Keeper of a Fading Art

Amidst the creative corridors of Chitra Kala Parishath over 20 years ago, Geetha Bhat encountered an art form that would shape her life's calling. The delicate intricacy, the perfect symmetry, and the rhythmic flow of Chittara—a traditional mural art from Karnataka—struck a deep chord within her.

- By Rashmi Gopal Rao

"I was awestruck by the fine lines, the precision in every motif," she recalls. Bhat was already immersed in a world of culture and creativity—trained in French silk painting, Ikebana, and Manikka Malai, a floral art native to Tamil Nadu. But it was Chittara that called to her spirit. Originating in the rain-kissed Malenadu region of Karnataka's Western Ghats, Chittara pulses with the heartbeat of a community. Passed down by Deevaru women across Shivamogga's talukas—from Siddapur and Talaguppa to Kuppali and Ikkeri—it is an ode to festivals, nature, and feminine intuition.