Pattachitra Painting Style
As the scorching summer sun rises on the day of Snana Punam, the priests of the Lord Jagannatha temple in Puri, Odisha, take the idols out for their ritualistic bath with 108 pots of water. But, as the tale goes, this caused the gods to catch the fever and they needed to take rest to recover! During this fortnight of rest, known as Anasar, the Mahapatra chitrakars (or artists of the village) create intricately adorned paintings of the Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, and sister Subadhra so that devotees can continue to offer their prayers.
Pattachitra paintings of lord Jagannath, Balalbhadra and Subhadta originated as a substitute for the deities, so that devotees could worship these gods even when the idols wre kept away from the public after their ritual bath. Traditionally, Pattachitra is painted by the artists of Raghurajpur, a heritage village in Odisha.
Pattachitra evolved from Sanskrit. When down into its two parts, Patta means cloth, and Chitra means picture. Hence, Pattachitra is a picture painted on a piece of cloth. This form of art is closely related to the cult of Shri Jagannath and the temple traditions in Puri. Pattachitra originated in Orissa in 12 century B.C., i.e. more than 3000 years ago. These paintings showed religious stories and life events of deities and people from that period.
Lord Sri Krishna Lila in Pattachitra of Odisha
Patachitra or Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, based in the eastern Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal and parts of Bangladesh.
Odisha Pattachitra
Pattachitra is a traditional painting from Orissa, India. These paintings are based on Hindu mythology and are particularly inspired by the Jagannath and Vaishnava sect. The colors used in the paintings are all natural and the paintings are made in the traditional way by Odhiya painter. Pattachitra's painting style is one of the oldest and most popular art forms in Orissa. Pattachitra is thus a painting done on canvas, and is manifested by rich colourful application, creative motifs, and designs, and portrayal of simple themes, mostly mythological in depiction.
Peinture Patta Chitra - Patta Chitra Painting, showing Radha and Krishna
History of Odisha Pattachitra
The paintings of Odisha can be divided into three categories from the point of view of medium, i.e. paintings on cloth or 'Patta Chitra', paintings on walls or 'Bhitti Chitra' and palm leaf engravings or "Tala Patra Chitra' or "Pothi, Chitra'. The painting the 'pattachitra' resemble the old murals of Odisha especially religious centres of Puri, Konark and Bhubaneshwar region, dating back to the 5th century BC. The best work is found in and around Puri, especially in the village of Raghurajpur.
This old tradition of Odia painting still survives in the places like Puri, Raghurajpur, Paralakhemundi, Chikiti and Sonepur. Lord Jagannath in the present from is being taken as the origin of the Patta style. The colour schemes of the deities of Puri are quite similar to those of the Patta style. The oldest record of Patta Paintings does not probably go beyond the establishment of the present shrine of Shri Jagannath at Puri. It may be due to the fact that paintings do not survive like sculptures.
Peinture Pattachitra - Pattachitra Painting, showing Ganesha and Shiva
Theme and Style
The theme of Odia painting centres round the Jagannath and the Vaishnava sect. Since beginning of Pattachitra culture, Lord Jagannath who was an incarnation of Lord Krishna has been the major source of inspiration. Themes are chiefly on Lord Jagannath and Radha-Krishna, different "Vesas" of Shri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the 'Gita Govinda' of Jayadev, Kama Kujara Navagunjara, Ramayana, Mahabharata.
Pattachitra painting of Lord Jagarnath
Pattachitra of Lord Sri Krishnas life
Technique
Traditionally, the painter is known as Chitrakar. A patta painter's home with all the members of family is his studio. The female members prepare the glue and canvas, and give the final lacquer coating. The master hand, mostly the male member, draws the initial line and gives the final finishing. Patta paintings are done on small strips of cotton cloth. The canvas is prepared by coating the clothing with a mixture of chalk and gum made from tamarind seeds. Then it is rubbed by taking the help of two different stones and then the cloth is dried. The mixture of gum and chalk gives the cloth's surface a leathery finish on which the artists paint with vegetable, earth and stone colours.
Pattachitra were inspired by Jagannath culture in Odisha
Pattachitra artist at work in Odisha, India
Palm leaf Pattachitra
Palm leaf pattachitra which is in the Oriya language known as Tala Pattachitra drawn on palm leaf. First of all palm leaves are left for becoming hard after being taken from the tree. Then these are sewn together to form a canvas. The images are traced by using black or white ink to fill grooves etched on rows of equal-sized panels of palm leaf that are sewn together. These panels can also be easily folded like a fan and packed in a compact pile for better conservation. Often palm-leaf illustrations are more elaborated, obtained by superimposing layers that are glued together for most of the surface, but in some areas can open like small windows to reveal a second image under the first layer.
Palm Leaf Pattachitra Painting
Bengal Pattachitra
Bengal Pattachitra refers to the painting of West Bengal and Bangladesh. It is a legacy of the traditions and heritage of West Bengal. Bengal Pattachitra is divided into different aspects like Durga Pat, Chalchitra, Tribal Pattachitra, Medinipur Pattachitra and Kalighat Pattachitra. The themes of Bengal Pattachitra are mainly mythological, religious, folk and social. The Kalighat Pattachitra, the last tradition of Bengal Pattachitra is developed by Jamini Roy. The artist of the Bengal Pattachitra is called Patua.
West Bengal Pattachitra of Durga
History of Bengal Pattachitra
Pattachitra is known for its excellent play of color. It is a traditional folk art form of rural Bengal. There are some controversial opinions about the dates of ancient Patas. But it has been suggested on the basis of historical themes connected with the accompanied songs like Patua Sangeet. It dates back to the Pre-Pala period which is still tucked away with small villages of Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Howrah, Hooghly, and 24 Parganas.
Goddess Durga and her family in Medinipur Pattachitra
Theme and Style
There are many types of Pots like religious, secular. Religious pots encompass the story of Hindu epics like, mythology, Ramayana, Mahabharata narrating stories of Hindu gods and goddesses like Radha Krishna, Chaitanya, Kali, Shiba and the indigenous Bengali folklore of Manasha and Chandi, Behula and Lakshinder being the most popular. Secular pots depicts important news events, scandals accidents etc. such as bus accidents at Narayangarh, rural elections, the rationing system, family planning, evils of the dowry system etc. Every Pattachitra has a song related to it, which the artists sing while unfurling the Pattachitra. Singing pot in Bengal is called Patua Sangeet. Patua Sangeet or Poter Gan is a cultural tradition of the singing Bengal Pattachitra. It is performed by Patua.
Bengal Pattachitra painting has a different type of motive and aspects that unrolled the Bengali culture. Using the mythological epic and the natural color it is one of the individual characteristics of the Bengal Pattachitra.
Chalchitra
Chalchitra is part of Bengal Pattachitra and is called Debi Chal or Durga Chala which is the background of Durga Pratima or Idol. The Chalchitla artist Patua called it Pata Reka. This means the writing of Pattachitra. 300–400 years old idols of Nabadwip Shakta Rash used Chalchitra as a part of Pratima. At a time, the use of Chalchitra became faded, but now it has a great popularity
Performing the Patua Sangeet by a Patua during an international conference in Kolkata
Chalchitra, a part of Bengal Patachitra, referred to the background Patachitra of the Durga Pratima
Durga pot
Durga pot or Durga Sara is recognized as the worshiped pattachitra. It is worshiped in the Hatsarandi Sutradhar society of Birbhum district during Durga puja time. This type of pattachitra is also worshiped as Katwa. Durga Pot has a hemispherical Pattachitra where Pattachitra of Durga is in the middle position. Ram, Sita, Shib, Nandi-Vringi, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shumbha-Nishumbha are painted on this kind of Chalchitra. Krishnanager Rajrajeshwari Durga is seen to be uniquely noticed. In the middle of the Chalchitra, there is Panchanan Shib and Parvati is beside him, on one side there is Dasha-mahabidya and on the other side, there is Dashabatar.
Durga sara, an aspect of Bengal Patachitra
Technique
Pattachitra of different districts of West Bengal are characterized by many distinctive features of color and design. Manbhum's pattachitra, now known as Purulia, is easily distinguished by its preference for a distinctive shade of burnt sienna raised by white and yellow spots and dense composition. The seated figures of Dasaratha and Chand Sadagar of Medinipur crowning the Ramayana and Kamale-Kamini scrolls are impressive and monumental. In the scrolls of a pot of Birbhum, Bankura, and Burdwan preference for Indian red background is usually found, the scrolls of Hooghly preferred a dark brown. The Hooghly and Manbhum 'pats' are peculiar and definitely modernistic with the abstract linear treatment.
Bengal Pattachitra artist on work
Use of natural color is one of the individual characteristics of the Bengal Pattachitra. In general, blue, yellow, green, red, brown, black and white are used in the Pattachitra of West Bengal. Chalk dust is used for white color, pauri for yellow color, cultivated indigo for blue, bhushakali for black and mete sindur for red color.
Pattachitra on saree
Pattachitra on saree
The ancient art of Pattachitra has been revived substantially to suit the requirements of the modern times. These days Pattachitra paintings are available on a variety of home décor products like serve wares, table tops, home furnishing items like bed spreads, wall hangings etc. in a variety of modern colors and designs.
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