A PART OF THE TRIBAL ORRISA , PATACHITRA ART 

“Patta” literally means “cloth” and “Chitra” means “picture” in Sanskrit. The Pattachitra painting tradition is closely linked with the worship of Lord Jagannath, and stories from the Ramayan, Mahabharath and of Radha & Krishna are the other main themes. 

The origin of Patachitra paintings is linked with the famous Jagannath temple of Puri, which was built by the Choda-GangaDeva. The style was kept alive over the centuries due to the demands of millions of pilgrims who come to the shrine of Jagannath from all over India. The patachitras are generally located as the earliest indigenous paintings in the state of Orissa.The painters or Chitrakars are found mainly in the district of Puri, Orissa and more specifically in the crafts village of Raghurajpur. The tradition of making patachitras is passed down the generations from father to son. 

FACTS :-

• These paintings were traditionally done only by males. However, in recent times, some women artists have also taken up this artform.
• The “pattas” are made from silk or cotton through an arduous process that takes the women a minimum 5 days to complete.
• The adhesive if used any for these paintings are made in tamarind seeds. The tamarind seed powder is soaked in water overnight and then boiled to provide it a gummy consistency.
• The paintbrushes used by the chitrakars are typically made of the keya root. The finer ones have wooden handles and are made of mouse hair. At the centre of the brush are about a dozen long mouse hairs, which, when dipped in paint, have a needle-point edge. 
• The central colors used in Patachitra are red, brick red, yellow, white and lamp black. , all of which are derived from natural sources. Conch shells are used for white, black comes from lamp soot, yellow from ‘Hartala’ stone, red is made from ‘Hingulal’ stone, green comes from plants and blue from indigo.

This is a very rare art form found in houses across India. But a very natural and difficult form made by the tribal artist of Orissa.There is not even one artificial process used for the formation of this magnificent art. This popular folk art of Orissa pays close attention to definition and detail.The symbolism used for gods in Pattachitras is very realistic in terms of form, shape and accessories . Also, it is easy to observe the continuity and similarity in the images depicted in the various patachitras. 

There are very less places in Mumbai where you will find this art. But one place that encourages this art form is CraftsIndia. Find the perfect Patachitra Painting at the :

CraftsIndia Gallery,

LokVriksha, Tulshidham Road, Opp Vasant Vihar, Pokheran road 2, Thane West , Maharashtra.