While on a Sindhudurg sojourn, drawn to the mountainous beauty and coastal allure of Bhogave beach, a fortunate detour off the Mumbai-Goa highway led me to the Thakar Adivasi Kala Angan Museum and Art Gallery, the only Chitrakathi museum in the world. Located in Pinguli village and set amid lush palm and banana plantations, the museum complex offers an in-depth exploration of the underappreciated Chitrakathi art form and provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of Thakar tribal art. “The Thakars lived in the jungle without education or clothes, surviving on rice and vegetables.
For entertainment, they began telling stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, drawing them on peepal leaves. They used the leaves to illustrate characters like Adi-Manav because they didn’t know what Indrajit, Krishna, or Bheem looked like. Perhaps another person made wooden puppets, and a third created shadow puppets from sheepskin.
They didn’t write anything down, but the oral tradition and visual storytelling flourished,” said Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane (68), founder of the museum. Housed in his family’s former cowshed, the museum includes two galleries that display ancient Chitrakatha paintings, puppets, and musical instruments and agricultural and fishing tools used by the tribal Thakar community. Gangavane’s sons, Chetan (35) and Eknath (37), who now assist him, represent the tenth generation in the family’s Chitrakathi business.
“My father started this museum on May 3, 2006. He was the first person from Sindhudurg to receive the Padma Shri, and his life’s work is represented here,” says Chetan. Stepping into the premises, I am struck by its sheer scale.
Towering painted trees instantly draw my attention. To my right are two sculptures: a Thakar tribesman in a red turban, blue kurta, and white dhoti holding a dholak. Beside him is a bull, its painted ornaments echoing the artistic traditions of the community.
To my left is a rural hut housing figures of a tribal couple frozen in a moment of quiet contemplation. Behind them are utensils and ancient agricultural tools illustrating the tribe’s way of life. “The sculptures represent my grandmother Bhagirathi and grandfather Vishram.
Behind them, we’ve displayed items from our old house. To preserve their significance, we’ve included their names in the labels,” says Chetan pointing out vessels like the goli, burkula, sorkul, malti, and madke. “We used to store water in the madke, and when someone died, we’d use the goli to carry their body.
In our village, the Kumbhar community specialises in pottery. If we asked them for a goli, they’d provide exactly that, never a water pot. However, in metro cities, these distinctions are often lost, and they might give a water pot instead,” he says.
Each vessel has a specific use. The sorkul is used to serve fish curry or chicken curry while the burkula can be used for serving food or drinking water. There are a number of agricultural tools too and Chetan explains that the community uses a plough called the nangar or the hal.
“Locally, we have different names for various tools: nangar, rumni, ishar, zu, and datar,” he says. A fishing net known as a kandari hangs from the roof. “Next to it is the hanging stick part which is called khun, which means to trap fish.
During the rainy season, fish swim against the river’s current. To catch them, we use this trap. Additionally, we have a separate trap for catching crabs in the nearby waters outside the river,” he says.
Among the other items on display are a palna, which is used during naming ceremonies, and a khunti. “Khunti means ‘to hang,’ as you can see on the wall. Nowadays, we use wardrobes, but back then, we used a khunti,” he says.
Next, he points to a 400-year-old kudu. “In the past, farmers conducted transactions using kudu (wooden rice measure). A farmer might say, ‘I will give you 10 kudus of rice to work on your land,’ or ‘I will give you 50 kudus of rice for farming rights.
’ These transactions were measured in kudu. Without proper names and explanations, people today might not understand the distinct purposes of these items,” he says. People still use kudus in rural Sindhudurg, especially in the area near the forest.
“Our community is very old. We were brought to the city around 400 years ago by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Before that, we lived in the jungle.
He recognized the unique skills and artistry within our community and believed these talents should not remain hidden. He felt that our art should be our livelihood, so he brought us to the city. Although our art form is thousands of years old, we received formal recognition only a few centuries ago,” he says.
Chetan explains that the community has 11 traditional art forms, three of which – chitra kathi, string puppetry (also known as Kalsutri Bhavlya in Marathi), and shadow puppetry or Chamdecha Bhavlya – were introduced to the larger world by his father. “The other eight art forms include Pangul Bail, Povada, Putraja, Gundal, Radhanutya, and Phugdya, which are traditional women’s dances performed during the Ganesh festival,” he says. In the dimly lit museum, the Chitrakathi paintings on the walls come alive.
There are vivid depictions of the battle between Ram and Ravana, of Angad carrying away Kumbhakarna, of Hanuman carrying the Dronagiri mountain, and of him returning after visiting Sita. Others capture playful monkeys attempting to wake Kumbhakarna and the dramatic moment of Ravana’s death. “The essence of Chitra Kathi is in its name — ‘Chitra’ means story.
India has various Chitra styles like Madhubani, Patachitra, Kalamkari, and Phad. Maharashtra is known for Warli art and also has Chitra Kathi, which is less popular. Chitra Kathi mainly depicts mythological tales from the Ramayana and Mahabharata,” says Chetan adding that this thematic focus has limited the form’s adaptability.
Since it is difficult to transfer these motifs to modern contexts like T-shirts, the form hasn’t achieved as much recognition as it deserves. “Originally, the palette was limited to red, green, and blue. Over time, we added yellow for ornaments.
Although we now use artist watercolours and acrylics, our drawing style remains true to Chitrakathi traditions,” he says explaining that earlier generations used only natural materials like soil for red, leaves for green, and a particular jungle fruit for blue ink. “Blue was for characters like Ram and Ravan, red and green for clothes, and diluted red for skin tones, which we now depict using orange,” Chetan says. Beneath the paintings rests a collection of instruments used in string puppetry, including the veena, hiroba, taal, huduk, and dona wadya.
For leather puppetry, a different ensemble of musical instruments like the mridangam, zaanj, zanjar, samal, and tuntunhe are used. A unique instrument in shadow puppetry is the panchloha bronze thali coated with honeybee wax. Chetan demonstrates how various sounds can be produced on it by using a wooden stick coated in beeswax.
The room that houses the shadow puppetry setup also includes the divti instrument, and an idol representing the family goddess Mata Bhavani or Ambabai, who is invoked at the end of each performance. One of the walls displays Pangul Bael or the embroidered cloth and ornaments of a bullock. At the opening of every show, a decorated bullock is brought centre stage as artists play the dhol and recite hymns.
While one area is given over to the agro-museum, another space incorporates a stage and a seating area that can accommodate up to 300 people. A souvenir store called the Thaker House sells keepsakes like fridge magnets and coffee cups featuring Chitrakathi paintings. Chitrakathi art is definitely keeping up with the times.
The family now also creates customised drawings and paintings are priced between ₹ 500 and ₹ 10,000. The Gangavanes are also building homestays where local cuisine will be served. Clearly, tourism is injecting new life into a traditional art form even as it helps in its preservation.
Veidehi Gite is an independent journalist..
