Stories That Traveled Without Technology

There was a time when stories lived on paintings instead of screens. People gathered around a painter, not a device. Before we began documenting our lives through phones or posting stories or typing what we think, communities passed on entire worldviews without speaking too much. Some stories were sung, some were written, and some were painted. Back then, stories lived on walls, in scrolls, and in handmade things. These traditions kept knowledge alive long before technology, and they carried a human connection that still matters today.

Patua Scrolls

Patua scrolls come from eastern India, mainly West Bengal. They are long cloth or paper scrolls painted with a sequence of images arranged in vertical or horizontal panels. The Patua artist is both painter and performer, unrolling the scroll panel by panel while singing narrative songs. Patua scroll painting once worked like a traveling news channel. The painter would go from village to village, unrolling the scroll like a story book and sharing information in a memorable visual format.

(Image credit: Naramedha Pata; Durlav Chitrakara; c. 1916; Opaque watercolour on cloth-backed paper- Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Pithora Painting

Pithora is not a regular art form. It is a ceremonial painting created on the inner walls of a home to mark important events, ask for blessings, or offer thanks after something good happens. Pithora painting is a traditional ritual wall art practiced by tribal communities in parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, India. The scenes portray real local landscapes, animals, farming, festivals, birth, migration, and mythological moments. It reads like a tribal diary on walls, keeping memory alive.

(Image credit: Suyash Dwivedi 2017 - Wikimedia Commons)

Saura Art

Saura painting comes from Odisha and is one of the oldest tribal visual traditions in eastern India, with roots in ritual wall painting and ancestor worship. Traditional Saura artists used natural pigments made from rice paste, white clay, charcoal, and red earth, painted on freshly plastered mud walls. The style feels close to minimal graphic design, with clean lines and simple symbolic figures.

(Image credit: Wikipedia - Idital, a form of Soura Painting)

Chitrakathi

Chitrakathi is a traditional storytelling art from Maharashtra. The word refers to story or narration, and a Chitrakathi artist is someone who tells stories through pictures. The storytelling uses a bundle of painted cards or sheets rather than a single long scroll. It feels like a visual library you can hold in your hands.