Myths are born and heroes are made through the art of storytelling. When a bard travels from village to village narrating tales of a local event or a minor god, they’re scattering the seeds that will one day grow into a towering forest of legends. Generations will take shade and find inspiration here. This month, we examine three art forms from the Sarmaya collection that are deeply embedded in the oral history traditions of India: Bengal patua scrolls, Rajasthani phad paintings and the shadow puppets of Andhra. Discover the worlds they rule by the stories they tell.
Storytelling in India
The legends that shape us
The Never-Ending Story
We look at three indigenous art forms from the Sarmaya collection and listen to the timeless tales that animate them
Inside the magical world of Rajasthan’s phad paintings
The story of two heroes told over seven centuries. How complicated can it be? We’re glad you asked
Bengal’s Goddesses Live in Song
How a tribe of Muslim artists is keeping ancient Hindu texts alive
A Play of Shadows
Witness a magical storytelling performance of Tholubommalaata and let your imagination take flight as the evening light suffuses the stage and the colourful leather puppets are seized with a fierce energy
WATCH: Performances of Bengal Patua, Phad & Tholubommalaata
Canvases come alive with the voices, bodies and spirits of their narrators
Pattachitra: Untitled 
India & Independence 
The Campaign in India, 1857-58 
Europeans in India: From a Collection of Drawings by Charles D’Oyly 
5 Myths About the India-Pakistan Partition of 1947 
Ganapathi 
India’s Forgotten Artists 
Lessons on Love: India’s Eternal Romances 
Scenery, Costumes and Architecture, Western India 
Santhal Janam Katha (Birth Story of the Santhals) 
Map of India, 1857