Chitra Sante 2023

The Chitra Sante in Bangalore is an annual one-day event where 1500 plus artists come together to exhibit their artwork. This is hosted by Chitrakala Parishath. I have heard about this. But not been lucky enough to visit it until this year. This event was held yesterday, and it was mind blowing.

Imagine! 1500 plus stalls of art and more art. There was art made of various mediums like acrylic, oil, gouache, watercolours, colour pencils and so on. There were paintings that were realistic and beautifully abstract too.

I noticed that Kathakali, Boothakola from Kantara movie, blue hues of sea and Lord Ganesha were artists’ favourite.

It took me about 7 hours to see around the shops. I told my friend, “It is like diving into the Pinterest app and endlessly scrolling through it”. A bunch of people around me heard and they agreed! Trust me, it was super crowded, as if there is no place for even a pin! Incidentally 400k footprints were expected. So, no wonder.

I would highly recommend that you visit this place. Trust me it is an experience that you'd treasure. 

I wish that the arrangements for food and refreshments were better though. In fact, I would prefer to carry some quick bites for my next visit. The food stall was nothing but the canteen in Chitrakala Parishath or Richie Rich which is one end of the road. Well, I am sure we would not have enough energy to walk so much in the crowd. 

Lets not even bring the washroom challenge up. Also, the network had jammed. It was a struggle for buyers to make UPI transfers. They had to go hunting for the ATMs.