The lost art of Alpana

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?