Painted wooden effigies-the male and female, tribes of Assam-A fascinating instance of indigenous tribal art having close relations to the culture, social labor, and spiritual significance of a community. The Rabhas of Assam and Northern Bengal are one of the major plains tribes and are renowned for their rich traditions in folk art and religious symbolism. Seated figures face one another, symbolizing eternal togetherness, companionship, and, perhaps, fertility or harmony with the ancestors. The figures have been rendered somewhat abstract with no attempt at detail, retaining the Rabha woodcraft spirit of simplicity and symbolic essence. The base color is white-which signifies peace, purity, and the spiritual connection in tribal art. White could suggest its use in ceremonies or rituals for ancestors or deities.

The very choice of the medium being wood and one that emphasizes the use of as little detailing as possible-they maintain that any art, for them, should preserve the natural identity of the material-making it a point of contact through art form and nature interrelationships. The effigies could have probably stood on the village altar or in sacred groves or were those that were persons of ancestral representation or spiritual companionship in domestic shrines. These artistic representations give a glimpse of the Rabha's world view-a place where life and death coexist, where community and the spiritual world are held sacred and in balance.