When Chhath Becomes a Canvas: INTACH Brings Bihar’s Artistic Traditions Together in a First-of-Its-Kind Exhibition

A four-day exhibition at INTACH Headquarters explores the rituals, artistic traditions and cultural memory of Chhath through folk, traditional and contemporary practices from Bihar.

What does a festival look like when its memory is carried not only in ritual, but also in pigment, thread, clay, grass, paper and the hands of artists? That question sits at the heart of “Arghya”, an exhibition being presented by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) through its Heritage Craft and Community Division (HCCD), in collaboration with the INTACH Patna Chapter. The exhibition will be inaugurated on 28th September 2026 at 11:00 AM by Chief Guest Shri Harivansh Ji, Honourable Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, in the presence of Shri Ashok Singh Thakur, Chairman, INTACH, and Shri Ravindra Singh, IAS (Retd.), Member Secretary, INTACH, at the INTACH Central Office, 71, Lodhi Estate, K.K. Birla Lane, New Delhi. This exhibition is conceptualised by HCCD Head Ms. Bindu Manchanda

For many of us, the most familiar image of Chhath is the offering of Arghya to the setting and rising Sun. Yet the festival is much more than a single moment. Observed with deep devotion across Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai region of Nepal, and now by communities across India and the Indian diaspora, Chhath unfolds through a sequence of rituals including Nahay-Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya. The inauguration will be graced by the presence of Shri Bhairab Lal Das, State Convener, INTACH Patna Chapter. This thoughtful and beautiful exhibition is curated by Ms. Manisha Jha and Ms. Alka Das.

At its centre is a relationship between faith, water, sunlight, seasonal cycles, family and community - a rhythm of gratitude, discipline, renewal and continuity. And this is where the artistic story becomes especially interesting.

Chhath is not only remembered through prayer or ceremony; it is remembered through the visual culture that surrounds people and places. Mithila painting, one of Bihar’s most recognisable artistic traditions, offers a particularly resonant language here.

Both Chhath and Mithila art emerge from a cultural landscape in which nature, ritual, community and sacred symbolism are deeply intertwined.

So what happens when artists turn the ghats, offerings, the Sun, women in prayer, the movement of water and the shared memory of Chhath into line, colour and pattern?

“Arghya” gives us a chance to see that conversation unfold. The exhibition does not stop at Mithila painting. Visitors will encounter Manjusha and Tikuli Kala; Godna alongside Patna Kalam; Sujani embroidery, Jashoda art and Sikki craft alongside papier-mâché, Bhojpuri art and terracotta. Contemporary paintings, crochet, photography and other creative practices expand that conversation further. Rather than packaging Bihar’s art into one neat style, the exhibition allows us to see how very different traditions can respond to one shared festival, and how each material can carry memory in its own way.

That breadth is also what makes “Arghya” unusual. This first-of-its-kind presentation bringing folk, traditional and contemporary practices into conversation around the shared cultural theme of Chhath.

How often do we get to see a living ritual viewed simultaneously through craft, painting, textile, photography, sculpture and contemporary expression? The exhibition creates precisely that meeting point. Its cultural importance lies in that meeting point too. Chhath is a living tradition - practised, remembered and transmitted through families and communities. “Arghya” brings that living heritage into an institutional space without separating ritual from the people and practices that sustain it.

Can we read devotion through a stitch? Can terracotta hold a memory of worship? Can a painting make us notice a familiar ritual differently? The exhibition invites us to ask these questions rather than offering one fixed answer. The role of HCCD, INTACH is central to this approach. Rather than treating craft as a decorative add-on to a festival, the division has created a platform where practitioners themselves become part of the cultural conversation.

In collaboration with the INTACH Patna Chapter, HCCD foregrounds both the diversity of Bihar’s artistic traditions and the communities that continue to keep them alive. In doing so, the exhibition connects tangible creative practice with intangible heritage - the rituals, beliefs, memories and collective meanings that surround Chhath.

The conversation will also move beyond the gallery. On 30th September at 2:00 PM, INTACH will host a symposium titled “History and Significance of Chhath Festival - Sun Worship”. Scholars and experts will examine the historical, sculptural, architectural and iconographic dimensions of Sun Worship, while also looking at Chhath as a continuing living tradition and at the connections between art, ritual, community and cultural memory.

The speaker group includes Dr. Kailash Kumar Mishra, Prof. Dev Nath Pathak, Prof. Vidya Nath Jha, Shri Rinpunjay Kumar Thakur, Prof. Dr. Radha Madhav Bharadwaj, Dr. Manisha Jha, Dr. Shiva Kumar Mishra and Shri Manoj Kumar Ambashtha.

“Arghya” gives visitors more than one way to enter the world of Chhath.

You can encounter it through colour and line, through embroidery and terracotta, through photography, or through a conversation about the

long history of Sun Worship itself. And perhaps that is the most compelling part of this exhibition: it does not ask us to choose between tradition and contemporary expression. It shows us that living heritage can hold both.

A centuries-old cultural practice can continue to be interpreted by artists working today. Heritage, in that sense, is not simply something we inherit; it is something we keep making sense of together. So, should you visit “Arghya” even if Chhath is already familiar to you? Perhaps especially then. The exhibition asks us to look again - at the festival, at the crafts that grow around cultural memory, and at the people whose artistic practices keep that memory visible.

For those encountering Chhath for the first time, it offers an intimate entry into one of India’s most spiritually significant traditions. For those who know it well, it may reveal how much more there is still to see.

Exhibition Details:

Dates: 28th September - 1st October 2026

Inauguration: 28th September 2026 | 11:00 AM

Venue: INTACH Headquarters, 71, Lodhi Estate, K.K. Birla Lane, New Delhi - 110003

Symposium: 30th September 2026 | 2:00 PM

Visitor Timings: 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM

The exhibition is organised by the HCCD Head Ms. Bindu Manchanda, in collaboration with the INTACH Patna Chapter, and will remain open to visitors until 1st October 2026.

Everyone at INTACH and the Heritage Craft and Community Division (HCCD) looks forward to welcoming you to “Arghya” and to your presence at the exhibition.

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