History beyond textbooks: the Power of Chitrakathi

EkiBeki
Aug 12
3 min read

In a world where history is often taught through the lens of textbooks and mainstream narratives, the opportunity to explore lesser-known stories is like discovering hidden gems.

School textbooks typically focus on major events, kings, and political movements. While these narratives are important, they often overlook the rich cultural and social histories of indigenous communities, folk traditions, and the lives of ordinary people who shaped our past in profound ways.

One such gem is Chitrakathi, a traditional storytelling art form from the Thakar tribal community of Maharashtra, which recently found its way into the classrooms of Vivekanand Education Society, Chembur, Mumbai. Conducted by Chetan Gangavane, a passionate advocate of this ancient art, the workshop not only showcased the beauty of Chitrakathi but also opened the minds of young adults to histories that are often absent from school curricula.

Opening Young Minds to Untold Histories: The Workshop Narrative

The Thakar tribal community’s centuries-old tradition of Chitrakathi has survived through oral storytelling and painted narratives. Mainly bringing alive tales from the Ramayan, Mahabharat, Hanuman too made repeated appearances.

The Chitrakathi artists were not just painters, but essential community storytellers, going from village to village with their tales, to make money. Their ability to move freely across the region and mingle with people made them invaluable to the politics of the time. They often acted as spies for the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

For many students, this was the first time they had encountered this side of history—the human stories woven into the fabric of political and social life, often ignored in conventional textbooks.

History Told Through Art

Chitrakathi was never just a performance, nor was it a “painting art form”. It is a dynamic, interactive way of narrating history. The paintings, often made on handmade paper using natural dyes, were not static. Each painting was a page in a visual story, unfolding in real-time as the artist would narrate the tale.

"Chitra" means picture and "katha" means story and the exponent called Chitrakathi is the person who narrates the story with the aid of some visual support. They sing the tale while showing it visually using pictures.

Artists use the term "Pothi" to set of pictures which contains 30 to 50 pages arranged in chronological order. These pages are unbound like pages of Ramayana and Mahabharata. An artist used to keep 40 to 50 Pothis but today 15 to 20 Pothis are in good condition. Some pothis date back to 300 years whereas some 50 to 60 years old.

From epic sagas of gods and kings to local folklore and mythology, these stories were passed down through generations. The idea that art could serve as a tool for both preservation and storytelling opened the students’ minds to the deep connections between art, culture, and history.

Learning the art

Chetan’s demonstration highlighted the distinctiveness of the tradition—how figures in Chitrakathi paintings were depicted with stylized, wide-eyed features looking to one side.

In Chitrakathi paintings, yellow is not just a color; it's a vital component that adds to the vibrancy and narrative depth of the stories told. Often derived from natural sources like turmeric or other locally available yellow ochre, it symbolizes auspiciousness, joy, and prosperity. Yellow is used to depict various elements like flowers, ornaments, and even skin tones, enriching the visual storytelling and making the paintings more appealing and relatable to the audience.

Students of Vivekanand Education Society with their masterpieces

The Gangawane family is so committed to preserving their collective art form that they sold their cows and converted their cowshed into a museum where they hold workshops and performances – the museum is called the ThakarAdivasi Kala Angan (Museum and Art Gallery) of the ancient village of Pinguli.

Brother Eknath Gangavane is the Master Artist of Chitrakathi Painting and our Father Shri Parshuram Vishram Gangavane has been honored with Padmashri in 2021 for reviving of this Tribal Art Form Chitrakathi.

The language they used for narration is Marathi, which they are said to have learnt from the Brahmins. They also have learnt Puranas like Harivijay, Ramvijay, Bhagwat Puran, Pandav Pratap etc. they make use of the musical instruments like tuntune, tal, ekatari etc., as accompainments to their narration. This narration is mostly lyrical.

Looking to the Future

Chetan says, “It was because of the dignity that the Maharaj gave us, that we learnt to adapt.. Today you are seeing me in modern clothes and I talk the same languages you do. “ For Chetan Gangavane and his family, the work doesn’t stop at preserving Chitrakathi for the sake of history—it’s about ensuring that young generations understand its relevance in the present.