The A@Z of The Indian art
Patachitra Paintings
The word patachitra is derived from the Sanskrit word pata, which means a painted piece of cloth, a picture, a tablet or a plate. Chitra means painting or picture. Elements of folk and sophisticated art and craft characterize each finely executed patachitra.
The folk paintings or patachitra have a tradition of great antiquity. The process of preparing the patta is a long and strenuous affair, which takes at least five days to complete. Initially a tamarind seed paste is prepared by soaking the tamarind seeds in water for about three days, and then grinding them with a pestle stone after they swell and soften. This paste is then mixed with water in an earthen pot and heated into a paste, traditionally called Niryas kalpa. The Chitrakar (painter) then selects two pieces of cloth of equal size and sticks them together with this paste. Soft clay stone is powdered and mixed with the tamarind paste. Two or three coatings of this mixture are applied on the prepared canvas on both the surfaces. After the canvas is dried completely the surfaces are again polished with a rough stone and later with a smooth stone or wood, which gives the Patta a leathery finish, and it is ready for painting. Polishing generally takes hours of work.
The paintings are very popular with connoisseurs and, of course, with tourists, especially Westerners.
Image Source : The Hindu
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