Page 274 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

WOMEN ARTISTS 271

create art to bring beauty to daily life, to bring happiness to the family and to harness
the various forces of nature. Her art has no place for spiritual practice or expression of
power. This is because, firstly, in patriarchal society the welfare and happiness of a
woman’s husband and family is more important than the practice of her own
spirituality. Secondly, when Aryanization transformed ancient matriarchal society, the
inferior role of women in society was established, and is still to be observed in present
society. That the sphere of the Bengali woman was considerably smaller than other
tribal women is reflected in ancient art and literature. Therefore, there is no
importance of woman’s expression of power as she has no power in the real world.
Woman’s art reflects the nature and family that surrounds her, the forces of nature she
knows and upon which depends the living of the people of rural Bengal and keeping
these forces pacified. The folk art of Bengal is primarily inspired by the transformation
of nature because with it is connected the life of the agrarian Bengali.
Understanding of brata which is the main directing force of the folk art of Bengal and
which is itself governed by women, is essential to understanding the woman artist and
art. Generally, brata is the practice of a special ritual or ceremony in a special worship
to a divinity to realize a desire or the social ceremony or prescription practiced by a
group for worldly good. Niharranjan Roy has observed, ‘The history of the brata ritual
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is exceedingly complex and ancient, however, there is perhaps no doubt about the fact
that such religious rituals were well in circulation from the age of the pre-Vedic
indigenous tribes.’ [Trans.] Originally brata was not recognized by Brahmanic or
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Buddhist religions. However, with the increasing number of pre-Aryan and non-Aryan
men and women gaining acceptance into the limits of Aryan-Brahmanic society made
it possible for brata to gain recognition. A priest is needed to perform the bratas that fig. 7.2 Lakshmibrater
gained recognition. Those bratas that were not recognized do not need a priest for their alpana
performance, householder women themselves perform the rites. 4
The ceremonies of brata are multi-faceted, combining dancing,
singing, painting and building images, rhymes and gestures of the
hand. The belief that works behind the brata is that the wish or
desire to be fulfilled has to be made visible and existent through the
medium of a mandala and energy created through rhymes and
gestures. Stella Kramrisch states, ‘The Vrata mandalas, considered
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as a kind of ‘writing,’ are an extreme type of rural art.’ this brata
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mandala is alpana. These represent a particular story through
symbols. Sudhansu Kumar Ray says, ‘An object is drawn to
symbolize a desired result, in the conviction that in this way the
actual article will be brought about. This is where an art has to
serve the magic.’ Thus, special methods and symbols must be used
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in alpana. Drawing a particular symbol will bring about the
fulfillment of a particular wish or desire. The lotus and decorated
circles are primitive symbols of male and female sexual organs.
After the hunting gathering age came agrarian society and with that
the form of alpana also changed. We see many motifs in the brata