Chowk poorana
[3] Similarly, according to Aryan (1983), the term chowk-poorana in Punjab refers to floor art and mud wall painting.
The art includes drawing tree motifs, flowers, ferns, creepers, plants, peacocks, palanquins, geometric patterns along with vertical, horizontal and oblique lines.
Hasan (1998) records that during 1849–1949 A.D. decorative designs were painted on mud walls with the occasional bird or animal.
[6] Gall et al. (2009) writing in the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life: Asia and Oceania states that the folk art of Punjab may be thousands of years old, noting similarities between village potters clay toys and Harappan figurines.
[7] Similarly, the Haryana Review (1981) states that artists plaster the mud walls with cow-dung which is then whitewashed.
[8] The Lalit Kala Akademi reported in 1968 on how artists in North India draw paintings noting that some artists "have a special gift for depicting colourful scenes from the epics: some work only in very fine line work in black ink and sindhur (rose-madder)".
Women in northern India comprising the area around Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and the Punjab, plaster the walls and inner courtyards with mud and cowdung.
[9] Kang (1988), in his study of wall art in Punjab, states that the basis of the paintings are to draw circular and triangular shapes which create branches and flowers".
[12] However, according to Kohli (1983), Punjabi women draw chowkpurna "designs on their thresholds for the well-being and prosperity of their family members as well as to welcome the visitors".
[18] Similarly, Bedi (1978) notes that during Diwali, women plaster the walls with lime and then draw an image of Lakshmi.
[20] A similar form of folk art is noted by Kang (2019) who states that engraving drawings onto walls was popular when mud houses were common in Punjab.
[21] Kohli (1983) assigns the art of "parge decoration, in mud, wrought on the walls of houses" to women.
A local festival on Navratri is observed whereby wheat or barley are planted on the first day and the seedlings are immersed in water on Dussehra.
[36] In the lower ridges of Jammu and Himachal Pradesh, which Jerath (1971) called the Dogra region, floor art is termed chowka poorna.
Some of the festivals when chowk art is drawn include Raksha Bandhan, Devthan Puja and Holi.
According to Tadvalkar (2011),[40] in the mountainous region, it is common for women to draw "folk paintings on the floors, thresholds, walls, grain stores, ritual places etc."
The process involves sweeping the floor and then plastering it with cow-dung which, once it begins to dry, is then smoothed with a round stone.
Tadvalkar (2011) states that the "cow-dunging process is known as lipna in the region, whereas the floor art is referred to as likhnoo (writing), dehar (with respect to dehali, the threshold) or chowk".
Materials used to paint include rice or wheat flour paste or white earth known as golu or makol.
Tadvalkar further states that women draw floral motifs such as the lotus and rose and also pointed geometrical figures.
Similarly, Gupta (2020) in her research paper Chauk poorna Uttar Pradesh ki lok sanskriti ka strot ek vivechan, also explains that the art of Chowk Purana in Uttar Pradesh is practiced by women on festivals and happy occasions.
