Alpona: The journey of a thousand-year-old art form

Even in the last decade, the Gaye Holud ceremony in many households in Bangladesh was incomplete without alpona drawing on the floor. 

Usually the siblings or the cousins of the bride and the groom would draw the alpona pattern on the floor, staircase and in front of the main gate. Also where the bride or the groom will be seated to apply turmeric, used to be surrounded by white alpona patterns and then further adorned with flowers and oil lamps.  

The primary colour of the patterns are white and then different colours are used as fillers inside the patterns. It didn't matter whether the wedding was in a muslim or Hindu household, adorning the floor, stairs and borondala with white alpona pattern was a must. 

And not just weddings, alpona is a very common way of preparing for any cultural occasion in the Bengal region. Pahela Baishakh, International Mother Language Day on 21 February, opening ceremony of any music or arts festival in Chhayanaut or Shilpakala Academy, you will find alpona drawn on the roads, premises and entryways.

Originated from the Sanskrit word  Alimpana, which means  'to plaster' or 'to coat with', alpona is a thousand-year-old art form, originally practised by the Hindu women at their homes. Because they are temporarily drawn on the floor, earliest alponas could not be documented. But the forms and motifs are found in nature and are still used in traditional alpona patterns.  

The evolution of alpona drawing: from religious to secular

In the traditional brata alpona drawn by pre-aryan hindu women, you would find birds, human figures, owls, domestic animals, deities etc. These motifs are primarily related to hinduism. But in the modern alpona in Bangladesh, you will not find such motifs. The motifs we see today are more abstract, maybe some floral patterns here and there. 

This change in the ancient art form started in the late 19th century, when the Indian subcontinent was going through Swaraj Movement, the independence from British rule. Now the intellectuals realised that if the Indian subcontinent wanted to be independent, they needed to establish a state for people of many races, religions, cultures, languages and ethnicities. So they chose secularism to be the common ground for them. That's when the secularisation of the cultural elements also started.

"If you carefully observe the music, literature, social reforms of that era, you would find that intellectuals from every sector were trying to do the same. One of the very first fundamentals of a modern state constitution is human rights and secularism", said Sanjoy Chakraborty, chairman of the  Department of Art History, at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka,

When Rabindranath established Shantiniketan as a school, he brought Alpona as an art form to study, not just as a religious component. Which was once something very raw in nature, was practised as an art form with proportional motifs, repetitions, and balance. This abstract, ornamental secular art got acceptance in the muslim households as well.   

Tools used to do alpona art at home

There are several techniques of drawing both wet and dry alpona- using cotton balls, fabric, and fingers. And since this has been an agrarian land, the primary component of this art is rice flour. 

You can make this on your own by grinding soaked rice with a little bit of water. It is called pithuli. Traditionally, a little piece of cloth or cotton ball is first soaked in the pithuli, then is held between the middle finger and thumb. When the pithuli is squeezed by the pressure of thumb, its liquid comes down and reaches the tip of the middle finger. Then the finger directs it in the artistry of line. 

In her book titled 'Design Movement in Tagore's Shantiniketan,' Swati Ghosh writes how Sukumari Devi, the alpona teacher of Kolabhaban brought the East Bengal alpona to Shantiniketan. Although she didn't limit her skills to just wet alpona, she practised dry alpona as well. 

But as this ritual art form has become more universal and secular across the Bengal region, the tools have also changed. Now alpona is not only drawn at home in fornt of the Goddess Laxmi, with rice flour. We see Alpona on concrete roads and walls, in front of the Shaheed Minar etc. A range of colours are used now- acrylic, enamel, poster, plastic paint etc.  

Rabi Biswas, an alpona artist from India explained how he makes the colour of traditional alpona from scratch. It is chalk powder or rice flour, water and gum from the wood apple fruit for binding. He treats his canvas with cow dung and mud to bring that traditional surface. 

Sumita Halder, an alpona artist and a student of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka posts her alpona projects on her social media page. She describes the way she paints the alpona, the colours and techniques she uses in her videos. 

"When you are using enamel paint, mix it with a little bit of tarpin oil or kerosene oil. The oil helps the colour to thin a bit. It is very long lasting, stays for a long time on the floor. The only drawback is that it takes a lot of time to dry. It is easier to remove if you apply tarpin oil and soak it for 10 minutes and then rub with a fabric", Sumita said. 

She suggests to use acrylic or plastic paint to draw alpona on you wall. Sumita charges a minimum Tk15,000 for drawing alpona, which can go up to Tk80 thousand, depending on the volume and intricacy of the design.    

Sumita Halder uses white plastic paint as the base colour for drawing on the floor. She mixes chalk powder and white adhesive to the paint. Then she takes the base in different bowls and mixes Acramin paint of different colours. The gum makes it long lasting. 

With changing times, the tools, brushes have also changed. For example, for the alpona drawing on the black pitch roads, students sometimes invent shoe brushes with a long stick tied to it. 

If you want to learn alpona, every year Shilpakala Academy arranges a workshop on this art form where fine arts teachers and alpona artists will teach you the theories and the techniques of this art form.  

An art form initially practised by the women 

It is difficult to determine the origin of the art. Many believe that some of the vratas and pujas with which alponas are associated can be traced to pre-Aryan times. It may have come down to us from the Austric people who lived in the country long before the coming of the Aryans. 

According to Sanjoy Chakraborty, the ritualistic and traditional folk arts of Bengal (including alpona) originally belonged to the early agricultural communities for the supply of ample crops and driving out evil spirits.

In the agrarian society, grain became the fundamental element of human sustenance instead of meat. Though food gathering through agriculture was less life-threatening compared to hunting, the sense of uncertainty was still there.

Natural disasters like drought, absence of rain, excessive rainfall, storm, flood etc. including attacks of pests were the main obstacles for crop production. As a result, they needed to worship the infallible power related to destiny, uncertainty and providence. 

"And women were in the centre of the agricultural processes. Without the collective labour of men and women you cannot think of a successful agrarian society. Alpona is the celebration of fertility of the land, the wealth I get or I desire. That is why Kojagari Laxmi Puja is the time when women in the hindu community celebrate the new crop, the new rice by welcoming the Goddess of wealth Laxmi. And to guide her footsteps to the doorstep, they drew a walkway for her. It includes the motif of sheaf of paddy, banana, a granary etc", Sanjoy explained.  

For us it might be a mere occasion, but for rural men or women who are deeply related to agriculture, it is not just a celebration, it is a part of their existence and survival. So she celebrates the wealth, and thanks the Goddess by drawing the things she is blessed with- grains, food- with the very precious component- rice flour. That is why traditionally alpona is white.

Motifs used in alpona patterns

Circular alpona is used as a holy pedestal in the time of worshipping a deity, especially in the case of Laksmipuja. Motifs used in alpona are: sun, rice stem, owl, ladder, plough, footprint of goddess Laksmi, fish, betel leaf, lotus, shankhalata, container of vermilion, banana flower, sheaf of paddy,  creeper, leaves and flowers- basically everything that represents affluence, abundance.  

In one of his interviews, eminent artist Monirul Islam spoke about alpona, where he said, "The design of alpona is symmetrical, repetitive and full of forms. In Spain's Andalusia, Muslims have contributed much to the tile-paintings which are quite similar to alpona. Alhambra is home to an exclusive collection of Spanish encaustic floor tiles and wall tiles. It incorporates psychedelic designs. Bengal's alpona also has psychedelic designs."

The method of making Chittagong alpona, which is popularly known as ailbana, is different from others. In his article 'Alpona and Chittagong Ailbana' Sanjoy Chakraborty explains how here the housewife uses more than one finger to create alpona, and she continually dips her fingers in the rice powder and water mix and finishes the alpona. 

The most widely used technique of Chittagong alpona is to make little lines on the ground continually dipping four fingers in the batter sparing the thumb, or, doing the same just sparing thumb and the little finger. The whole alpona forms a web as the prints are usually created with three or four marks together.

When spattered rice is used to make impressions on the surfaces of the entire house with fingers, it symbolises the prosperity of the home. When Lakshmi's footprint is drawn in the spattered rice of the alpona, it completes the appearance of Lakshmi, who is the symbol of prosperity.