c. 1925-1950

Ritual Eye-Bestowing Painting (Chakshudana Pata)

The Santal tribes, spread across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, are served by a group of itinerant artists known as jadupatuas (magician-painters). Although not Santal themselves, jadupatuas paint story-scrolls depicting particular myths and stories important to Santal culture. Additionally, when a death occurs in a Santal community, a jadupatua visits the mourner with a stack of paintings of women, men, and children, each of whom lack a pupil in their eye. For a fee, the jadupatua will select an image appropriate for the deceased and will ritually paint in the pupil, thus delivering the dead person's soul from wandering blindly in the afterworld.