Pattachitra
Odisha
The folk paintings of Odisha have flourished around the great religious
centers of Puri, Konarak and Bhubaneswar. Traditionally, the painters
are known as ‘chitrakars’. Their painting, the ‘pattachitra’, resembles
the old murals of that region, dating back to the 5th century BC.
The best work is found in and around Puri, especially in the village of
Raghurajpur.
Pattachitra is a traditional craft, where the artisans delicately paint
on primed cloth or ‘patta’ in the finest detail. The ‘chitrakars’ (artists)
prepare, what looks like a hard card paper using layers of old Dhoti
cloth and stick them together with a mixture of chalk and tamarind seed
gum, which gives the surface a smooth leathery finish, especially after
it is rubbed with a conch shell. The theme is sketched with a pencil,
then outlined with a fine brush using vivid earth and stone colours
obtained from natural sources, like the white pigment prepared from
conch shells, yellow from orpiment, red from cinnabar and black from
lamp soot. After completion, the painting is held over red hot charcoals
and lac mixed with resin powder is sprinkled over the surface. When
this melts, it is rubbed over the entire surface to give a coating of lac.
A recent modification in Pattachitra paintings is the division of the Patta
into a row full of squares with the high-point of the story in the larger
centre square and various events portrayed in the other squares.
Themes usually depict the Jagannath temple with its three deities -
Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra and the
famous Rath Yatra festival. These paintings were originally substitutes
for worship on days when the temple doors were shut for the ‘ritual
bath’ of the deity. Many Pattachitra paintings are from the ancient
Indian texts based on Vishnu and Krishna. The paintings are of various
shapes and sizes.
Pranab Narayan Das has learnt the art of Pattachitra Painting from the National Award Winner Late
Shri Arjuna Maharana. Having been associated with Paramparik Karigar from 1992, Pranab Das
has exhibited his creations at Mumbai,Chennai,Bangalore,Ahmedabad as well as in New York, USA.
Jamaat Art Gallery has had his exhibits in 2010 and 2011. Most recently he has been honoured
with the State Award Citation ‘Shree Jagannath Chetana Gabeshana Pratisthan’ in Puri, Odisha.
