Read direct pages from the stories of our artisans, verbatim

Each intricate, hand woven kantha embroidery from the Santaal tribe of West Bengal, or the intricately detailed miniature paintings of Jaipur are mirrors to the lives of the artisans, their struggles, belief systems and by extension, that of the generations preceding. They are living testimonials to the vivid diversity of the Indian culture, a source of both livelihood and pride.

Madhubani Art

I have been making this since childhood, from an age of 13 or 14. I have got a scholarship for my work from Kolkata. This is all made by hand and I only use natural colours, from flowers, leaves and vegetables. This takes a lot of time since it is intricate work.

-Pushpa Haldar, Madhubani Artist

Handmade Jewellery

I have been making handmade jewellery for about 22 years now. I first started out by making jewellery from mud. I would make beads and let them harden in the sun. Then I began making wooden jewellery and jewellery made from enamel beads. I order the enamel beads and weave them into necklaces. I also make silver oxidised jewellery.

-Harikishan, Handmade Jeweller

Dokhra Art

I have been making these since childhood. My father and grandfather used to make Dokhra artifacts too. These are all handmade. We have to make moulds and make wax designs. We need to make new moulds for each statue or pendant as the old ones break.

-Mithoon, Dokhra Artist

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Patachitra Art

I make these paintings by hand.  I made all this by hand. I have been making them since childhood. I learned by observing my father who also learned this art by observing his father. We have not learned from any school or government college. We all learned by watching. We use different kinds of paint. When we make it on paper, we use natural colours from leaves and flowers. On the kettle, I have used oil paints. On the trays, I have used fabric colours.

-Lokhikanta Sarkar, Patachitra Artist

handmade jewellery

I make beads by hand. I use mud and wood. I then string them either with wire or thread. The beauty lies in the Dokhra pendants and the colour schemes. I am getting old so my son helps me out these days. He has learned from me.

-Shobhita Mandal, Handmade Jeweller

Dokhra Art

My name is Harindranath Rana. I am from Bankura in West Bengal. This is an age old and traditional art. My father and grandfather used to first be involved in this work and now I am too. I have been doing this work for about 25 to 30 years. It involves a lot of hard work. First, we made a mould. Then on the mud mould, a design is made with wax. The design you see has been made from wax. After making the design, we cover it with mud. We then need to put another layer of mud. We then make a channel at the bottom and heat the mould. The wax melts and we por in molten brass which solidifies.

- Harindranath Rana, Dokhra Artist

dokhra art

I use Dokhra Art to make objects such as door handles, pegs and pendants. My parents made statues only. I now make a variety of objects with Dokhra. First, I wet the mud and make a mould. Then I use wax to make a dance. I pass a thread through the wax before pouring brass if I am making a necklace.

Madhubani Art

This is a longstanding tradition. We use natural colours from trees and flowers to make paintings by hand on paper and fabric colours to make them on cloth. I learned how to make Madhubani paintings at the age of 12 and have been making them ever since.