Indigenous paintings, with distinctive animal, bird and flower motifs, have come alive on the walls of Jawaharlal Nehru Kala Kendra at Shyamali Colony, thanks to Regional Tribal Folk and Traditional Painting Camp that kicked off on Wednesday in Ranchi's Doranda.

Working under well-known artist Haren Thakur, seven women and nine men are trying to bring tribal art forms out of the confines of non-descript villages in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from the six walls surrounding Kala Kendra, the participants are also using paper to showcase their craftsmanship at the five-day camp organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, (Bhubaneswar) and Mecon Ltd. ARTI S. SAHULIYAR provides a glimpse

Pattachitra

Gangadhar Maharana (42), a national award recipient and resident of Raghurajpur in Odisha's Puri district, is recreating the mythological story of Lord Hanuman invading Lanka on a piece of paper with natural colours.

"Here, I will be depicting my folk art on drawing sheets as well as the walls. Around 120 families are involved in promoting pattachitra at Raghurajpur, a heritage village that has now become a hub of tourists," Maharana, who has already won praises for her creations in London, Japan, Singapore and Bhutan said.

Mithila painting

Ambika Devi (35), a national awardee from Madhubani district in Bihar, is known for promoting Mithila paintings among women and youngsters. Here, she is using natural black colour to portray the beauty of a forest on paper.

"Nowadays, people call it Madhubani art. But its original name is Mithila. I had picked it up from my mother around . Rural people still make paintings of Sita and Ram on the walls of their houses on auspicious occasions, like marriage," Ambika, who runs Guru Shishya Parampara Centre in Madhubani, said.

Sohrai

Lalita Masmot (37), a sohrai expert from Kharati in Barkagaon, Hazaribagh, is drawing a peacock, flowers on a sheet of paper with natural colours.

"In my village, now only four families make sohrai paintings on mud houses, rest have abandoned the tradition," the widow, accompanied by her son Lakshman (7), said.

Bhil

Sita Mada (35) has come from Jhabua of Madhya Pradesh to promote their art. Here, she is depicting forest scenes with trees and animals in bright colours using acrylic paints.

"We mostly focus on natural surroundings, depicting folklore and rituals in bold colours. We generally extract colours from leaves, flowers etc, but here we are using acrylic paints," Sita, attired in traditional jewellery, said.