Lokrang: Bhil Community Mural Painting of Sabarkantha

The Bhil tribal community of Sabarkantha district practices lokrang, a form of ritual mural painting applied to the interior walls of homes during festivals and life-cycle events. Traditionally made using natural pigments (white from rice paste, red from red earth, black from charcoal, yellow from turmeric) applied with fingers, cloth wads, and improvised brushes, lokrang murals depict scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, ancestral stories, hunting scenes, and the sacred pithora horses central to Bhil cosmology. The pithora painting, a large ritual mural dedicated to the god Baba Pithora, is commissioned from specialist bhopa (priest-painter) families and applied as a cure for family illness. Each pithora painting is unique to the commissioning family's clan and narrative. Lokrang has been recognised by the Lalit Kala Akademi and exhibited internationally. Training programmes by the Bhil Academy in Sabarkantha support young community artists.