Art

Parshuram Gangavavne won the Padma Shri earlier this year for reviving a 500-year-old artform called Chitrakathi, wherein musicians and instrumentalists use voice modulation to narrate epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. But do you know why Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj found this art especially useful?

Financial circumstances and regional conflicts forced Srinagar-based Maqbool Jan to drop out of school. Here’s how he made a name for himself and bagged four state awards for his art.

Kalamkari fabrics of Andhra Pradesh-based Pitchuka Srinivas are exported to Japan, Netherlands, UK, USA and Germany.

In Patharkatti village in Bihar, artisans have been making decorative, household and prayer items from black granite for generations. There's an interesting folklore behind how this came to be, thanks to Maharani Ahilyabai.

KP Rohit, a self-taught artist from Kerala, is mesmerising people with his unique aerial portraits. Take a look at some of his stunning artwork.

Bihar's Ramchandra Manjhi has overcome gender and caste-based prejudices, financial crisis and several other odds to keep ‘Naach’ alive. He narrates what it is like to be a 'cross dresser' in his career spanning eight decades.

Mumbai-based photographer and cinematographer, Hemant Chaturvedi has travelled to the remotest corners to find and document hidden single-screen cinemas on the brink of shutting down.

After her grandmother Padma Shri Moozhikkal Pankajakshi lost her vision, Renjini KS from Kerala took over the mantle of being the sole guardian of the dying art of Nokkuvidya Pavakkali.

Karan Arjun Singh is a foley artist from Mumbai, who has worked behind the scenes of movies including Jab We Met, Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai, Neerja, Krrish 3, Baahubali and more.  He talks about this underappreciated art in Indian cinema, and how he came to realise his dream.

Konsam Ibomcha Singh from Imphal adopted his father’s craft of doll-making for which he was awarded the Manipur State Award. Replacing rags with dried grass, every doll is handmade by him and dressed by his wife, Chandrima Konsam.