PEOPLE OF THE LANJIA SAURA TRIBE
The ideetaal art of the Lanjia Saura Tribe of Rayagada district is now world famous. This type of art is very similar to the Warli paintings of Maharashtra, but has its own unique features found in no other painting forms. The lanji saura tribe itself is in the category of what was previously known as 'Primitive tribal group (PTG).
However with the spread of education and awareness the lot of the tribe has changed and some of the youth have tried to incorporate elements of modern painting into this traditional art of their tribe. One such boy named 'Samanata Gomang' who has a diploma from National Institute of Fashion design revolutionized this the Ideetaal art from and with encouragement and support from the district administration went on to popularize this art form. Successive Collectors of Rayagada district have shown a great interest in this art form and helped it reach this stage, where these tribal artists are now receiving orders from all over the country and even from foreign tourists. The district administration plans to support them to increase their production capacity , without comprising its quality. Sri. P.C. Mahakud, ex Asst Manager DIC has played a vital role in the promotion of this art and even after retirement continues to help the tribal artists to popularize their art from.
It is said that in course of a skill development program a team from Shantiniketan visited the Puttasingi area, the home of the Lanjia Saura tribe to help them develop their art and skills, however they are said to have remarked that they ended up learning a lot from the tribal artists then teaching them anything.
FOSM, Rayagada has , as a part of its social obligation, helped to popularize this art form through free publicity and facilitation of online business, without charging a single pie and it pledges to continue the same support to this art form of the Lanjia Saura tribe.
Given below is the sample of the Ideetaal Panting completed recently with the code displayed at the bottom right ( IT 11/01 and so on). Orders can be placed with Sri. P.C. Mahakud on 09437381305
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