Patna Kalam revival: How Bihar is bringing back the lost art that has taken over everyday India

Water-colour painting on imported paper, in delicate brushwork on a yellow, bare background, and clear image of two men dhoti Working in a distillery. or a woman dressed in blue and yellow ghagra And scarfDancing in the hall of a palace while musicians play. These artworks are part of the 18th century Indian painting tradition known as Patna Kalam.

It was a pre-photographic visual document of the daily lives of common people, including vegetable vendors, blacksmiths, and servants bringing groceries. Last December, The Patna Kalam paintings were part of an exhibition at the Bihar Museum Biennale 2025, where it witnessed renewed interest. This begs the question: Why does art created to depict daily life now exist only behind glass?

Hidden in storage in art colleges, or confined to private collections and the archives of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the almost extinct Patna Kalam was reintroduced. Patna Kalam: A Legacy The exhibition and a workshop for interested students were organized at Patna Museum between December 2025 and February 2026. Art lovers agree that if there was not so much interest from the state government, they would have to travel outside India to see this art tradition. Apart from paintings from the Patna Museum, the exhibition also included works by Sanjay Kumar, a Dhanbad resident and descendant of the famous Patna Kalam painter Hulas Lal.

“The regional art style employed the technique of the Company school of painting, incorporating the inherent distinctive features of the city of Patna – its people, culture and daily life,” says Bhairav ​​Lal Das, convenor of the Patna chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage). In this, Mughal miniature details were mixed with European naturalism. Art teacher Dinesh Kumar explains that Patna Kalam is devoid of any ornamentation; There is no play of light and shadow, or any background. think of one Curtain-Nasheen Woman peeping through the red curtains of a palanquin, painted with gouache on mica (also called Sanmika or Sanmika) mica). or roadside tradesman (Grocer) is sitting and weighing seeds or pulses.

Delighted with the response and pleasantly surprised by the interest in the workshop, Bihar Museum Director General Anjani Kumar Singh now hopes to find good art trainers to impart technical skills and help in creating contemporary Patna Kalam.

The people participating in the workshop at the College of Arts and Crafts of Patna University remained glued to the administrative officer Chanchal Kumar. Patna KalamA reference photobook of paintings. Ironically, the original paintings remained locked in trunks in the same premises, inaccessible to the public. Last July, Aditya Jalan, great-grandson of businessman and art connoisseur Dewan Bahadur Radha Krishna Jalan, opened Planet Patna, a private museum with a large collection of company paintings, including Patna Kalam.

“My great-grandfather was fond of objects of historical importance; he even bought Napoleon’s bed during a trip to Europe in 1935,” says Aditya, adding that his father, Bal Manohar, had exchanged colonial-era stamps for Patna Kalam paintings. Elsewhere the museum is open to all – with an entry fee of ₹100 – unlike the closed museum at his home, one of Patna’s iconic destinations for art lovers, the centuries-old fort house, popularly known as Jalan House.

Patna Kalam vs Tikuli

Back in April, Bihar Museum displayed Hidden Treasures of Tikuli Art. like patna pen, The 800 year old Tikuli painting tradition also originated in Patna. This traditional craft, which takes its name from Tikuli Or dot Seen in women’s wear, home decor, coasters and trays, and it is known for its bright colors, fine detail, and use of enamel paint on hard surfaces. Revived in the mid-20th century, Tikuli survives to this day, unlike Patna Kalam, which was lost after independence. Tikuli artist Ashok Kumar Biswas, awarded the Padma Shri in 2024, says, “Patna Kalam is influenced by Mughal art, Rajasthani miniature painting and European style, while Tikuli art is influenced by Patna Kalam, Rajasthani miniature painting and Mithila painting.”

Sporadically, people have attempted to document the Patna Kalam. For example, Padmashree awardee Shyam Sharma, former principal of Patna College of Arts and Crafts, has written this book Patna Kalam (2011, Lalit Kala Akademi).

Sanjay Kumar, who comes from a distinguished line of Patna Kalam artists, says, “My grandfather Shyam Bihari Lal followed Patna Kalam painting till his end.” Many of his ancestral family’s paintings are in the Metropolitan and Victoria and Albert Museums of London and the Patna Museum.

Hope in contemporary stories?

Ashok Kumar Sinha, Deputy Director of Bihar Museum, calls Patna Pen the heritage of Bihar. He says, “We plan to dedicate a gallery to permanently display the Patna Kalam paintings. Like we had the Sita exhibition.” Vaidehi SitaIn 2024, we can see something similar happen for Patna Kalam Paintings in many Indian states and abroad, which not many people are aware of.

Fine arts professor Jitendra Mohan, who conducts Patna Kalam workshops, recalls a childhood that was exposed to heritage art and wishes more time was invested in it. “I live in the city of Patna, where Patna Kalam originated, and I grew up seeing it in my neighbourhood, visiting the homes of acclaimed artists Mahadev Lal and Ishwari Prasad Verma, and museums like Jalan House,” says Mohan, who observed in workshops that “new artists” (young students) were skilled in painting human figures, with proper scale and color scheme, which is essential for Patna Kalam painting. Performed better than Madhubani folk artists.

Apart from Bihar Museum, INTACH has organized nine workshops on Patna Kalam at various places since 2023, hence spreading awareness. Student Anurag Kumar Verma wants to pursue fine arts and continue practicing Patna Kalam. “From copying to incorporating contemporary elements, making freehand drawings and observing architecture and people, we are on the right track,” says Rachna Priyadarshini, a Patna-based art and culture enthusiast who participated in INTACH workshops.

Today Patna is much more disorganized; Painting on the street is not possible as they require peace and space for subtle art. Aditya Kumar Singh, an architect and part of the Urban Sketchers global artist community in Patna, says it takes him half an hour to sketch a contemporary building, while a Patna Kalam painting takes three days to create with full dedication. Singh is dubious about its existence, but Lal Das says that INTACH will provide encouragement for emerging artists and create a good bank of Patna Kalam paintings through workshops to promote and sell them.

Meanwhile, block-printing textile designer Sunita Prakash, through her company Bandhani, has trained women to depict traditional arts including Patna Kalam on clothes, organized exhibitions and sold the artworks.

The author finds positive stories across the country.