The devotional art of Patachitras is exclusive to the community of painters known as the 'Chitrakars'. The chitrakars live and practice their hereditary art in Puri and in two villages on its outskirts-Raghurajpur and Dandshahi. Each of the Chitrakar family owns a family sketchbook handed down from generation to generation. Gods and Goddesses, the Lilas (feats) of Lord Krishna, legends and animals, are all depicted in the sketchbooks. These books are the chitrakars' most valuable possessions and are worshipped along with the family gods.
The process of preparing the canvas (Pata) is onerous, usually taking at least five days. It involves the preparation of a tamarind seed paste, which is mixed with water in an earthen pot and subjected to further treatment.
It is known as the 'Niryas Kalpa'. The chitrakar then selects two pieces of cloth of equal size and sticks them together with this paste. Clay powder is then added to the mixture and two or three coatings of this mixture are applied on to the prepared canvas on both the surfaces. When the canvas is dry, it is polished, a process that takes several hours. Once it is dry, the paintings ('chitrakarita') begin.
Patachitras are typically painted in a regular series of steps. First, a border is drawn around the pata. Then the outlines of the figures are drawn in white pigment. Next the background between the border and the figure or figures is painted in a solid color, and the parts of the figures are painted in solid colors, using different colors for different areas, all done in bold rather than fine brushwork. Then, increasingly fine decorations are added to the picture. The painting is finished with a protective coating. The current practice is to apply a thick coat of lacquer with a cloth. After the lacquer dries, the Patachitra is trimmed down to the decorative border. The average painting is completed in a week. But there are intricate ones that take as long as a month.
Organic or natural colors are used in the Patachitras. The leaves of plants, flower petals, fruits (like mango, for yellow), ground rocks and even the urine of domesticated animals contribute to
the production of a variety of shades and hues. The predominant gem like colors that are used are vermilion red derived from cinnabar, brick red from red ochre, yellow from orpiment, blue from indigo, green from green leaves, white from conch shell and black from lamp black. Once, the colors are extracted they are combined with gum resin and then used in painting. The brilliant play of these colors produce stunning effects on the cloth. The brushes used to apply the paint are prepared from plant fibers or animal hair. In recent years, these brushes are sometimes purchased from supply stores. The depiction of images in a Patachitra is not always uniform. It can vary from a single image painted on a circular Patachitra to depiction of several stages of a story on long rectangular 'Patis'
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