Daily Times

The Impulse to Adorn is a recently published book by Mr Aziz Kingrani, a prolific writer and author of several books. Mr Kingrani’s areas of expertise also include history and archeology.

The book has explored, discovered and documented treasure trove of exquisite paintings on the walls of tombs, mausoleums, mosques, temples and graves doting length and breadth of Kachho area in western periphery of Dadu District including Qamber Shahdakot, District Sindh, called Kaccho.

The Kaccho area spreads from Manchar lake in east to Dadu, and Larkana, Kamabar Shahdad Kot and Sibi (in Balochistan) in north west.

The author contends that the paintings splashed on the mausoleums and graves are of Sidhyana pattern entrenched in ancient Indus civilization. The art of painting on walls flourished during Kalhora dynastic rule in Sindh spanning from 1707 to 1883 AD. According to the author, the Kalhora were indigenous rulers of Sindh who consolidated their rule by fighting wars of attrition and defense with Mughals and other local contenders of tribes. The Kalhora rule came to an abrupt end with the killing of Talupar Commanders due to conspiracy hatched by Rajo Lekhi, one of the ministers in Kalhora ruling dynasty.

The art of painting on walls was pioneered by Yar Muhammad Kalhoro which was continued by Talupar rulers in Sindh. The painting being an ancient and most expressive form was initiated by men in caves. The initial paintings might have been used as way of communication. Later on they were carried out for decorative purposes too which also continue till date as we see expensive and elaborative painting adorning the drawing rooms of rich people. Apart from exquisitely capturing rare images of the paintings, the author has done a good job by explaining almost each painting with historical background as well as the characters in each painting.

Aziz Kingrani has touched important points. He responds to the general belief that in Islam, human and animal paintings/pictures are forbidden but in kachho area, majority of the mausoleums have various paintings depicting humans and animals depiction. The writer answers this question by saying that in mausoleum, the human and animal images are just for decorative purposes and no human or animal image is found painted in mosques. Furthermore the book has interesting images and reading about legends, dijins and witches.

In Sindh, the witches were and still are believed to attack women who have recently given birth and extract their entrails. The writer has briefly given an account of precautionary measures taken by superstitious people to ward off the witches by fixing pegs, wrap the legs of the cot on which the woman is sleeping with goat wool among other things. The theme wise pictures include battle scenes, Hindu deities, flora and fauna, old folk culture and folk stories like Laila Majnu, Umer Marvi and Sasi Puno etc. The author seems to apply painstaking deep research and his own insights to explain the most complex and some of the blurred images and characters according to their themes. About explaining the photos of dijin shown in horrid shapes, the author writes that they can change their form, at times turning into animals. Most of the mausoleums have been damaged by natural disasters like floods, heavy rains and also vandalized by irresponsible local visitors. Some local visitors have also tampered with exquisite images by overwriting their names and scratching parts of the paintings. Furthermore, some misguided superstitious people have also been digging graves believing that gold treasure might be buried inside the graves along with buried person. The author laments this fact. However, besides touching upon largely ignored themes of paintings and documenting the art, the author has preserved this treasure trove of art for present and coming generations. The Endowment Fund Trust for preserving the heritage of Sindh also deserves praise for publishing this very fine book.

The author can be reached at gulsherp@yahoo.com and Tweets at @GPanhwer