‘Patta’ means ‘clothing’ and
‘Chitra’ means paintings.
Pattachitra got its inspiration
from the Jagannath and
Vaishnava cult. Even today if
you want to see the marvelous
glimpses of Pattachitra art,
you must visit Konark Temple
in Orissa. This form of art
hasn’t lost its essence in time,
it is considered even today.
Ingredients Used For Painting
The painters
who are
engaged
in making
Pattachitra have
a distinctive
style of
preparing the
canvas. What
they use is a
white cloth that
is coated stone
powder and the
gum of tamarind
seeds. There
is a reason
as to why
the canvas is
made this way,
it is because
natural colors
can easily get
absorbed. For the pigments
in the painting, the gum of the
Kaitha tree is used.
Depictions of
Pattachitra
This iconic form of art has
exemplary depictions. You will
be amazed to see them all!
No 1 - The Badhia
The entire Jagannath temple is
displayed in Badhia.
No 2 - Krishna Lila
In this segment of Pattachitra, you
will get to see how Krishna uses
his powers as a child.
No 3 - Dasabatara Patti
A Spectacular
Tradition Of
Pattachitra
In Jagannath Puri temple,
on Debasnana Purnima, all
the deities are given a bath
with cold water with a belief
that they will get resistance
to withstand the bad heat in
summer. It is believed that
during the period of ‘Ansara’
the deities fall sick for 15
days and they
are not seen to
the public.
As these deities
are not present,
the painters
make paintings
of three deities
of Balabhadra,
Subhadra and
Jagannath.
These paintings
are given the
name of Ansar
Patti.
Common
Features In
Depictions
This reveals details about the ten
incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
No 4 - Panchamukhi
The name says it all, ‘Panch’
means 5 and here a deity of Lord
Ganesh having 5 heads is painted.
> Floral borders
> Natural colors are used
The eyes in the
paintings are wide
> Deep emotional
expressions are seen in the
paintings
JANUARY 2020 | WWW.WISHESH.NET