Talking Tradition through Art
When is a painting also a song? I recently came to know about a fascinating indigenous art form which combines beautiful narrative art, much reminiscent of medieval European tapestry, and folk singing. Thanks to the owner of the Icon Art Gallery at Hyderabad, Dr. Avani Rao Gandra (also an artist in her own right), I got the opportunity to have a brief tête-à-tête with some of the few remaining practitioners of a unique piece of Indian culture. Ranjit Chitrakar, Sahajan Chitrakar and Salamuddin Chitrakar (Chitrakar means artist in Bengali) are patuas, creators of the Pattachitra. Their insights gave me a fascinating peek into this traditional art form which is also a way of life.
Let me introduce Pattachitra to you. The word ‘patta’ means cloth and ‘chitra’ means painting. It is a popular folk art form in Odisha and West Bengal. The paintings are mainly inspired by the Jagannath and Vaishnava cult, and also from the temple murals present at Puri and Konarak. Most of the pattachitra paintings are based upon Hindu mythology and folklore. However, according to artist Ranjit Chitrakar, sometimes the paintings cover secular subjects too. He states, “I have made paintings on topics like Tsunami, Sunderban Tigers and importance of vote to name a few.”
Ranjit Chitrakar hails from the patua community of West Midnapore (Pingla), located in West Bengal, a place popular for this form of patta chitras or scroll painting.
This unique art form is passed down through generations, and thus has high heritage value. Young patuas work as apprentice in their father’s studio and learn the art. They are initiated into the art of scroll painting at the tender age of ten, and by the age of fifteen they learn to assist their father completely.
One special thing about scroll painting is that the colours are derived from plant sources and thus are organic. In the ancient times the colours were restricted to just red, white, green and black. Artists are now introducing new colours like pink, saffron, orange, violet and indigo in their paintings to make them brighter. Pattachitras have depth and meaning, the artists also double up as singers to tell the story behind the images. For instance, the patua or artist will sing for you the epic Ramayana depicted on the scroll. The song adds the rustic earthy touch to the painting, it makes the rich tradition come alive. Such a session is always inspiring and enjoyable.
Earlier artists used to make paintings on animal skin parchment, palm leaves or handmade paper. Now, with the ready availability of materials like chart paper and brown paper, it is easy to adapt to modern techniques. To make a lengthy scroll the artists add many drawing sheets which are all sewn together. Then they attach tough markin cloth on the back of the painting to give it support. The paintings can also be attached to cardboard or wood and it can also be framed and used as a home décor.
Creating a pattachitra is a family effort. The women of the house prepare the resin, the canvas, fill in colors and give the painting a final lacquer coating. This work is also done by the young apprentices of the house. The patuas never use pencils or charcoal while drawing, they have become an expert in their field so they draw the lines directly with a paint brush, and this is something even most seasoned modern artists hesitate to do! The head member of the family is the artist and he draws the main outlines and adds the finishing touch. The apprentices or juniors artists mostly fill in the colors. It was really interesting to find out the source of the colours.
White color or ink is made from ‘Khari mati’ or ‘Kaat Khari’ which is a type of soil. Sometimes, white ink is also made by grinding conch shells, which is a very complicated process. It is also made from ‘Ghusom mati’ or a type of white colored soil found after digging the ground to the depth of around 20 feet. The resin is derived from the seeds of the wood apple which is also used as a coloring agent. The black color is collected from the soot of a lantern or a mud pot used for cooking rice. The yellow color is made from turmeric paste. The red color is made from Hibiscus, beetle leaves, tobacco and also from fruit capsules of Jaffran or Latkon tree. The saffron color is also derieved from Latkon tree. They also get the pure red pigment by different layered filtering of soil known as ‘Geri matti’. They use the essence of leaves from a creeper called ‘Dolichos Lablab’, which is a kind of kidney bean. They get the orange from Palash or Kimsuk Flower (Butea Monosper). The violet is extracted from the sap of Pooin fruits (Basella Alba) and the Pink by blending red and white pigments. All the ingredients are grinded and made into a paste by the family members of the artist.
The pattachitra will remind you of frescos on the walls of temples in India. The stories of Durga also known as ‘Mahisashur Mardini’ (killer of the Demon) and Mata Manasa Devi (Hindu Goddess of Snakes and a form of Shakti) find mention in the pattachitra, these stories are sung for the audience. Through these paintings you open up a fascinating world filled with the unique local flavors of rural Bengal and Odisha applied on traditional Hindu mythology.
These traditional artists or patuas earn their bread and butter through their painting, yet their income is meager. Like many other folk art forms across India, public apathy and lack of interest are the twin threats that are pushing Pattachitras towards extinction. Ranjit Chitrakar says, “The government does promote pattachitra paintings through exhibitions, but people are not ready to pay the price we quote. A pattachitra involves a lot intricate and minute detailing and it takes almost a year to make one scroll, so we give an estimate of our price for the scroll. We don’t quote really high prices but keep it with an affordable range like two thousand rupees depending on the length of the scroll and art work. Whatever our economic condition we continue painting, it is our identity.”
An hour long chat with Ranjit Chitrakar revealed his journey as a singer-painter. His paintings got him many awards; he received first prize from ‘Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture’ for ‘Patta Painting and Patta Song’ in 2000 and also won accolades from West Bengal State Cottage Industries’ in 1990. He also participated in many workshops and camps to spread the idea of pattachitra and keep this ancient tradition alive. He has five sons, two of them accompanied him to Hyderabad for a workshop at a culture centre and the art show. He says, “My youngest son is very talented, and he is getting calls from the best Universities of Bengal and also Dhaka University’. Even though, he is a sought after patta artist in Bengal, still he finds it difficult to make ends meet. His only wish is that people appreciate his art and that this tradition never dies out. However, does this unique art form really have a future in rapidly urbanising modern India? Only time will tell — perhaps that will be the topic of Ranjit Chitrakar’s final painting…
