INDIA CONNECT
PATAC HITRA
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The Story Unfolds
A traditional Patachitra painting depicting a mythological scene.
ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION CONTRIBUTOR: COLLECTIVE CRAFT
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atachitra refers to the traditional, cloth-based scroll paintings, from the state of Odisha in Eastern India. In Sanskrit, ‘patta’ literally means cloth and ‘chitra’ means picture. The origins of the craft date back to the 5th century BC, from the fragmented evidences of cave paintings in Khandagari, Udaigiri, and Sitabhinji in Odisha, and in Chitralakshana—the earliest known Indian treatise on painting. Traditionally Patachitra was used to depict religious themes, drawing from Hindu mythology, especially the folklore of Lord Jagannath and the Vaishnava cult. The artisans or practitioners of the craft are called chitrakars. The craft has grown in and around the famed Jagannath Temple complex in Puri, where chitrakars and other artisan groups flourished under the Temple’s
Collective Craft is a collaborative of designers and skilled artisans, primarily spread across Odisha. The collaborative attempts to secure rural livelihoods, besides preserving and developing the cultural traditions of crafts threatened with extinction, or in the process of decline. In this article, the founders of Collective Craft, Shweta Mohapatra and Sibanand Bhol, share the story of Patachitra art from Odisha and their efforts to promote it through contemporary design products.
ODISHA
Decorated house fronts at Raghurajpur village.
patronage. Even today chitrakars keep their date with the deity and paint temple chariots and murals inside the temple on festive occasions like the Rath Yatra. In 2000, following a two-year research and documentation project by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), the artisan village of Raghurajpur in Puri district was accorded the status of a heritage crafts village where visitors can observe chitrakars at work. A large number of practicing artisans also live and work in and around the capital city of Bhubaneswar. While many from the original chitrakar families have moved away from their traditional vocation, young artisans from other communities have now adopted the craft.