Tribal Story

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. 

Devi Durga is essentially seen as the super power destroying the asuras; but she is a loving mother too. in this painting we can see that she is holding her son Ganesha in her lap with utmost love, care and fondness. It depicts mothers love in a woman who can be as fierce at times too, to save her children from the evil. This is a very famous concept amongst the Bengalis which narrate the power of woman, who can destroy and who can create and preserve at the same time. A painting by Bahadur Chitrakar