Reviving Lost Tales

Reviving the lost art of Patachitra, Sahajan Chitrakar, a Bengali Chitrapata artist will showcase his creations at IIC art gallery in the national Capital from June 8 to June 14. ‘Tales of the Goddess – Deviyon ki Kahani’ an exhibition of traditional Patachitra scrolls on Durga and Mansa Devi, conveys stories derived from Hindu mythology, painted on beautiful scrolls.

‘Patachitra’ is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, originating from the eastern belt of India. Depicting ancient Hindu stories, these paintings are made on cloth which is treated with cow dung, lac and black earth. The scroll paintings are then painted with vegetable colours which not only make the paintings bright but also add life to the patachitra or scroll paintings. These artists are known as ‘patidars’ and not ‘chitrakars’ as compared to normal painters. These ‘patidars’ go to different villages and convey their stories through song and dance. 

Sahajan, a native of Medinipur, comes from a family of artists. He got acquainted with the art when he was 10-year-old. Now working in collaboration with Oxford University, London and Crafts Council of India, he uses only natural and herbal colours for his paintings and organic glue made from seeds of bel (wood apples). Using earthly elements like white soil, and soot from lamps, he brings out the characters of Ramayana and Ved-purans on pieces of cloth. These art forms speak of innovation and sustainability, as colours like pink, saffron, green and violet and developed using geru mitti, seeds of dolichas lablab, and palash flowers. In an era of synthetic dyes and machine-made art, people like Sahajan maintain the essence of our tradition, which derives its inspiration from nature. Apart with being aesthetically beautiful, this Patachitra art is eco-friendly and everlasting in nature as the glue used to bind the papers is made of fruit from Bengal Quince, and does not get affected by insects or termites.