Table of Contents
Introduction
Indian art is predominantly religious in nature, though it has evolved to also include secular themes. Art is a way of expressing human emotions, it is a tool for storytelling, and it has always been so. Even today, artists bring age-old stories known to humanity alive, through the magic of their brushtrokes and colors, passing down wisdom from centuries ago.
This blog explores how Indian traditional, tribal and folk paintings, even today, depict themes based on Indian texts, with a few examples.
Markandeya and Shiva
The first story is that of Markandeya and Lord Shiva, which was mentioned in Puranic literature.
Sage Markandeya is born and destined to die at 16. He becomes an intense devotee of Shiva and constantly chants the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. On the day of his death, Yama throws his noose. Markandeya clings to a Shiva linga. The noose falls on the linga. Shiva bursts out in fury, stops Yama and grants Markandeya immortality.
The Mahamrityunjay mantra links this episode to verse 7.59.12 of the Rigveda, where the mantra is first found.
“Tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam
Urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya mā’mṛtāt”
Meaning: “We worship the Three-Eyed One, fragrant, who nourishes all beings.
May He liberate us from death, like a cucumber from its stem - yet not from immortality.”
This story is beautifully depicted in the below Kalighat painting by artist Manoj Chitrakar, where a young Markandeya is hugging the Shiva linga, with the noose around, and Shiva is protecting him from Yama, the god of death.
Markandeya and Lord Shiva In Kalighat by Manoranjan Chitrakar
Shiva Parvati Kalyanam
The next story is of Shiva Parvati Kalyanam, or the marriage ceremony of Shiva and Parvati. It is mentioned in many ancient texts, particularly in detail in the Shiva Purana, as a part of the Parvati Khanda of the Rudra Samhita, where:
King Himavan prepares a celestial wedding pavilion. The mountains glitter like jewels, rivers, trees and winds seem to pause in reverence. Devas, rishis, gandharvas, yakshas and siddhas assemble. The marriage is not a private rite but a cosmic event witnessed by all realms. Shiva arrives in a bewildering procession: ganas, spirits, ascetics, serpents and wild beings surround him. His ash-smeared body and matted hair shock Queen Mena. The gods reassure her. At their request, Shiva reveals a resplendent, auspicious form. Anxiety turns to wonder. Parvati is bathed, anointed with fragrant pastes, dressed in radiant garments and adorned with jewels. Her beauty is described as surpassing celestial nymphs. She is both shy and steadfast, the ascetic devotee now a luminous bride. Himavan leads Parvati to the pavilion. With folded hands, he offers her to Shiva, “I give you my daughter, born of the mountain, steadfast in virtue. Accept her hand in righteousness.” Water is poured into Shiva’s palm as the formal act of kanyadana. The gathered beings chant blessings. A sacred fire is lit. Brahma officiates. Shiva takes Parvati’s hand (panigrahana). They circumambulate the fire in saptapadi. Vedic mantras are recited. The union is sealed before Agni as witness. Devas shower flowers. Gandharvas sing. Rishis recite hymns. The marriage is hailed as the union of Purusha and Prakriti, ascetic energy and generative power. The cosmos rejoices because this union will restore balance and lead to the birth of Kartikeya. With rites complete, Parvati departs her father’s home. The procession returns toward Kailasha. The text closes the episode by emphasizing that this is not merely a wedding, but the re-harmonizing of the universe.
This episode has been described in other texts as well, like the Skanda Purana, Linga Purana, Vayu Purana as well, and has always stayed relevant as a theme for Indian art.
This beautiful Pattachitra painting narrates this story, with the center of the composition showing Shiva’s wedding procession, with Shiva as a groom sitting on his vahana Nandi, as Vishnu and Brahma lead the way and his attendants follow. The surrounding panels recount the story of Sati, the previous birth of Parvati, and how she gave up her life to avenge her husband’s disrespect. They also show the penance of Parvati to please Shiva, along with scenes from their marriage ceremony.
Shiva Parvati Kalyanam - Pattachitra Painting by Purusottam Swain for Home Decor
Kaliya Mardan
The next story is of Kaliya Mardan, the defeat of the snake Kaliya by Krishna. Recounted in the Bhagvata Purana, Skandha 10, chapter 16 and 17 this story goes as follows - young Krishna, while playing with his friends, finds the Yamuna river poisoned by the serpent Kaliya, whose venom has withered trees and endangered cattle and cowherds. Leaping into the river, Krishna is coiled by the serpent but effortlessly breaks free and springs onto Kaliya’s many hoods, dancing upon them until the serpent is subdued. As Kaliya weakens, his wives, the Nagapatnis, pray for mercy. Moved by their plea, Krishna spares Kaliya and commands him to leave the Yamuna for the sea, assuring him that the divine eagle Garuda will not harm him. The river is purified, and the people of Vraja rejoice at the restoration of life and balance.
This episode, as also mentioned in the Vishnu Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana and other sources, is one of the most popular depictions of Krishna even today, reminding the world of God’s power to subdue evil and restore order in society.
This story is depicted in a variety of artforms as seen below, starting with Sanjhi - the paper cutting art of Mathura, Manuscript painting and Mysore Tanjore art.
Kaliya Mardan in Sanjhi by Ashutosh Verma
The Divine Leela of Lord Krishna: Kaliya Mardan in Manuscript Painting by Sujit Das
Kaliya Mardan in Mysore Tanjore by Dr. J Dundaraja
Ganesha
The story of Ganesha’s birth and how he got his elephant head is one of the most well known stories in Hindu mythology. It comes primarily from the Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Kumara skandha, but is also mentioned in other sources like Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Linga Purana, Skandha Purana and Varaha Purana.
As the story goes, Parvati fashions a boy from the paste of her body and sets him to guard her bath. Shiva arrives, but the boy refuses him entry. After a heated fight that follows, Shiva beheads the child in anger. On witnessing the death of her son, Parvati vows to destroy the universe through her anger. At Parvati’s grief, Shiva orders his ganas to find a head for Ganesha. An elephant’s head is brought and fixed to the body. The boy is thus revived and declared Ganesha, leader of Shiva’s ganas.
This story is beautifully depicted in the below Phad painting
Story of Ganesh Phad Painting by Kalyan Joshi
Ravana shaking Mount Kailash
The last story is that of Ravana shaking Mount Kailash. As recounted in the Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Yuddha Kanda, the story goes as follows:
The proud Asura king Ravana once reached the icy heights of Kailasa, the abode of Shiva and Parvati. Blinded by his strength and victories, Ravana tried to lift the entire mountain to display his power. Kailasa trembled and the ganas panicked. Shiva, serene and unmoved, simply pressed the mountain down with the tip of his toe.
In an instant, the weight of Kailasa pinned Ravana beneath it. His arrogance dissolved into agony and devotion. Determined to please Lord Shiva, Ravana fashioned a vina from his own body, using his arms as the instrument and his veins as strings. From beneath the mountain, he sang in ecstasy the hymn later celebrated as the Shiva Tandava Stotram, each note drawn from suffering turned into surrender.
Moved by this fierce devotion, Shiva lifted his toe and freed Ravana, granting him boons and divine favor. The episode, remembered as Ravananugraha, endures in Indian art as a lesson in how pride can be crushed, but devotion can raise even the fallen to grace.
This episode is also mentioned in other sources like Skandha Purana and Padma Purana, and has also been depicted in art and architecture since ancient times. For example, a panel at the great Kailashanatha temple at Ellora from the 8th century CE contains a panel narrating this story.
Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa
This story is beautifully captured in this unique depiction in the Gond art style by Sandeep Dhurve, reimagining Kailash as a tree, Ravana as the trunk, his hair as the roots and Shiva Parvati depicted in the Ardhanarishwara form, with both their vahanas beside them, and Ganesha and his mouse reclining beneath the tree.
Ravana Shaking Mount Kailash in Gond by Sandeep Dhurve
Conclusion
Across regions, materials and styles, Indian traditional, tribal and folk paintings continue to return to the wellspring of sacred narrative. Whether it is the devotion of Markandeya before Shiva, the cosmic wedding of Shiva and Parvati, the playful yet profound victory of Krishna over Kaliya, the birth of Ganesha or Ravana’s humbled devotion beneath Kailasa, these stories endure because artists keep retelling them in living color and line.
What began in texts like the Rigveda, the Shiva Purana and the Bhagavata Purana does not remain confined to manuscripts. It travels into Kalighat patas, Pattachitra scrolls, Sanjhi paper cuts, Phad narratives, Gond reimaginings and countless other visual languages. In doing so, the stories are not merely illustrated; they are reinterpreted, localized and kept alive.
These artworks remind us that Indian art is not just decorative or devotional, it is a form of cultural memory. Through brushstrokes, pigments and patterns, artists become storytellers, philosophers and custodians of tradition. They ensure that ancient wisdom does not fade into abstraction but continues to be seen, felt and understood by contemporary audiences.
In this way, every painting becomes more than an image, it becomes a bridge between text and tradition, past and present, mythology and lived experience.
