Chitra Santhe is an annual event held by Chitrakalaa Parishad in Bangalore. It is usually conducted on the first Sunday of January. This year it was on 5th Jan 2014 and it was the 11th year celebration. Every year it is only the next day I would get to know from the papers that the event was held. This year my friend asked me to join and I went along to get a feel of the event and there were loads and loads of surprises for me. I was overwhelmed by what I saw. We were there by 10 in the morning which for me is pretty early. But the streets were already abuzz with participants lining on either side of the street with numerous paintings. There were artists from all over India and you can make out from which part of the country they are, from their paintings.. There were paintings of villages of Tamil Nadu, backwaters of Kerala, the great architecture of Hampi, the madubani paintings of Bihar, the palaces of Rajasthan, the sun temple of Odisha, the dal lake of Kashmir, the monasteries of Leh, the rikshaw puller of Kolkata, the tea estates of Darjeeling.. So if you want to have a good chat with someone from your native, all you have to do is go there and you will definitely find an artist from your place. I was more than happy to be taken to TamilNadu through these paintings.. Paintings of young girls in half saree, kids enjoying in river, the ladies drawing kolam in front of house, the palm fruit seller, men in lungis, women in paddy fields, shore temple and much much more. The way the art has changed over time can also be seen from the paintings and the artists. In front of the very intricately done painting with beautiful expressions was a simple old man where as in front of contemporary paintings which were more of colors splashed around was a dude artist. The paintings in most cases were the reflection of the mind of the artist. Some were lovers of animals, some where landscapes, some where dark paintings, some where of Gods, some where lovers of women, it was as though you see the painting and you can read the artist. There were many stalls where I stopped to ask if it was photo or painting. There were also sellers of crafts. Artistically done mirrors, earrings, pen holders and much more. All the art work were for sale. Paintings went from 1000 to more than 50k. Self portraits were also done.

Also read: Chitra Santhe from 2015

Some tips: Go as early as possible. Around noon it gets more like Tirupati darshan, you cannot really stand and admire without being pushed and shoved. Have a chat with the artists, they were more than happy to talk. Please don't try to bargain hard, appreciate the art and the fact they have come all the way from some corner of India. It is held in Kumarkrupa road where hotel Lalit Ashok is there. Ask the permission of artist before taking photograph. If you are in Bangalore around this time, it is a must visit. Oh, and there are all kind of stalls for snacks :D Here are some lovely paintings I shot at the event.

Streets filled with paintings

 

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Painting of painter painting a face. This one had some 3D effects kind

 

Pencil sketches

 

Faces from the street

 

So close to a photo

 

Common sight of villages near Tiruchendur Tirunelveli

And those are not shadows from the tree.

 

Photo? Painting?

 

Something so simple can inspire you to paint?

 

Another detailed set of paintings.

 

Loved everything in this collection

 

Madhubani painting. Made with pen nib and colors out of fruits and vegetables.