The Bengal Pattachitra is a visual and oral art tradition practised by the Patuas or Chitrakars of West Bengal. They earn their livelihood by telling stories from Hindu Mythology, local folklores, Sufi tradition and contemporary themes through paintings and songs. The unfolding or playing of the Pata is called ‘Pat Khelano’, and the song through… Read more »
The Bengal Pattachitra is a visual and oral art tradition practised by the Patuas or Chitrakars of West Bengal. They earn their livelihood by telling stories from Hindu Mythology, local folklores, Sufi tradition and contemporary themes through paintings and songs. The unfolding or playing of the Pata is called ‘Pat Khelano’, and the song through… Read more »
The Bengal Pattachitra is a visual and oral art tradition practised by the Patuas or Chitrakars of West Bengal. They earn their livelihood by telling stories from Hindu Mythology, local folklores, Sufi tradition and contemporary themes through paintings and songs. The unfolding or playing of the Pata is called ‘Pat Khelano’, and the song through… Read more »
The Bengal Pattachitra is a visual and oral art tradition practised by the Patuas or Chitrakars of West Bengal. They earn their livelihood by telling stories from Hindu Mythology, local folklores, Sufi tradition and contemporary themes through paintings and songs. The unfolding or playing of the Pata is called ‘Pat Khelano’, and the song through… Read more »
This Pattachitra by Laltu Chitrakars depicts the ‘Santhal Janam Katha’, the birth story of the Santhal tribe. The festival of Makar Sankranti, known as Sakrat, is an important celebration in the community. This is an occasion for the Santhal community to go about singing songs from house to house and engage in festivities. Several songs are performed, including… Read more »
Manimala Chitrakar brings a strong point of view to her compositions, whether it’s the Santhal legend of creation or tales from the Ramayana
Bengal Pattachitra or Patua is a particularly absorbent, versatile, secular form of uniquely Indian art. The narratives are drawn from Hindu mythology—both mainstream, like the Ramayana, and regional, like the Manasa cult of the east Read more here. Many of the artists are descendants of Partition refugees and Islamic by faith. Uprooted from their lives… Read more »
Primarily located in the villages of Bengal’s Midnapore region, the chitrakar community or patuas have been creating exquisite narrative scrolls on handmade paper for generations. These scrolls (or patas) depict stories from various religious myths and local legends. This object, the Manasa pata, is a contemporary take on the traditional scrolls. It uses a largely… Read more »
Myths are born and heroes are made through the art of storytelling. When a bard travels from village to village narrating tales of a local event or a minor god, they’re scattering the seeds that will one day grow into a towering forest of legends. Generations will take shade and find inspiration here. This month,… Read more »
We look at three indigenous art forms from the Sarmaya collection and listen to the timeless tales that animate them