In Photos: Dhigna Art of Gond Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh Is Losing Its Sheen

The Quint takes a walk through the Patna village in MP and brings to you the glimpses of the Dhigna art form.

The Quint takes a walk through the Patna village in MP and brings to you the glimpses of an art form, deeply embedded in the tribal culture, slowly losing its sheen.

(Photo: Deepanwita Gita Niyogi/The Quint)

Small neat triangles outlined with blue and pink colours caught my attention at Chhotelal Adivasi's house in the Jharkuwa gram panchayat of Chhattarpur district in Madhya Pradesh.

Chhotelal, who belongs to the Rajgond community, said that his daughter-in-law Jagita had drawn these triangular patterns on the walls of the house.

While Chhotelal did not know what this art form was called, The Quint found that this is the famous Dhigna art practised by central and south India's Gond tribes.

In Jharkuwa's gram panchayat, the murals, intricate and beautiful, are made by Adivasis during festivals like Diwali, Sarpanch Radhelal Gupta shares.

Laxmi Maravi, another Gond Adivasi and a beat guard at the Kanha Tiger Reserve, shares, “Women first clean the walls with brooms, apply a layer of gobar or cow dung for smoothness and then make the designs mixing cow dung with coloured clay. In many villages women make simple designs but at times these are intricate in execution.”

She adds, “On walls, women traditionally use white and red colours, and use their hands to draw the patterns.”

Rameshwar Dhurwey, a painter and shopkeeper, says that Dhigna is characterised by geometric patterns on walls and floors.

Apart from Diwali, the art is sometimes made during Hariyali, Holi, and fairs too.

But Dhigna is not unique just to Madhya Pradesh, even as it is seen on many houses in the Patna village. Chherku Netam, who is based in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district, says, “Elderly people say such patterns keep away evil forces. But as gradually education is increasing, the Dhigna art is losing its sheen."

Kondagaon’s Tej Kumar Mandavi also says that even as people try to spread awareness about the tribal traditions, the Dhigna art and people practising it have considerably reduced.

Ever heard of the Dhigna art form practised in Madhya Pradesh? Or even seen it while travelling through Patna or Chhattarpur districts?

The Quint takes a walk through the Patna village in MP and brings to you the glimpses of an art form, deeply embedded in the tribal culture, slowly losing its sheen.