In Raghurajpur, Odisha’s first heritage crafts village in Puri, Pattachitra artists like Anant Moharana battle exploitation by middlemen and fading patronage to preserve its rich legacy
Beyond an array of coconut trees and a small pond, where freshly washed clothes hang on a clothesline to dry, a brightly painted wall depicting a mythological scene welcomes visitors to the main street of the village. Another wall of a neighbouring house features a set of floral paintings. A quick glance reveals that almost every house looks like a canvas, decorated with hand-painted designs.
These painted walls belong to Raghurajpur, the first Heritage Craft Village of the country, located in the district of Puri, Odisha, on the way to Bhubaneswar. Developed in 2000 by the Odisha government, with research conducted by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Raghurajpur is famous for Pattachitra art and its artists.
Almost all members of every family in the village, comprising around 120–150 households, are artists. Children begin to play with colours and learn the basics as soon as they can wield a brush. Some artists have a lineage dating back many generations, having been involved in making Pattachitra art for temples.
‘Patta’ means cloth and ‘chitra’ means image or painting. The Pattachitra art form dates back to the 4th century and typically depicts mythological stories. The themes vary from nature and Puri temple deities, to the Dashavatar (the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu), stories of Krishna’s escapades, and scenes from everyday life of people.
Each painting may take 5–15 days — sometimes months — to complete depending on its size and intricacy. Brushes are made from squirrel or domestic animal hair, and pigments come from traditional sources like conch-shell white, haritala yellow, vermilion (hingula), lamp-black from coconut shell, and indigo
Artists go for natural colours
Anant Moharana, recipient of National Award and a master artist, draws with a pointed metal stylus on the palm leaves. He says, “In ancient times, the image was carved on palm leaves and rubbed with coal powder to reveal the art. This is known as ‘tala pattachitra’ where taal refers to a leaf.’ The ‘patta’ (pronounced with a hard ‘t’) is a handmade canvas made from three layers of cotton cloth, coated with chalk powder.
A woman with her artwork outside her home at Raghurajpur
The women of the family mostly prepare the canvas and men usually draw the art. However, many women are good artists and join in the creation of Pattachitra. Traditionally, the colours used for painting were mostly made from natural extracts of vegetables, soot, stone paste etc and had a limited colour palette. However, the cheaper chemical colours are gradually replacing the handmade natural colours.
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Raghurajpur Pattachitra art earned a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in March 2008. The artists have a unique style of drawing human figures. The gods and goddesses portrayed in paintings have gracefully curving bodies. Keshav, an artist who follows in his family legacy, says, “The small details of jewellery, the folds of necks, waist, and clothes differentiate the original work from other works that have been copied and made available at cheaper rates online.”
Pattachitra at Jagannath temple
Jyotiranjan Nayak, one of the artists and member of Raghurajpur Chitra Karigari Co-operative Society, with a little nudge, promptly embarks on a monologue on Pattachitra, its religious and cultural importance and its techniques.
Nayak proudly says that 16 generations of his family have been making Pattachitra. The more intricate the design the more time it needs to be painted. The master artists take twenty five to forty days to finish an elaborate art like depiction of ‘Vishnu Dashavatar’ or from mythological stories of Krishna.
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Another artist, Bharat, makes wooden Jagannath statue painting and other smaller products like metal cans. Some artists create paintings on coconut shells, tussar silk saris and metal kettles. Partima is a shy housewife but also a wonderful artist who is adept at making cowdung toys and paints them in vibrant colours.
A wall of one of the houses at Raghurajpur
During the annual ‘Rath Yatra’ at Puri, when the idols of the Lord Jagannath temple are taken out for a procession, the idols inside the sanctum of temple are replaced with specific paintings. It is the artists of Raghurajpur who are entrusted with the creation of these paintings.
Giving their due to artists
While the art is quite popular, the artists often do not get their due. Even with the support from the government in the form of subsidies, the artists are exploited. With a limited space to store paintings, they depend on either word of mouth or on intermediaries to sell their work.
They are forced to sell their creativity at cheaper rates to these intermediaries who profit by selling the same painting at a higher price in cities. The cheaper prints available in markets also make the life of artists difficult. As a result, some of the younger generation artists are looking for other means of livelihood as the earnings are not proportional to the efforts involved.
Keshav with his Pattachitra art of Saraswati
NGOs like Dedicated to People have, however, taken up the cause to ensure artists get paid for their efforts. Ajit Swain, founder of Dedicated to People, says: “We try to keep the artists informed about the benefits provided to them by government policies.” Swain is trying to connect the artists via WhatsApp to the prospective buyer directly. “That way the artist can customise the art work, build a rapport with the customer and get paid directly without sharing the money with the middlemen.”
Though Pattachitra has garnered attention in the last 25 years, the handmade original art needs patronage to survive. Abakash Nayak, a master artist, says, “The artists need the support of the art lovers to keep the art alive.” With the aim of promoting ancient art, the Raghurajpur International Art and Cultural Exchange initiative facilitates exchange of artistic ideas and knowledge by inviting international artists and art lovers from within the country to reside and learn from the artists in the village.
While tourism in this tiny village can help prevent artists from abandoning their centuries‑old craft, what truly matters today is recognising their exquisite skill and ensuring they receive the respect — and fair compensation — they deserve.
