Godavari Dutta (1930–2024), who made her life in Ranti, was a supreme exponent of the fine-line Katchni style of Madhubani painting, working — unusually — with a bamboo stick to draw her shimmering networks of line. Through hardship she built a long career and taught tens of thousands of students.
She was closely linked to the Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, Japan, working there for years. Honoured with the Padma Shri (2019) at the age of 93, she was one of the last living masters of the classical Mithila tradition.