Bengal Patachitra

Patachitra paintings aren’t often cited as interesting examples of how discipline and often tedious processes lead to the best results. For these masterpieces, hailing from Odisha and West Bengal, can take days or even months of labour and patience to complete. And this is atop the years of practice to master these skills! The canvas or Niryakalpa takes a week to prepare, not to forget the nature-heavy tools and materials that play a key role in actually making the painting!

Consider, for instance, the colours themselves. Black is made from lampblack, obtained by placing a burning lamp inside an empty tin box. The soot collected on the underside of the tin is then collected and mixed with gum and water. White is made from conch shells, red from the hingula stone and yellow from the harikala stone. Green is obtained by boiling green leaves with kaitha gum and water. Not just that, but the theme itself hasn’t changed over the thousand odd years of its existence. It is and will remain inspired and steeped in mythology, framed by floral borders and splashed across canvas, walls, wooden boards, saris and palm leaves.

It is, clearly, a labour of love for the family of artisans practicing it for generations. The only thing that has remained unchanged is the vivid description of the emotion in the pieces!