The Heritage
Preserving, celebrating, and sharing
India's tribal and folk art heritage.
The Heritage
धरोहर
That which is handed down.
Every work begins long before it reaches you as a conversation, with a community, a way of seeing the world that has been alive for centuries. Our approach is built on one principle: artists as creative collaborators.
MADHUBANI MITHILA, BIHAR
A kohbar, framed and hung, the marriage chamber redrawn on paper.
NORTHERN INDIA
Pahari Miniature
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh - fine brush on wasli paper
Hill-court painting at squirrel-hair scale. Monsoon skies, Krishna in a grove, and detail you need daylight to read.
SOUTHERN INDIA
Kalamkari
Andhra Pradesh - vegetable dye drawn with a kalam
Twenty-odd steps of washing, mordanting and sun-bleaching before a single line is drawn. Patience is the medium.
EASTERN INDIA
Pattachitra
Odisha and Bengal - mineral colour on treated cloth
Temple cloth painted by families who have served Jagannath for centuries. The border is never decoration; it holds the story in.
WESTERN INDIA
Warli
Maharashtra - rice paste on earth-washed ground
Circles, triangles, lines, nothing else. Harvest, marriage and the tarpa dance drawn with the smallest possible vocabulary.
CENTRAL INDIA
Gond
Madhya Pradesh - acrylic and ink on paper and canvas
Dots and dashes fill every animal until it hums. The pattern is the artist's signature, each family keeps its own.
EASTERN INDIA
Madhubani
Mithila, Bihar - natural pigment on handmade paper and cloth
Painted on the walls of marriage chambers long before it went to paper. Fish, bamboo, the sun: fertility written in line.
The forms we hold.
Each form carries its own geography, its pigments, its surfaces, its reasons for being made. Labels follow the region the tradition comes from.
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A first visit, Mithila. Work brought out one sheet at a time.
Pigment, water, patience. Nothing here has been hurried.
Terms agreed in the room where the painting is made.
We went to look at paintings. We stayed for the people making them.
Dharohar Arts was founded by Mayank Shah and Nisha Shah with a shared vision to preserve India's rich artistic heritage while creating meaningful opportunities for the artisan communities behind it.
In the first villages we visited, the work was extraordinary and the arrangement was not. Paintings left through three or four hands before reaching a buyer, and the name on the wall was rarely the name of the person who had painted it. We decided that whatever we built would begin at the artist's door and keep their name attached the whole way.
The inspiration runs deep in Mayank's commitment to supporting underrepresented communities. For more than two decades he has led social impact, inclusion and enterprise-building initiatives, creating sustainable pathways for communities often overlooked by traditional markets and helping talented makers reach mainstream opportunities.
Heritage art is not something to be displayed. It is a living legacy, culture, craftsmanship and stories passed down through generations.
Mayank Shah
Co-Founder
Dharohar Arts
Two decades of social impact and enterprise-building work; leads artisan partnerships and provenance.
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Nisha Shah
Co-Founder
Dharohar Arts
Leads curation and collector relationships, and the documentation that travels with each work.
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Manoj Bhatt
Founder
Tri-Impact Global
The people behind it.
Strategic Advisors
Our Mission
To connect endangered Indian art forms with contemporary audiences through ethical collaborations that empower artisan communities and keep traditional crafts alive across generations.
Our Vision
To preserve and globally celebrate India’s living artistic heritage while ensuring artisans receive dignity, recognition, and sustainable livelihoods.
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Cultural Preservation
Artisan Empowerment
Authenticity
Ethical Collaboration
Our Values
Every day, in art.
Field notes from the villages we work in, Mithila, Raghurajpur, Dindori.
A collective effort.
No single organisation can hold a tradition. We work alongside partners who share the terms we set with artisans.
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Impact and enterprise advisory partner. Supports the livelihood models behind our artisan collaborations.
Artisan network partner. Connects us to practising families and helps coordinate work on the ground.
Come and see the work.
For collectors, curators and galleries: we share full provenance, artist details and available works on request.