In pictures: India's dying art

1 of 7 Mural painting is one of India's ancient folk arts but, as the BBC's Ayanjit Sen found on a trip to the eastern state of Orissa, in some parts it is dying out from a lack of patrons. Pictures by Ayanjit Sen.

2 of 7 The artisans village of Raghurajpur, about 100km from state capital Bhubaneshwar, is typical - its mural artists are moving on to other forms of work as clients for their exquisite art dry up.

3 of 7 Maguni Mahapatra, 45, belongs to a generation of mural painters. He says painting murals can no longer sustain his family of six.

4 of 7 The work is complex. The walls are plastered with lime, sand, molasses and jute. The paints are made from minerals, pigments and plant gum and have no synthetic materials.

5 of 7 Brindaban Swain is another artist who is suffering but there is one ray of hope. In Raghurajpur, a cultural NGO has paid for murals, turning the village into a kind of living gallery.

6 of 7 The director of the project, Anupam Shah, says he hopes it will help to revive mural art. The NGO has asked the government to take similar steps in the state.

7 of 7 The project is fighting to save one of India's oldest classical painting forms. The techniques are traditional and the themes are varied - usually narrating religious and mythological stories.