Moon Earrings

The location of these Patachitra Shilpi or artists falls in a place, popularly known as Jangal Mahal in West Bengal. The area is home to a number of indigenous tribes like Santhals, Vills, Mundas. The paintings, for obvious reasons, depict the tribal culture. One such example by Nazra Chitrakar, who learnt the art from her older generations and is now passing it on to her successors. This painting shows the courtship of a young tribal couple, surrounded by their friends and playmates. 

Lord Shiva has always been a much sought after figure of Patachitra, as these paintings, when done on the back of clay saucers instead of papers, are used in the place of clay idols of deities and are worshipped in the household of many common Bengali people. This is also quite an old piece of art done by Bahadur Chitrakar.