Scroll Pattachitra www.craftcanvas.com
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Table of Contents • About Us • Introduction • Mythology • Material Used • Process of Scroll Pattachitra • Motifs • Contemporary Adaptations • Additional References • Image Source
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About Us CraftCanvas is a link between rural artisan communities and the urban customer, translating an ages old craft into something that is relevant today. It is based on the idea of contemporizing Indian Handicrafts through a common platform and canvas where stake holders of the craft community like artisans, designers, craft practitioners, etc can come together to create unique products and experiences suited to modern day living. India has a rich handicraft heritage and we owe this to generations of artisans who have blended tradition, religion, social norms and functionality to bring craft where it is today. However, there has been a significant shift in sensibilities of present-day craft patrons thereby highlighting a need for Handicrafts to adapt to these changes. We believe that there is a place for India’s traditional crafts even in the most modern of spaces and this process of evolution is what CraftCanvas facilitates. Handicraft patrons like you can express your requirements ranging from wall murals, soft furnishings, paintings, furniture and lighting among many others. Our team will assist you in transforming their ideas and aesthetic preferences to final products with a high level of artistry. On the other end, we are constantly forming collaborations between the craft and design community through which an interesting blend of experiences and products are developed. Working with designers, traditional artisans are trained to adapt to this new design scenario. For designers, it gives them an opportunity to create solutions that embody the essence of the craft. Subsequently, these innovations are marketed by CraftCanvas through channels like online store, workshops, exhibitions etc. Please feel free to browse through our site for specific information on our various initiatives and we look forward to welcoming you to our world of crafts.
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Introduction
Pattachitra Scroll painting of a folktale
Pattachitra scroll painting, a form of folk art comes from the eastern part of India mainly from the state of West Bengal and Bihar. It is also known as tribal pattachitra or the patua paintings of West Bengal. The Bengali scroll tradition is an ancient one, featuring single image paintings or long vertical multi paneled scrolls known as 'patas' (paintings) or 'joranapatas' (scroll paintings). In Bengali, "Pat" means "picture" and "Patua" or "Chitrakar" means "Painter". The patuas or the painters of the pattachitras were primarily wandering artists, who would travel from place to place with painted scrolls of various deities. Though their exact date of origin is not known, yet from various oral folklores and traditions, they can be estimated to have begun as a profession from around 10th-11th century AD in Bengal. Patuas were professional artists who would frequent the homes of especially rich people (mostly zamindars and landlords, feudal lords, administrative and police heads, etc.). They would display the scrolls at various households and narrate the different stories of the deities. and in return would then be rewarded with cash or kind or both in the form of grains, food and clothes. Often at the households of the rich and the wealthy, they would www.craftcanvas.com
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be invited on special occasions, e.g. during puja or other religious festivals to narrate the stories pertaining to that specific deity whose puja or worship is being performed, and they would then be rewarded accordingly. This performance was also considered sacrosanct by the spectators.
A patua artist narrating the story using scroll
They would listen to the patua’s narration in a manner as they would sit in front of a deity during worship or a puja. The narration would include stories from local lore and local Purana (especially reflected through the three Mangal
Kavyas- the ManasaMangal Kavya, Chandi Mangal Kavya and Dharma Mangal Kavya) to the most popular story from Indian mythology;- the Ramayana (The Mahabharata was depicted less frequently). The displaying of the painting or the scroll or the pat was referred to as pat khelano (playing with the pata) and the songs were referred to as pater gaan (the song of the pata).
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Mythology
Pattachitra scroll painting of Demon and mirror story
The origin story of how this tradition came to be is a problem solving drama that continues to have relevance even today: Once upon a time, there was a dense forest adjoining a village. An evil demon visited the village each day to take away a child for his dinner. The people lived in fear, staying home at night, unable to sleep and filled with worry. They feared the demon would consume everyone if something was not done about him. At a village meeting, a wise person came up with a plan. On one day, he put mirror in front of his cave. The demon was enraged when he saw his replica in mirror and attacked on it. He grabbed a huge stone and hurled it at his reflection thinking it was another demon. The mirror broke and his image multiplied on the broken pieces. Everywhere the demon looked, he found himself surrounded by other demons. He got scared and his heart stopped beating. The villagers did not believe that the demon was dead. To spread the word of the demon’s demise, the clever man who is considered the pioneer of Patua paintings painted the sequence of events and sang the story as they traveled from village to village to convince the villagers. Eventually this became a profession and patuas added other stories to their repertoire. www.craftcanvas.com
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Materials Used Stage
List of materials used List of materials
Preparation of canvas
Composition
Paper Old Cloth/Sari Glue Colours Pencil Eraser Brush
Colours The following are the most important natural colours used by the patuasYellow Green Purple White Brown Red Grey Blue Black
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It is made from turmeric or soil It is made from leaves of hyacinth bean plant or the leaves of wood apple It is made from black plum or blackberry It is obtained from conch-shell powder or white mud It is obtained from limestone mixed with black catechu It is made from vermillion, alta (a reddish or scarlet ink or dye solution used for coloring feet), or terracotta soil It is obtained from the soot from earthen ovens It is obtained from blue seeds- locally known as nil bori It is obtained from scrapping the soot off from the outside bottoms of clay pots or even burning rice and pounding it to a powder to which home-made glue is added to achieve required consistency, Another method used is by burning the roots of the velvet apple trees Craft Manual by
Process of Scroll Pattachitra Preparation of Canvas To make a scroll, the patua begins with the paper. Artists use commercial poster paper, using one piece per frame of the scroll, sewing the pieces together. Once the pieces of paper have been assembled, the artist rolls the paper to make it conform to the proper shape. Their width can go from 4 to 14 inches and their length; often 3 feet can exceed 15 feet. A patua artist preparing the canvas
Preparation of colours Natural colours are used. To make the colours steadfast, each is mixed within the broken shells of coconut with gum made from grinding the seeds of the wood-apple tree and mixing with required quantities of water. Sometimes, the seeds of woodapple are substituted with the seeds of tamarind, sap from the margossa tree or egg-yolk. Some artists purchase commercial paints to use in their work. Preparation of natural colour
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A patua artist painting the composition
Composition Most patuas use pencil to outline the forms of the characters and images. The individual frames are demarcated with decorative borders which disguise the seams between frames. After the imagery and borders have been laid out, the painting begins. Usually the dark outlines are added at the end of the painting process. Cloth is adhered to the back to strengthen the seams. Often old saris are used as the backing and the patterns of the fabric add visual depth to the patua’s presentation.
The final stage- the pater gaan or the song Finally, after the drawing is complete, the songs are composed to suit the visuals. Each song has primarily three elements 1) The kahini or the story 2) The mahatmya or the glory 3) The bhanita or the self-introduction. The patua finishes each performance with his/her own personal touch. He/she mentions his name, the name of his/her village and sometimes the name of the police station under which the village is located. Thus, the songs are a signature tune to the entire creation of a pat. The songs follow a trend and a pattern referred to as “tripad� or three beats in Indian classical music. Primarily, this only included vocals, but later on simple instruments like percussion, e.g. the dugdugior wind instruments like the flute or even the harmonium were added.
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Motifs The three original formats of painting a pattachitra are-
Jadano pat or the scroll- showing episode sequences in a vertically placed manner- all illuminated along the picture frame one above the other- with commonly ten to fifteen frames in all. The Arelatai pat- here the picture frames are horizontal in nature- bound in two ends by two wooden sticks to enable the patua to unroll the pat as he gradually displayed it in front of an audience. This contained primarily six to eight frames. Finally, the Choukosh pat or the square pat is a single sheet of rectangular paper which commonly used to eulogize a deity or an incident. Of the primary stories that found a place of expression amidst the pattachitra, there were specific plots derived from not only various religious and mythological texts of India, but also concerning different historical incidents. Later on, the subject matter of the pattachitra also started to include various social themes which tried to focus on different socio-cultural, religious and political evils of the present society. Based on the primary subject matter, the pattachitra can be divided into the following categories, which is relevant even in present times1.
Stories from various Indian religious texts (e.g. Ramayana, Bhagavat Gita and Mahabharata).
2.
Stories from Indian mythologies (e.g. Indian Puranas- Manasa mangal Kavya, Chandimangal Kavya).
3.
Stories from local folktales, including oral traditions of communities and stories concerning death that is described in tribal customs and referred to as
Yama or Jam pat .
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4.
Stories of various Hindu and Muslim saints who were famous locally (e.g. Chaitanya, Gaji, Masnad-i-ala, SatyaPir, etc.)
5.
Historical incidents of local significance (e.g. death sentence of various revolutionaries under British India, a famous case from Calcutta High Court of a scandal involving the murder of a head priest of Tarakeshwar pilgrim centre, etc)
6.
Various socio-cultural and religious incidents of social significance from around the locality (e.g. various accidents, flood and famine at various parts of West Bengal, etc.).Over the last few decades, especially after the independence of India in 1947 (from being a British colony to being an independent nation), few more specific ideas have been added.
7.
Historical incidents of national and international significance (e.g. the bicentenary celebrations of the French Revolution, horrors of the nuclear war, global war against terrorism, etc.)
8.
Socio-cultural and religious incidents of social significance from across the nation as well as various parts of the world (e.g. September 9/11 attacks in USA, global-warming, deforestation, AIDS and HIV, etc).
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Contemporary Adaptations
Sita’s Ramayan, a book illustrated in Scroll Pattachitra style by Tara Books
Narration of Hollywood movie “Titanic “ starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio in Scroll Pattachitra format
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Additional References • • • •
http://www.midnapore.in/festival/potmaya/pot-maya-naya-pingla.html https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijhcs/v1-i1/1.pdf http://www.cohands.in/handmadepages/pdf/255.pdf http://www.craftandartisans.com/pata-chitra-scroll-painting-of-westbengal.html
Image Source • http://www.tarabooks.com/blog/sita%E2%80%99s-ramayana-the-many-livesof-a-text/ • http://www.indigoarts.com/gallery_art/gurupada_tsunami_2a_med.jpg • http://3.bp.blogspot.com/o1Noc7WoviQ/Ur5QxD_ykeI/AAAAAAAACEo/Kcb2ocNFVL8/s1600/Wes t+Bengal+artisans+mela_0613.jpg • http://www.internationalfolkart.org/exhibitions/exhibimages/painterscover.jpg • http://handeyemagazine.com/content/scrolls-and-songs • http://www.internationalfolkart.org/eventsedu/education/painterslessonplan.p df
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