In Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata, art is the most powerful agent in the formation of collective and cultural identity by intermixing mythology with visual representation. The Mahabharata is not a story; it is a blueprint of Indian culture, where societal values, norms, and identities can be understood. The unique feature of Pattanaik’s narration is the text-based narration, replete with vivid illustrations that infuse characters, events, and places with symbolic meaning. The visuals serve as a bridge to convey the cultural identity, as presented in the Mahabharata, in more easily comprehensible terms for readers. Pattanaik, via art, portrays the meaning of the cultural significance of these iconic symbols that are integrally connected with Indian identity, thereby keeping the narratives of cultural continuity. It will also examine the role of art manifested as a device to buttress collective identity within Indian culture and analyze Pattanaik’s use of imagery, symbolism, and visual motifs and how these elements can interplay with the text to shape understandings of culture and consciousness. Art in Jaya is not only a mechanism to retell the myth but also a visual space through which deeper philosophical themes associated with duty, justice, or fate resonate with diverse dimensions of Indian identity. This gap is related to how contemporary retellings of epic texts, like the Mahabharata, represent the meeting ground of art and mythology. Although so much scholarly writing exists regarding the Mahabharata from a philosophical as well as literary point of view, how art fits into the storytelling in it and, especially in cases of modern renditions, like Jaya, remains little explored. This paper endeavours to bridge the gap by exploring the ways art contributes to shaping and conveying a vibrant collective identity in the contemporary socio-cultural territory through the works of Pattanaik.