 |
| DRAWN FOR LAKSHMI PUJA |
A beautiful woman in a ‘laal-perey’ (red bordered) sari,
fresh and fragrant after a bath, her hair spread across her shoulders as she
crouches on the ground drawing motifs. The white, slender fingers with traces
of blue, have always been etched in my mind. Holding on to her ‘anchal’ is a
little girl who follows her around. As she crawls, following the vision of
white, she smudges the intricate patterns drawn on the ground. The woman looks
back, but doesn’t scold her. There is so much love in those beautiful doe-eyes.
She picks up the child into her lap; dusts the little ones bottom and deposits
her on the cradle. She then goes back to her work. The alpana has to be done before the sun sets. Unable to climb out of
the cradle, the child now follows her mother with her eyes. The mother turns
around every now and then, coos at her and smiles. This is the vision which
comes back to me when I think of alpana.
This woman was a lady of the Zamindari household; I met during one of my trips
to rural Bengal.
 |
| THE FOOTPRINTS OF MA LAKSHMI IN THE ENTRANCE |
An alpana is a good omen:
It’s
customary to draw alpana during a Puja
or a marriage. Any such occasion calls for the women folk to sit down and draw
motifs. Elders believe that drawing an alpana
fends off evil spirits and ushers in lot of goodness and prosperity for the
family.
 |
| ANOTHER FLORAL MOTIF |
It is a ritual:
Yes it has always been a ritual, where the women spend days grinding rice and
making rice flour or ‘chaalguri’ out of it. Cotton or strips from an old Dhoti
would be used to apply the alpana. The
collective activity was fun to participate in as the women of the household gathered
after lunch, cracking jokes, sharing anecdotes and chewing ‘paan’ (beetle
leaf). These days, packaged rice flour is readily available and therefore, the
enjoyment and excitement of these sessions are lost to today’s women. Very few women
today, know how to make a paste from the rice flour and use a cotton ball to
apply it. Very few know how to draw an alpana.
 | ||
| A TRADITIONAL ALPANA BY MY FRIENDS MOTHER |
An art too:
Alpana came naturally to women those
days. The motifs could be floral. Some drew Madhubani motifs. Many were
creative enough to make animal motifs. The symmetry would be accurate despite
the fact that none were trained in Geometry or had the use of Geometrical tools
let alone the use of a ruler. But they got their circles, straight lines,
curves, hexagons and triangles perfect. Every occasion had a special alpana and the women came out with their
best. Alpana for a Lakshmi Puja would be much different than a Satyanarayan
Puja. While its mandatory to draw a Lotus and Ma Lakshmi’s footprints for a
Lakshmi Puja, the alpana for a
Narayan Pujo is markedly different.
 |
| CREATIVE IDEAS |
A form of décor:
Not
just Pujo, alpana is still a daily
ritual amongst most traditional households. In Rourkela, I find women waking up
very early in the morning, washing the courtyard and then making intricate
patterns near the entrance and the Tulsi Mandap. It surely adds to the beauty
of the house. It speaks for a house which has struck some balance between
tradition and modernity. It also highlights the artistic skills of the woman of
the house, her creativity and taste in décor. Every house in my neighborhood
has a distinct taste and knack in alpana.
Some women add a dash of colour by mixing Alpana
and Rangoli, thus making it a beautiful art of its own.
 |
| INSPIRED BY A GAME OF CARDS? |
 |
| THE PLATFORM MEANT FOR THE GODDESS |
The Tribal alpana:
The alpana, I feel, is the best amongst the tribals. Beautiful animal
and flower motifs are common. The walls are colored and have huge alpanas on them. Their alpana also has a tale to tell as every
scene they draw is the continuation of a story. The alpana amongst them is like a story telling session. You have to
follow it regularly and with an eye for detail.
 |
| TRIBAL ART; AS SEEN ON THE WALLS |
I have tried my hand at alpana
but I am nowhere near to what my mother or my grandmothers can do. No matter
how much we learn from our drawing teachers, this art remains unrivalled. It is
usually passed down from one generation to another. But it’s becoming a lost
art as young girls have no interest in it. Very few claim to know and draw one.
It has been termed archaic and a skill harbored by ‘housewives’ only. Pradyot
Kumar Maity terms this art in his book ‘Folk-rituals of Eastern India’ a
‘domestic and feminine art’.
Sad isn’t it?
