Mirabai

A couple gets intimate and romantic while spending time together. As a part of a story telling about the regular, day to day life, this piece of art makes for a sweet romantic tale. Such paintings, accompanied by songs, in olden days of no television serials, would serve the purpose of entertainment to the village women. They would listen to the stories sung by the Pata Shilpis and laugh and cry, and become one with the characters. This one is done by a young artist Rajesh Chitrakar. 

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. The painting shows how the tribal youth goes hunting and fishing. Their hunts are always accompanied by Madal (a kind of drum) the beats of which brings the animals and the birds out of their hide outs.