GS Bangle

A depiction of Kamale Kamini, the Hindu deity called Devi Chandi, is here in this painting of Bahadur Chitrakar. The famous Bengali folk lore, Chandi Mangal, written by Kabikankan Mukundaram, tells the tale of Devi Chandi, supposedly another avatar of Devi Durga. The goddess was seen sitting on a huge lotus flower in the middle of the sea and gobbling an elephant and then throwing it up. She would repeat this time and again. The story is long and this painting was used to tell the story to villagers in olden days. It is a very old piece of art. 

Art speaks for time. The Pata Maya or Patachitra of Bengal, since time immemorial, has been the testimony of time. Our country served as a colony under the British rule for two hundred years and this painting depicts the socio-economic contrast between the British ruler and his indigenous servant of the then India.