Assertion: In the Warli paintings, the escort of the Palaghat goddess is also called 'Panch Sirya Devata' (five-headed god).
Reason: From the neck of the escort five shoots of corn spring and hence he is also called Panch Sirya Devata.

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

1- Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.
2- Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct but the Reason is not the correct explanation of the Assertion.
3- The Assertion is incorrect but the Reason is correct.
4- The Assertion is correct but the Reason is incorrect.

1

Answer- 1- Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The Warli community inhabit the west coast of Northern Maharashtra around the north Sahyadri range with a large concentration in the district of Thane. Married women play a central role in creating their most important painting called Chowk to mark special occasions. Closely associated with the rituals of marriage, fertility, harvest and new season of sowing, Chowk is dominated by the figure of mother goddess, Palaghat, who is chiefly worshipped as the goddess of fertility and represents the corn goddess, Kansari.

Closely associated with the rituals of marriage, fertility, harvest and new season of sowing, Chowk is dominated by the figure of mother goddess, Palaghat, who is chiefly worshipped as the goddess of fertility and represents the corn goddess, Kansari. She is enclosed in a small square frame decorated with ‘pointed’ chevrons along the outer edges that symbolise Hariyali Deva, i.e., the God of Plants. Her escort and guardian is visualised as a headless warrior, riding a horse or standing beside her with five shoots of corn springing from his neck, and hence, called Panch Sirya Devata (five-headed god). He also symbolises the guardian of the fields, Khetrapal. The central motif of Palaghat is surrounded by scenes of everyday life, portraying acts of hunting, fishing, farming, dancing, mythological stories of animals, where the tiger is conspicuously visible, scenes of buses plying and the busy urban life of Mumbai as people of Warli see around them.