Experience Bengal - Patuas and Patachitras
Scenes from the story of Behula-Lakhindar from Manasā Mangal Kāvya in a Patachitra painting
Patachitra, an ancient folk art of Bengal, is appreciated by art lovers all over the world for its effortless style of drawings, colours, lines and space usage. The painters are called Patuas. The Patuas paint tales on long scrolls of cloth (patta) and sing them as they unfurl the scrolls. Their diverse repertoire includes mythological stories, tribal folk lore, social messages and narrations on contemporary events. Patuas generally use natural colours, which they procure from various trees, leaves, flowers and clays.
Patuas (and Chitrakars) have been referred to in literary works dating back to more than 2500 years. Some researchers opine that Patachitra was originally an art form of the local tribal Hindu community. With the growing influence of Buddhism, the Patuas embraced the faith. Buddhist kings and monks made extensive use of scroll paintings to preach Buddhism and during this time Patachitra probably spread to Bali, Java, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang in his memoirs, dating back to the seventh century, had written about some prominent Buddhist monasteries in Tamralipta state. The recent excavation sites at Moghalmari, a few kilometres off Dantan in West Midnapore, is only 75 km from Naya village. With Muslim invasions in Bengal, Islam spread and the Patuas became followers of Islam.
Read: Myths and Folktales in the Patachitra Art of Bengal: Tradition and Modernity
Beautiful Bengal, India
Experience Bengal - Patuas and Patachitras
Scenes from the story of Behula-Lakhindar from Manasā Mangal Kāvya in a Patachitra painting
Patachitra, an ancient folk art of Bengal, is appreciated by art lovers all over the world for its effortless style of drawings, colours, lines and space usage. The painters are called Patuas. The Patuas paint tales on long scrolls of cloth (patta) and sing them as they unfurl the scrolls. Their diverse repertoire includes mythological stories, tribal folk lore, social messages and narrations on contemporary events. Patuas generally use natural colours, which they procure from various trees, leaves, flowers and clays.
Patuas (and Chitrakars) have been referred to in literary works dating back to more than 2500 years. Some researchers opine that Patachitra was originally an art form of the local tribal Hindu community. With the growing influence of Buddhism, the Patuas embraced the faith. Buddhist kings and monks made extensive use of scroll paintings to preach Buddhism and during this time Patachitra probably spread to Bali, Java, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang in his memoirs, dating back to the seventh century, had written about some prominent Buddhist monasteries in Tamralipta state. The recent excavation sites at Moghalmari, a few kilometres off Dantan in West Midnapore, is only 75 km from Naya village. With Muslim invasions in Bengal, Islam spread and the Patuas became followers of Islam.
Read: Myths and Folktales in the Patachitra Art of Bengal: Tradition and Modernity
Beautiful Bengal, India