Meena Art of Rajasthan

Meena Art of Rajasthan

The Minas also known as Meenas, are the largest Schedule Tribe of Rajasthan. They are mainly concentrated in Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk and Bundi districts of Rajasthan. They trace their descent from Meenavatar, believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the form of a fish.

The Minas also referred to as Ujla Minas and are subdivided into Zamindar Mina, who are agriculturist, animal herdsman and Chowkidar Mina. The Chowkidar Minas did not surrendered to Rajputs and kept in carrying out guerrilla warfare. The Minas have traditional art form (graphic and drawing) by which wall of the houses and floors are decorated. Peacock is the favourite of a Mina Artist. Besides painting of gotrejes, they also draw variety of deities. Paintings are mostly drawn by ladies.

The Minas are expert in preparation of Mandanas. It means kriya or sanja that is a decorative design with a definite meaning or hypothesis. It is the regional folk painting of Rajasthan and its adjacent states. However Mandanas are acclaimed for its distinctiveness and beauty.

The females of the Mina community decorate their walls and courtyards of the houses with painting of a number of Mandanas which are known under different appellation like Mandana of marriage, Mandana of Govardhan Puja, Mandana of other festivals and occasions and so on. However, drawing Mandana during Holi and Govardhan Puja is most important.

In rural areas, females before drawing of Mandana, prepare the base where they draw Mandana or any form of drawing. The base is prepared by plastering the wall with mixture of cow dung or yellow mud locally known as peeli mitti. Combination of both the material gives the colour of Indian red. Sometimes two or three times plastering is being made to give the base of painting elegant look. After plastering, no painting is done for one or two days to allow the place completely dry up. The painting is done with index finger and thumb. Some females use twig of date palm as painting brush. In such case, front part of the twig is crushed with the help of stone or brick. In some other occasions, it is also observed that females wrap the index finger and thumb with a thin piece of cloth while they are engaged in painting.

For painting, white and Indian red colour are used. White colour is obtained from locally available lime or white clay while Indian red colour is prepared from mixing cow dung and yellow mud. To make distinctive contrast at the time of preparing painting with Indian red colour, the base is prepared by plastering the area with white clay or lime. In urban areas, Mina females sometimes draw paintings by using chemical colour especially acrylic or oil colours.

It is believed that drawing during auspicious occasions like marriage keeping the house without painting of Mandana is a sign of bad omen which led to misfortune. They paint number of animals, plants etc. In the Mina village more than one hundred fifty variety of peacock can be seen. Besides animals, birds etc., some geomorphic and anthropomorphic designs can also be noticed in their creative work. Dots and circles are frequently observed in their drawings.

Besides painting, a very few Mina houses and grain containers are provided with relief work or relief Mandana. In relief work, abstract and symbolic designs are seen. Apart from it anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, geomorphic and geometric designs can also be envisaged.