Traditional and Folk Art of Assam and India
Assam: the sattra tradition
The Vaishnava movement of Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva produced a visual culture centred on the namghar and Bhaona performance. Illustrated manuscripts were painted on sanchi pat (bark sheets) with scenes from the Bhagavata - the Dasavatara and Krishna-lila - in a flat, linear style using mineral and vegetable colour. The Hastividyarnava (1734), commissioned under the Ahom king Siva Singha with text by Sukumar Barkaith and illustrations attributed to Dilbar and Dosai, is the standard example of this court manuscript painting.
Masks belong to the sattras of Majuli, notably Samaguri Sattra: built from bamboo, cloth, clay and cow dung, they are classified as mukha (face), cho-mukha (full-head) and bor-mukha (large body mask).
Assam: crafts
Muga silk (Antheraea assamensis) is golden and GI-protected; Eri is 'ahimsa' silk; Pat is mulberry silk. The gamosa carries woven motifs; the Bodo dokhona and aronai are textile emblems. Sarthebari is the bell-metal centre; cane and bamboo work is widespread.
Indian folk traditions
Madhubani/Mithila (Bihar) - double outlines, fish and lotus motifs. Warli (Maharashtra) - rice-paste white on mud walls, triangle-based figures. Pattachitra (Odisha) - cloth, natural colour, Jagannath themes. Kalamkari (Andhra) - pen and block with mordants. Phad (Rajasthan) - long narrative scrolls. Gond (Madhya Pradesh) - dots and dashes filling animal forms.
Worked example
A painted object shows a flat, profile figure with large eyes, a red border and a bamboo frame. Reasoning: bamboo plus cloth plus clay points to Majuli mask-making; if the surface were paper on bark with Vaishnava narrative, it would be a sattra manuscript.
Traps
Confusing Sattriya dance with mask-making; calling Muga ordinary mulberry silk; labelling every scroll a Pattachitra; mixing up Pichwai (temple hangings) with Pattachitra.