Ganesh Janani

This painting, by Bahadur Chitrakar, is a scene from the Manasa Mangal, also known as Padmapuran, a folk lore based on Hindu mythology. The deity of snakes, Devi Manasa is one of the protagonists of the story who compels Chand Saudagar, a rich businessman, to worship her by hook or crook. Chand was a worshipper of Shiva and he would never want to pay homage to Manasa. To fulfil her desire, Manasa sends her snakes to bite Chand’s son Lakhindar to death. Behula, the wife of Lakhindar, takes all the pain to make piece between Manasa and Chand, and subsequently gets back her husband to life. 

The Chitrakars of Pingla are born to Muslim origin but their paintings and songs tell the tales of Hindu mythology. Thus they prove that art can rise above all religious bias and connect humans on an aesthetic plane. Surprisingly, most of these artists have no so called academic credentials. They learn from life and narrate their thoughts through their art. Bahadur Chitrakar created this art piece.