As a child, Parbati Samanta learnt sewing and alpona from mother Rohinibala Jana in her village, South Gobindapur, in the Sunderbans. She was later inspired by mother to use alpona motifs on boris. She moved to Purba (East) Medinipur after she got married, and continued to innovate, encouraged by her husband, Ajay Kumar and her in-laws. 

Every winter, she makes thousand of gohona boris with neighbours and family. She has participated in several gohona bori exhibitions in village fairs and competitions and has even sent some to England and the USA. She has received the Lokratna from the Centre for Folklore Studies and Research, Krishnanagar

Her gohona boris were used as a `theme` by Topobon Club Durga Pujo in Barisha, Behala in 2002. A team of eight women from her village worked for two months making gohona boris with 250 kg of beuli daal to decorate the idol and the pandal. Her artistry won the club the first prize  for using a food item as decor that year.

Read about Gohana Bori here.