Mahalaxmi Karn (b. 1988) grew up in Ranti, the Madhubani village famous for the katchni line, learning the art as a child from a neighbour. Working mostly in acrylic on paper — and often with her husband Shantanu Das — she belongs to the youngest generation pushing Madhubani toward new ground: gender roles, domestic life, education, technology and marriage equality.
Holder of a Ministry of Culture scholarship (2013) and the Ojas Art Award (2016), she has represented Mithila at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe and exhibited across India, the US and Europe — proof that the tradition keeps renewing itself in each generation of its women.