Kurumba Art

Sessions:  2
Hrs per Session:  2

Kurumba art, originating around 3000 years ago from the Kurumba tribe of the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, is a traditional tribal painting form deeply rooted in the socio-religious life of the community.

Historically practiced on mud walls coated with cow dung in village homes and temples, these paintings vividly depict daily life, rituals, honey collection, cattle-gathering, and local wildlife using an earthy palette dominated by red ochre and white.
Created with natural pigments from soils, leaves, and stones, and painted with brushes made from burnt twigs, the art features stylized, silhouette-like human forms decorated with intricate dots and stripes.

The ‘Kurumbas’ cultural ethos, including worship of ancestors and nature deities, heavily influences the motifs and themes.
Over time, the medium evolved from rock surfaces to walls and now to paper, with traditional natural materials gradually replaced by modern watercolors, allowing the art form to adapt while preserving its rich heritage.