Abstract
PRIMITIVE MURAL DECORATION IN SOUTHERN INDIA.-A paper by the late Dr. Nelson Annandale, published in vol. viii. No. 4 of the Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, describes a primitive but effective form of art which is found in a Uriya village on Samal Island on the northern shore of Lake Chilka in Orissa. The people of Samal speak the Uriya language, but physically they are a mixed type, some showing traces of aboriginal blood while others present a Mongoloid appearance. Their culture is primitive and nominally they are Vish-nuvite Hindus mostly of the Goala or cowherd caste. Some of the houses are composite, sheltering several families under one roof. The walls of the houses are uniformly covered with a wash of red earth forming the background of the decorations. The simplest form of pattern is made by applying the three fingers dipped in chalk and water to the walls. The more elaborate patterns fall into two groups, of which the character is indicated by their names. One is called janar, a kind of maize, the other punjha pareda, “four coconuts,” of which, however, only three can be distinguished as a rule. These patterns are usually executed by men. More elaborate designs also are in use, some made by women, in which birds and fishes appear. Most of the interior decorations were painted in several colours, while some of those used in internal passages were mythological. Outside are certain lucky signs, such as double fish and footprints; the object of the decorations seems to be purely aesthetic.
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Research Items. Nature 115, 206–208 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/115206a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/115206a0