Delivering a talk on the `Art and Culture of Rathwas of Chhotaudepur' on Monday, Arvind Ghosalkar, Curator of the Tribal Research Museum, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, dwelled at length on the characteristic Rathwa art tradition - the Pithora paintings.

`Babo Pithoro' is a ritual painting style of the Rathwas that springs from their faith in the village witch doctor's powers to heal all grievances. ``The witch doctor, or lakahara, is held in highest esteem by the Rathwas who seek his consultation for any ill that befalls a family. It is he who visualizes the Babo Pithoro and directs the family to organise the ritual to bade away the evil by invoking the gods,'' said Ghosalkar.

The five-day ceremony is extensive and expensive, sometimes costing the family as much as Rs 30,000. While the preparation starts 15 days in advance with the family going door-to-door with invitations, the first 24 hours are devoted to the painting, inside the host's house followed by the ind, a ceremony invoking the gods by carving sculptures of 11 teak wood pillars. Alongside, is song, dance, food, locally brewed wines, tadi and mahura and merry-making.

A small group of painters chitaras are assigned the job of completing the painting within 24 hours under the supervision of the lakhara who decides on the figures to be painted, their position and the colours to be used. An offering of a slain chicken and wine is first made to the deity (Gamdev) at the makund, the holiest site in the village. The work starts from the wall on the left side of the house with the figure of the evil bhootdev followed by sequential paintings of ancestors, warriors, horses, the sun and moon and traditional Pithora figurines. No shade of black is used in the paintings, as it is considered inauspicious by the tribals.

``The paintings depict the socio-economic conditions of the Rathwa life and emphasise their strong belief in religion. While the styles vary with every Bhil group, they hold a deep social relevance,'' Ghosalkar said, adding that he had come across at least 50 varieties of Pithoras with the smallest measuring one and a half feet and the largest 145x10 feet.

While revelry fills the air for the five-day period, Ghosalkar said this was also a time when murders were frequent in the community. ``The Rathwas are hot-headed people, with the Rathwa populated tribal areas recording 800 murders in a year, most following petty quarrels over crops or land,'' he said.

While mainstream influence had made its presence felt in many of the Pithora works in the taluka, purer forms still exist in the interiors, Ghosalkar said. ``But for that one has to walk 20-25 kms to areas where there is no water supply, no electricity. But the art exists in all its purity,'' he said, adding, ``The tribals demand very little but the government continues to ponder over projects and plans for their upliftment. They manage well in whatever resources they have. In fact, they are happier left alone. More than once has a Rathwa told me, ``Don't come here, you damage our culture''.