. Stories from the epics, the a and Mahabharata, about Devi Ma, Manasa-the snake goddess, local deities all form part of the themes used by the artists. The elongated eyes, angular faces are some of the common characteristics of the paintings.

Jadopatia Paintings

These are generally practised by the Santhals in which the artisans make scrolls called Jado or Jadopatia and are drawn with natural inks and colours. They are used as visual aids in storytelling and are said to have magical and healing powers. They depict scenes of afterlife and the Santhal belief of tiger God etc.

Sohrai Art

This is generally practiced by the women of farming communities and is a rural art form called Sohrai. They are mural paintings depicting the harvest festival in autumn and are considered to bring good luck. They are painted with red, black, white and yellow earth and large images are painted on the walls with twigs and thin sticks depicting pictures of animals like bulls, horses, wild animals and horned deities.

Kohver Art

This is also practised by the women of the farming community depicting the marriage season. They are generally carried out in the walls of the bridal chamber and the walls of the wedding house. Designs are cut with fingers exposing black patterns on white or with bits of combs. Over an undercoat of black earth a layer of wet Dudhi mitti or cream coloured earth is painted. This technique of comb cutting is similar to the’ Sgraffito’ technique of Greece and the incised pottery technique found in Iran and the Indus valley. These paintings are considered to bring good luck.

Ganju Art

This art is drawn in large murals with images of plants, birds and animals and sometimes endangered animals are depicted in the pictures in story tradition form.

Rana, Teli and Prajapati Art

This art is practised by the three sub-castes using filigree work with plant and animal fertility forms using Pashupathi (Lord Shiva) representing the God of Animals and colourful floral motifs.

Kurmi Art

Lord Shiva or Pashupathi on the back of a bull is the horned deity depicted here and glyptic art is used to represent plants on the floors and walls of the Kurmi tribe. A wooden compass is used to etch the segmented lotus and drawings are scratched on the walls with nails.

Mundas Art

Plant forms of deities and unique motifs like the rainbow snake are painted on the wet, soft earth using fingers and the mud collected from rock art sites is lavender gray along with ochre mud.

Turi art

Natural earthy colours of floral and jungle based motifs are painted on the walls of the homes.

Birhor and Bhuiya Art

These depict mandalas or authentic graphic forms with stars, crescents, rectangles, concentric circles etc drawn with fingers.

Ghatwal art

They depict paintings of animals along with their dwellings in the forest.