Long before cinema, India had travelling picture shows. A Bhopa priest-singer would unroll a Phad scroll in a Rajasthan village after dark and sing the epic of Pabuji, pointing at each scene by lamplight. In Telangana, Nakashi painters made Cheriyal scrolls for storytellers who moved from village to village. In Kolkata, painters outside the Kalighat temple sold quick, witty pictures to pilgrims that poked fun at the new city babus. In Gujarat, a painted cloth became a portable shrine for the mother goddess, for communities who were not allowed inside her temples.
Each of these was made to be read. That is what makes story painting different from other Indian art, and it is also what makes it such a satisfying thing to learn. You are not only learning brushwork. You are learning how to tell a story in pictures: where to put the hero, how to show time passing, how a border holds a scene together.
Rooftop has recorded master courses in five of these traditions. Here is what each one teaches, who teaches it, and how to choose.
Phad painting with Kalyan Joshi
A still from Rooftop's Phad painting course with Kalyan Joshi
Phad painting comes from Bhilwara in Rajasthan and is more than 700 years old. A traditional Phad is a long cloth scroll that tells the story of a folk deity, usually Pabuji or Devnarayan, with dozens of scenes arranged around a large central figure. Colours are made from natural sources and follow a code: orange for the limbs, yellow for ornaments, red for important figures, green for trees, blue for water.
Kalyan Joshi comes from the Joshi family of Bhilwara, the community that has painted Phad for generations. He began painting at eight and has been at it for more than four decades. He is the painter who brought Phad to small formats and new stories, and one of his scrolls, on Indian democracy, hangs in Parliament. He has won the National Award among several others and teaches in schools across the country.
What the Phad course covers
The Phad art course opens with the history of the form: why the scrolls were made, how they travelled, and why the same gods and motifs repeat. Then Kalyan Ji shows how a Phad canvas is prepared with starch and polished until it shines, and how the natural colours are made.
The practical work runs across three levels:
- Basic: a simple composition with no fine detailing. You learn the main Phad motifs, colour with primary colours and paint clean borders in contrasting colour.
- Intermediate: the same process with more detail. You learn which brush and colour to use where, plus extra border designs.
- Advanced: a full composition with musicians, people, animals and ornament.
By the end, you can read a Phad painting the way its audience did, knowing why the lotus means purity, the horse means valour, and the sun and moon mean time without end. Our masterclass preview has more.
Choose Phad if you love bright colour, strong outlines and big stories. If you want to learn Phad painting in person too, read about our Phad art workshop with Sourabh Soni.
Cheriyal scroll painting with the Dhanalakota family
Cheriyal scroll painting from Telangana, taught on Rooftop by the Dhanalakota family
Cheriyal painting, also called Nakashi art, comes from Cheriyal in Telangana. The scrolls tell stories from the Puranas and from the origin myths of local communities, painted in panels on a red ground, with figures in profile and lively borders between scenes. Cheriyal painters also make masks and dolls for the storytellers who perform with the scrolls.
The Dhanalakota family is one of very few families still practising the form. The course is led by Nageshwar Dhanalakota, with Sai Kiran explaining the origins of the art.
What the Cheriyal course covers
The Cheriyal art course starts with history: how Cheriyal fits into South Asian scroll painting, how a festival scene like Sankranti is built from figures and animals, and the women artists of the tradition. Then you see how the cloth is prepared.
The colour section is one of the best on Rooftop. You learn how natural black, yellow, red, white and blue are made, where they come from, and why Cheriyal uses two different yellows. A whole section covers borders, with four types you can use in your own work.
A still from the basic level of Rooftop's Cheriyal course with the Dhanalakota family
In the basic level you prepare the canvas, sketch the border and a simple composition, then lay two coats of background colour, add skin tones, paint a saree and blouse, fill the borders and finish the faces. The intermediate level moves to a new theme: you measure and sand the cloth, then draw Krishna, a cow, a tree and a gopi.
Choose Cheriyal if you like warm colour and strong, simple figures, or if you want the best grounding in natural pigments. If you want to learn Cheriyal painting with a book alongside, the Artventures of Cheriyal series is a good companion.
Kalighat painting with Anwar Chitrakar
A still from Rooftop's Kalighat painting course with Anwar Chitrakar
Kalighat painting began in 19th-century Kolkata, near the Kalighat temple. Patua painters, who had painted scrolls in Bengal villages, moved to the city and began selling single sheets to temple visitors. They painted gods, but they also painted the city: the dandy babu, his fashionable wife, the courtesan, the policeman, and the famous cat with a prawn in its mouth. Our piece on why Indian painters loved a cat eating fish explains the joke.
The style is quick and bold: sweeping outlines, a few washes of colour, and shading that makes bodies look rounded.
Anwar Chitrakar is a Bengali patua and National Award winner (2006) who keeps the Kalighat style alive while painting contemporary subjects alongside the old ones.
What the Kalighat course covers
The Kalighat painting course runs to about 11.5 hours. After Anwar Ji's introduction, you learn about the Patua community, the role zamindars played in the painters' turn to city themes, and the history and features of the form.
- Basic: a zamindar lady seated on a chair. You learn Kalighat anatomy and body language, background colour, skin shading, outlines and finishing details like shoes and a hookah.
- Intermediate: Radha and Krishna under a kadamba tree, with blue shadows on Krishna's skin and warm orange clothes.
- Advanced: the zamindar babu, a recurring Kalighat subject, plus his wife, with orange, red, black, blue and rust shadows for depth and drama.
This is the course for people who want to learn Kalighat painting step by step, and it works as a full Kalighat painting tutorial from first sketch to finished piece. Our post on how to make Kalighat paintings covers it in detail.
Choose Kalighat if you like humour, flowing line and drawing people. Of the five, it is the closest to illustration.
Pattachitra with Bijay Kumar and Rabindra Behera
Getting started with Pattachitra. Image source: Alphonso Stories
Pattachitra comes from Odisha, especially the painters' village of Raghurajpur near Puri, and is closely tied to the worship of Jagannath. Painters prepare cloth with a paste of chalk and gum until it is stiff and smooth, then paint gods, epics and dense floral borders in natural colours, including white from conch shell and black from lamp soot. The line work is extremely fine, and the borders alone can take days.
The Pattachitra course is taught by Bijay Kumar and Rabindra Behera. It suits people who already enjoy fine detail, or who want a long project to grow into.
Pattachitra looks intimidating, but our guide to Pattachitra for beginners makes a good case that the scariest-looking part, the border, is the part you can learn first. If you have searched for a Pattachitra painting tutorial and found only quick copies, this is where to learn Pattachitra painting properly.
Mata ni Pachedi with the Chitara family
Mata ni Pachedi means "behind the mother goddess". It comes from Gujarat, where communities who were kept out of temples made painted cloth shrines of their own. The goddess sits at the centre, surrounded by her stories, devotees, animals and a border called the toran. The art is around 400 years old, and our post on the evolution of Mata ni Pachedi traces how it changed.
The Chitara family has carried the tradition for generations. Their father, Bhulabhai Chunilal Chitara, was a National Award winner, and the course has not one but three teachers: Chandrakant Bhulabhai Chitara, his nephew Kirit Chitara, and Kiran Chitara.
What the Mata ni Pachedi course covers
The Mata ni Pachedi course has about seven hours of lessons. Kirit explains how a Mata ni Pachedi is structured and Kiran explains the traditional process. Then you learn the main motifs: the toran border, the sun, and the figures around the goddess.
In the basic level, Chandrakant Ji shows you how to sketch a deer, outline it in black and fill in the colours. The intermediate level is a Ganapati with his consorts Riddhi and Siddhi, which looks simple but teaches you how decorative motifs carry a composition.
Choose this course if you are drawn to devotional art and to strong black line. If you would rather learn Mata ni Pachedi in person, Rooftop also runs a Mata ni Pachedi painting experience.
Pabuji ka Vivaah, a complex Phad composition where dozens of scenes share one cloth (representative image)
Which story painting course is right for you?
| Course | Teacher | Feels like | Good first course? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phad | Kalyan Joshi | Bright, bold, epic | Yes |
| Cheriyal | Dhanalakota family | Warm, simple figures, natural colour | Yes |
| Kalighat | Anwar Chitrakar | Quick, witty, close to illustration | Yes, if you like drawing people |
| Pattachitra | Bijay Kumar and Rabindra Behera | Fine, dense, devotional | Better as a second course |
| Mata ni Pachedi | Chitara family | Strong black line, devotional | Yes |
A useful test: think about the kind of stories you like. If you like legends and heroes, try Phad. If you like satire and people-watching, try Kalighat. If you like gods and devotion, try Mata ni Pachedi or Pattachitra. If you want to understand colour from the ground up, try Cheriyal.
Tips for learning a scroll painting tradition
Read the story first. Every one of these forms illustrates a narrative, and you paint it better when you know what happens next. Ask why a figure is bigger, why a colour is used, what the border means. The answers are usually in the course.
Practise borders separately. In Phad, Cheriyal and Pattachitra the border is half the work. Fill a page with border practice before you start your first full painting.
Work on cloth when you can. Paper is fine for practice, but these are cloth traditions, and paint behaves differently on a prepared cloth surface. The courses show you how to prepare one.
Give yourself time. A traditional scroll can take weeks. Your first small panel might take a few evenings, and that is fine.
What you get with every course
These are recorded master courses you can take at your own pace. You can submit your work to the artist for personalised feedback, and you receive a certificate on completion. Maestro courses also include an art kit delivered to your door, with an activity book full of exercises, trivia and lesson plans, plus postcards and bookmarks printed with designs from that art form for you to paint.
Browse all Rooftop courses, or read our guide to learning traditional Indian art online from anywhere to compare these story traditions with miniature, tribal and devotional painting.
Frequently asked questions
Can I learn Phad painting online?
Yes. Kalyan Joshi's Phad course takes you through canvas preparation, natural colours and three levels of painting, from a simple composition to a full scene.
Which is easier, Kalighat or Pattachitra?
Kalighat is usually easier to start. It uses bold, flowing lines and fewer details. Pattachitra has very fine line work and dense borders, so it suits people with some painting experience.
How long is the Kalighat painting course?
About 11.5 hours, across basic, intermediate and advanced levels.
Is there a Mata ni Pachedi course online?
Yes. Rooftop's Mata ni Pachedi course is taught by the Chitara family of Gujarat and has about seven hours of lessons.
