In Karnataka, in the quiet villages of the Mallnadu region soaked by rain, the walls become a storyteller. The art in geometric patterns blooms in natural color. it is Devru ChittaThe traditional art form of the Deveru community, an agriculture and matrifocal group living in the region. For generations, their women have adorned walls, doors, clothes and formal objects with symbols that talk about life, descent and nature. In his homes, the image survives as a performance, but as a living language. Now, through the pages of the 200-page coffee table book, it reaches a new audience. Dewar Chitta: The Artform, The Peepal, their culture ,
Cfria Book Team (L to R): Sithama Tumuluru, Namrata Cavale and Cfria founder Geetha Bhata | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Trikadi traveled through Malnadu, covering several villages. “Every journey gave us something new,” says Geeta. “Sometimes, we thought we have missed on asking an important question and will go back.” She recalls an impromptu trip for the document Kere betA large -scale fishing festival, when Varada participates in the river. “We were informed on the first night and we all climbed a train in the morning.” Smita says, “It was thrilling and terrible to shoot in deep knee water with heavy cameras.”
The picture is more than just one visual art. It is a cultural document in pigments and patterns. Traditionally taken during weddings, festivals and auspicious milestones, motifs are geometric, delicate and symbolic. Elephant Or thread motif reflects family relations. Nili KochuRepresents a Chris-Cross design Furious (Bamboo-strip walls) or through light filtering Furious, PopaliA checkerboard pattern provokes the rafters and stars of the house, believed that ancestors are seen to survive! “Even Patanga Or Peti Motif, pointing out the relationship between nature and art, showed the beams to a butterfly at the intersection, ”says Geeta.
It was 20 years ago at an exhibition in Chitrakala Parshath, Bangalore, Gita’s first encounter with Chittara, which planted seeds. The conversation with the artists inspired him to do research on the art, culture and lifestyle of this community. He later founded the Center for Revival of Indigenous Art (CFRIA) in 2008. His fieldwork took him deep into the villages of Sagara, Sirsi, Soraba and Shivamogga (Shimoga) taluks, where they found to see how women returned from the fields, completed the ghats of the house and gathered joyfully.
A fish -shaped border design ‘Bagilu Chitta’ beautifies the wall of a gate in the study center of the University of Kannada, Kannada University. , Photo Credit: Smita Kalyani Tumuluru
Smita, whose work discovered art, culture, livelihood and gender, joined the Gita to photograph and co-write the book. “I told him that I will not be able to pay a big fee,” Geeta remembers. “Smita immediately agreed to Pay-Hum-Go. I could see her passion for work.”
A Cifria workshop proceeded from the beauty and symbolic depth of the Chitta, Namrata began to design projects for CFRIA and came on board in 2018. “This book was the dream of Geeta,” says Namrata. “Although I had earlier designed scarves and murals for CFRIA, it was my first experience in designing a book and every part of it was worthwhile. As a team, we combined on main values and aesthetics,” shares.
The most prominent expression is Hase Gode ChittaraPainted on the eastern or northern walls of the houses. “It is considered auspicious,” says Geeta. Its beauty is enhanced by attaching within a three-way range, the fourth is left bare, to express that visitors are always welcomed in their homes. Small sculptures of musicians often mark the lower part of this composition. Three-way borders are also drawn at the entrance Baglu ChittaraPictures are architecture in their essence, documentation of the structure of home and life. Metathina ChittaraFor example, features in two -storey houses. While the architect of Namrata-can verify the paintings representing the structural elements of the house in the Chitta pattern for the book, Smita’s mathematician-father decoded the inherent geometry and symmetry in the motifs, highlighting the greatness of the community.
Floral motifs – Chendu Howu – appear as a single flower or Toron (Festive garland), while Malli Howu Shows as one Salu (Linear pattern). A nesting bird, Gudina HakkiA female represents a bird who is waiting for her partner. , Madankai (L-shaped wall cell) Hase Gode Chittara Not only represents the beam, but also indicate the expansion of families, ”Smita explains.
People run into the shallow water of the Hatch Panchayat Lake during the annual community fishing incident – ‘Kere Bet’
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Digested also formal goods documents Basinga And TondlaThe headgier for the groom and bride, depicted as decorative motifs, while Vastra chittaraThese items drawn on a cloth are used to wrap and store post-wedding. Tiruj ManeA carved pedestal is used to keep offerings, it has its own representation. Maul Arithi Is drawn on Eachlau Chap (Grass mat) during weddings. This pattern is small as 8-Mole (8 corners) Aarti chittara Larger as 64 or 160 corner-pattern. Namrata says, “How these corners are connected are left for the creative interpretation of each artist.”
The four colors used in the fingers are inherent in ecology. Is drawn from red Kemannu (Red Earth) or Raja kallu (red Rock); Soaked and ground with rice white or JD Mannu (white clay); Black from roasted rice grain and yellow from seasonal fruit Echo Trees, a species of garsinia. “Since the yellow pigment comes from a specific seasonal fruit, it is used restrained,” reveals Smita, while brushes – brushes – Pandi naruDifferent types of jute are made from fiber.
The book captures the life and culture of the community. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The book is a careful-rate of all these layers. Each section readers run through history, motifs, rituals and developing social landscapes of the Devru community. “We have used colloquial Kannada for Chittara motifs like Elle, Patanga, Mul, PopaliBut everyone was listed in the vocabulary segment, “Geeta says. Namrata’s design was to make a place of breathing for philosophy art.” It was not only about the layout, but about Shraddha, “she says.
Book cover | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Festive fairs are adapted in villages Therina ChittaraPainting of Theru (Chariot) is shown Devil (Devta), placed at the center and people were pulling the chariot. Among the most interesting rituals of the community Bhumi Hannam HabbaA festival that celebrates the earth. Organized on the full moon before Deepawali, it looks the same Seamantha Or baby shower for earth. Devaru women prepare Lamp (Rice porridge with greens and vegetables), carry many dishes in a chitta-painted basket Bhumni Batti And offer parts not only each other, but also to birds, rodents, snakes – everything that shares the ecosystem of the region. “For them, nature is God,” says Gita.
The mission of Cfria is beyond the book. It conducts exhibitions, workshops and invites women in the community to paint walls of various institutions. I want to take this beautiful artifacts and the living tradition and the culture of the Devru community into the outside world, ”says Geeta.
Published – August 04, 2025 05:51 pm IST
