1
Three colours, and not a fourth
Green for outline and gloom, pink for sacrifice, yellow for joy — the Anga palette has held its triad since the Bishahari pujas of the 7th century.
2
Stories that read like letters of the alphabet
Figures are flat, angular, stick-like — drawn in green then filled two-handed, so a scroll panel can be “read” left to right the way a child reads a primer.
3
Borders that are never plain rectangles
Every panel is hemmed by an X-shaped belpatra frame, wavy Lehariya lines, or a continuous row of snakes — the frame itself is part of the narration.
4
Survival measured in households, not museums
Bihula’s legend still travels on warm paper scrolls and temple-shaped Manjusha boxes kept in Bhagalpur homes — passed hand to hand, not behind glass.