Post Pandemic Loss, Sheikhpura’s Krishna Devi Finds Self-Reliance By Making Tanjore Paintings
From pandemic displacement to lakh-rupee artworks, Krishna Devi’s Tanjore paintings prove how traditional art, women’s collectives and hard work can transform rural livelihoods.
Published : January 28, 2026 at 3:59 PM IST
By Shiv Chandra Pratap
Sheikhpura (Bihar): In a one-room house in Gunhesa village, gold glimmers beautifully on wooden boards. It is not about display of wealth but pieces of golden art painted carefully by Krishna Devi, a woman who beat all odds - displacement, unemployment and obscurity - to come up trumps and becoming self-reliant through art.
An eighth-pass Krishna Devi today co-creates some of the country’s most intricate Tanjore paintings, a classical art form that originated in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur region. Along with her husband Praveen, she has made painting a livelihood that bridges two cultures - South Indian tradition and rural Bihar aspiration.
Krishna’s journey in the art began far away from Sheikhpura. After her marriage in 2014, she moved to Tamil Nadu, where Praveen had spent nearly a decade doing odd jobs to fend for himself. During that time, he had undergone training in Tanjore painting, mastering the demanding process of embossing, gold foiling and fine detailing. When Krishna joined him, she too learned, patiently absorbing an art that requires months of discipline even for a single canvas.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything. With jobs lost and savings exhausted, the couple returned to Bihar in 2020, without knowing what is in store. What followed was skepticism and silence because no one in the region recognised Tanjore art, let alone understood its value.
But a turning point did come. When Krishna joined Jeevika, Bihar’s women’s self-help group initiative, she took a small loan and institutional support and the couple got going setting up stalls at government events and fairs. "Slowly, people's curiosity turned into appreciation and then there was no end to demand," says Krishna with a smile.
Today, their paintings are displayed at almost every major exhibition event. The couple has sold paintings across states, selling works worth lakhs. Praveen said two of their paintings priced together at Rs 3.30 lakh, was sold at a time while a recent stall at the Bihar Saras Mela in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan brought them a single order worth Rs 6 lakh.
But this success has not made the couple's life easy. Despite national recognition, the family lives in a single room and awaits benefits under the government housing scheme. "Raw materials, particularly 22-carat gold foil, essential to Tanjore painting, are not available in Bihar, forcing us to make frequent trips to Tamil Nadu," says Praveen.
Krishna does household works before sitting down to paint each day from 10 am to 4–5 pm. "It is an arduous work. A standard 2×3-foot painting takes four to six months, while smaller works require at least a fortnight of meticulous labour. So it is not easy," says Krishna.
Tanjore paintings, more than a decorative art, are traditionally seen adorning temples and palaces depicting deities like Krishna, Ram, Vishnu, Lakshmi and Shiva. Colours used are dark - deep reds, greens, blues and shiny gold. Embossed figures, created using lime, glue and clay on wooden boards, give the paintings their iconic three-dimensional look.
For Krishna Devi, every painting she makes becomes a statement because given the limited resources and education background, it is her resolve to achieve something that makes a difference to the art. Particularly in a place like Sheikhpura, where opportunities are limited, her gold-flecked canvases shine as proof that skill, when nurtured, can rewrite destiny.
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