Pattachitra: An Art of India, An Art of Patience

India has an incredibly wide array of art forms and a big pool of talented artisans. North, South, East, or West; they each have an art style unique to the anthropological roots. In the eastern region of India, lies a coastal state of Odisha, formerly called Orissa. Odisha has a vibrant culture, defined by the exquisite temple complexes, intricate woven patterns of Ikkat, and the world famous sand artists. The art form Pattachitra can be seen in the religious centers of Puri, Bhubaneshwar, and Konark.

Pattachitra literally translates to cloth (Patta) and picture (Chitra) in Sanskrit. Over the weekend, I attended a workshop at IISER where an artisan from Odisha, whose family specializes in Pattachitra, guided the participants to create their own work of Pattachitra. This art form is simple, yet demands concentration and patience of the artist, due to its detailed illustrations. Here are a few things I learned about the art form, Pattachitra, and how it taught me more than simply how to paint.

1) The Religious and Cultural Significance

Pattachitra is an art which depicts the most worshipped religious figure in Odisha - Lord Jagannath, the other name for Lord 2Vishnu. Majority of the people belong to the Vaishnava sect. Lord Jagannath is characterized by dark skin, big and round eyes, and a short stature.

Pattachitra, however, is not limited to the depictions of Lord Jagannath only. Being a predominantly Vaishnavite form of art, other avatars of Lord Vishnu are also depicted, or animals, or scenes from Hindu folklore, mythological stories, and stories of Gods and Goddesses. Here are a few examples from what we created in our workshop:

A form of Vishnu, Lord Krishna

Krishna's consort, Radha

An elephant

A peacock

Buddha

Lord Ganesha

2) The Ancient Ways of Documentation, Methods of Preservation

Pattachitra has been around since the 12th century, where only natural materials were available. The paintings have to be enduring to the years of exposure to the elements. The genius craftsmen at that time devised a thorough, yet complex procedure (in my opinion!) which required the raw materials of thin cotton cloth, tamarind gum paste, and chalk powder to create the cloth canvas for the painting. The tamarind gum powder is sourced from the seeds of the Tamarind tree, which is then ground into a powder, and mixed with water to create a paste. The paste is applied between two strips of cotton cloth, and it works as an adhesive. Once reinforced with several layers, some of the Tamarind gum paste and chalk powder is applied to the painting surface of the canvas. Once dried, this layer is rubbed using smooth river rock. This way, the painting surface is more absorbent to the natural paint, smoothens the cloth, and ensures that there is no insect infestation on the painting canvas.



Pattachitra is a simple art form which derives its hues and shades from the primary colors of red, blue, yellow, black, and white. These are sourced from soft rocks, or soot (from burning) and natural chemicals.

3) How Illustration Is Simple, yet finely detailed in the style of Pattachitra

There are black outlines to every figure, whose frame and appendages are simplified. There isn't any shading or focus on the color. Instead, the finer details of a peacock's feathers, the jewelry of Krishna, and the detailing of the garment worn by Radha are emphasized.

Here are a few examples:

This extremely fine detailing in Pattachitra requires one thing: Patience. And dedication. And a steady hand. A paintbrush of number 0 should be used to execute this. Ages ago, artists used to use animal hairs and bamboo sticks as paintbrushes. It's hard to believe that such simple ingredients and utensils can create a masterpiece.

So, would you try making a Pattachitra piece?