The Royal Sun

In India, the sun is considered a god among quite a few tribal communities, and for good reason. Many tribal folks worship the sun since many of their beliefs are based on pantheism - worship of nature. The rock shelters in the state of Orissa in India are tangible evidence of how ancient the sun worship practice is. Sun worship started in India in the neolithic period. Ever since the sun became an important object of artistic creation among tribal and rural folk. Surya Devta, or the sun god, has found a prominent place in tribal arts where he is painted in its original form but with eyes. Many tribal craftsmen have also experimented with creating a half-and-half depiction of the sun where half of the sun is painted all black, representing the night while the other half has eyes and mouth in a white or neutral background, representing a day.