In Indian sub-continent, throughout the countries, the culture is ancient, dynamic and spanning back to the beginning of human civilization. Culture is referred to patterns of thought and behaviour of people. The individuals, throughout the country are different from each other in terms of number of factors, i.e. caste, creed, race, religion, ethnicity, age, genders, educational qualifications, occupations, personality traits, cultures, communities, and socio-economic backgrounds. In spite of these differences, there are one thing is common that is expression of heart & soul through art, be it defined as tangible or intangible. Creation of Pattachitra (scroll paintings) is one of them. Pattachitra are being kept in both the category due to its unique affiliation with culture, heritage & tradition and societies. 

 Then naturally the question arises that how Pats/Pattas or multiple scroll paintings have been defined as intangible heritage? It can be said that pats or scroll paintings are the tangible form of heritage but the story behind these pats created by the Patuas (Pat painters) and depicting through songs or poetry by them is an intangible form of heritage.

The Patta Chitra, one of the fascinating art form of India has a tradition that goes back centuries. Soaked in pauranic culture and classical romances, with vibrant colours, superb craftsmanship, simplicity in design the patta chitra has become a distinct art form and has captured the imagination of artists and art lovers alike. The term patta chitra has its origin from the Sanskrit. Patta means vastra or cloth and chitra means paintings. So patta chitra  means paintings on cloth. The use of cloth for painting has been in vogue in India from early period. The patta painting has its root in religion. It is evolved, nourished and flourished under the cult of Lord Jagannath. As the Kalight paintings has its link with Goddess Kali of West Bengal and Pichhawai paintings with the Lord Srinath temple of Nathdwara, Rajasthan and local deities of Santhals of Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal and other parts, so also the patta painting centred round the cult of Lord Jagannath, Goddess Kali & Lord Srinath Ji and tribal deities of Santhals. Pat / Patta or multiple scroll painting drawn by the hereditary race of patuas is the indigenous painting of Orissa and Bengal. The Bengali word ‘Pat’ means in general ‘picture’. In particular it means a picture painted on cloth. The word ‘Pat’ is derived from the Sanskrit and Pali word ‘Patta’ which means ‘cloth’. It is found also in Vedic language, meaning mainly cloth. In the sense of picture the word is found in the Mahabharata (15^th century BCE.) and Katyayana Sutra. The technique of Pat painting is discussed elaborately in ‘Arya- Manjushri – Mula – Kalpa – an ancient Buddhist text which has already been translated in Tibetan and Chinese. The Buddhist missionaries went abroad to propagate the teachings of the Lord Buddha, and they carried with them cloth-scroll paintings illustrating the ‘Jataka tales’, and these scrolls were called ‘Patta’. Mostly these were used in Tibet and China. These pat scrolls also survived in Bengal till recent times.

As said that the patta painting has its root in religion so each and every geographical regions these are closely associated with the local cult or universal God/Goddesses. It is believed that the Orissa was the main centre of Pattachitra due to its association with Lord Jagannath. Therefore, the Patta paintings of Orissa is considered to be as old as the construction of the temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri. i.e. 12th Century CE. A typical ritual in the temple, clearly speaks of its link with Lord Jagannath.

Pattachitras are also a component of an ancient Bengali narrative art, originally serving as a visual device during the performance of a song. Pat or multiple scroll painting drawn by the hereditary race of patuas is the indigenous painting of Bengal.

In every school of pattachitra painting have their own local technique to prepare it. In Orissa the technique as documented are as follows : The preparation of pattas on canvas for painting is very interesting. It is indigenously prepared. A piece of cloth is washed neatly and spread out over the surface of a cot or on the varandah floor. The tamarind seed is powdered and some water is put on it to prepare a special gum. This gum is applied over this piece of cloth. Before this gum dries up, another piece of the cloth of same size is placed on it and a fresh coating of gum is pasted on it. Then the patta is allowed to dry in the sun. After it is dried, a paste of soft white stone powder which look like chalk powder, and tamarind seed gum, mixed in an ideal proportions applied on both sides. After both side dry completely the huge piece of cloth is cut into required sizes. It is a known fact that unless the chitrakaras are ordered for big pattachitras, they prepared patta chitras of normal sizes. After cutting to sizes, the next work is to polish it to make them smooth and suitable for painting. The polishing is first made with a rough stone and then it is polished with a pebble whose surface is smooth. The polishing requires long hours of work. The work of preparation of the pati for painting is done solely by the woman folk of the chitrakar families. Then over the polished cloth which look off white in colour, the chitrakar start painting on it. The colours used are bright and primarily white, red, yellow, blue, green and black. The red is used predominently for the back ground. These colours are prepared out of the natural ingredients. White is prepared from powder of conch-sheel, yellow from Haritala, a kind of stone, red from geru (Dheu) and Hingula black from burning lamp and cocoanut shell and green from leaves. The artists execute a sequential procedure for preparation of the paintings. The colours are of single tones were ever used. First the border and the sketch is drawn on the patis either in pencil or in light colour. The artists put correct lines to make the figure more prominent. The lines are broad and steady, then the colour is applied. The visual appeal of a patta painting is in its colour combination.

The human figures are generally presented frontally. But the face, leg are shown side-wise but the elongated eyes are drawn from the front side. Sharp nose and round chins are prominently depicted. The typical hair style, clothing, ornamentation, beard and moustaches are used for different persons, so that there will not been any confusion to recognize which figure is a king, minister sage, royal priest, common man, the God, the Goddesses and the like. A decorative border is drawn on all sides to give it a frame like look. In this painting overlapping is avoided as far as possible. However, the sense of far and near is neglected here. The typical face style makes this painting different from other school of paintings. The paintings are conspicuous for their elegance charm and aesthetic appeal. Central focus of the painting is the expression of the figures and the emotion they portray, the strong colour only reinforce them.

The theme of Odia painting centres round the Jagannath and the Vaishnava sect. Since beginning of Pattachitra culture, Lord Jagannath who was an incarnation of Lord Krishna has been the major source of inspiration. The subject matter of Patta Chitra is mostly mythological, religious stories and folk lore. Themes are chiefly on Lord Jagannath and Radha–Krishna, different “Vesas” of Shri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the ‘Gita Govinda‘ of Jayadev, Kama Kujara Navagunjara, Ramayana, Mahabharata. The individual paintings of gods and goddesses are also being painted. The patta paintings have made a slow journey from the temple precincts to the walls of drawing rooms, lounges of big hotel and guest houses. The subject of the paintings has also got wide variations. In addition to the stories from Ramayan, Mahabharat and stories of Jagannath, new themes on the life  and philosophy of Lord Buddha, pictures on Jainism, Jesus Christ and important historical events are also find placed in patta paintings now a days.

Whereas, in Bengal slightly different technique was in vogue. The painting style of pat is basically line drawings illuminated by colour washes. The line drawings are spontaneous, simple and masterly. The drawings are drawn and washes given by the brushes made of goat or squirrel hair. These brushes and the colours are all home made by the artist or his family. The cloth is treated first for printing with thin paste or semi- liquid wash of fine clay and cow- dung; then white washed with chalk of slacked line solution. Colours are made from lamp back for black, vermillion and red lack for red, yellow clay (ochre) for yellow, indigo for blue, and some other burnt (oxidised) stones. Gum Arabic, (acacia gum) solved in water for binder and gum of Bel fruit for varnish are important materials too. The formal style of the drawings and colours of all pats are nearly similar, because the craft is hereditary and the themes are the same religious myths and about the same gods and goddesses. Within Bengal the  Kalighat pattachitra gained name & fame due to its distinct characteristics.

The Kalighat patachitra themes vary widely and the patuas of Kalighat did not separate art from life; and social hypocrisies, quirks, meanness, and follies, were all shown liberally through their paintings.  The early patachitras (early 19^th century) focused mainly on religious topics, but in later part of the 19th century the themes turned more contemporary and depicted some famous social events, like the infamous Elokeshi-Mohanta affair, or the subsequent murder of Elokeshi by her husband known as the great Tarakeshwar scandal. Paintings also depict the then well known characters, such as, Rani of Jhansi, and the wrestler Shyamakanta fighting a tiger, and Bengali women on a balloon flying in the sky. Often humorous scenes are also depicted from the ‘Babu Bibi culture’ that show the changing Kolkata socio-cultural landscape under colonial influence. The popular religious themes of Kalighat patachitras were depictions of the Kali devi, devi Durga as Mahisasurmardini, Shiva in his various avatars, Vishnu in his different incarnations, tales from Ramayana and Mahabharata, and depictions of scenes from Krishna’s life, such as Krishna milking a cow, Kaliya daman, Krishna killing the demon Putana, Krishna with Radha, Krishna with Balarama, Krishna with Yashoda, among many more.

Interestingly in Bengal (tradition is visible also part of Jharkhand, Bihar and other dwelling place of Santali/Santhals) a unique style of pat chitra have been making its presence felt i.e. ‘Chaksudan Santal Pat’. There are some traditional rituals behind the making of  ‘Chaksudan Santal Pat’. Tribal Pat or Santal Pat of Birbhum and Bankura District of West Bengal is deeply rooted in the soil and closely associated with their customs and beliefs. Rituals, faiths, beliefs, religion have been reflected through this Pat. The art of painting has all the attributes of strength, vitality, freshness, innocence, directness and simple rhythm as well as the subjective power of story- telling which belong to all true primitive art. Santali/Santhali painters mainly remained entirely naïve as they hardly came under the influences of the Mughals, Rajput or the British. Santal Pats are drawn by a special community called Jadu Patua or magic painters. They draw five kinds of Pats and exhibit them mainly to the Santals but sometimes also to Bengali villagers.‘Chaksudan Pat’ is one of them. ‘Chaksudan’ means ‘Bestowal of eye- sight’.  Chakshudan in the Santal Pat is a very old traditional customs of Santhal community. It has no form. It can’t be preserved. It is only a custom which is followed by the Jadu Patuas generation after generation.

It is a process to bestow harmony to the dead person and obtain blessings from them. Whenever a Santhal man, woman or child dies, the Jadu Patua appears at the house of the bereaved family with a ready-made sketch of the deceased drawn from his own imagination. There is no attempt at verisimilitude, but the picture merely represents an adult or a child, a male or a female, according to the age and sex of the deceased. The Jadu Patua presents the picture, wholly drawn in colour, with one omission only, viz. the iris of the eye. He shows the picture to the relatives and tells them that the deceased is wandering about blindly in the other world and will continue to do so until they send gifts of money or some other articles through him, so that he can perform the act of Chaksudan, or bestowal of eye- sight.  The Santals believe this to be actually true and give them up to weeping at the misery of their deceased relative wandering about blindly in the other world. Though they have already given him gifts on his death, but the Jadu Patua sticks to his point and tells them that King Yama has taken away the gifts made earlier, and so they must send the deceased more things through him in order to satisfy his needs. So the relatives are persuaded to make presents of money or some articles of domestic use to the Jadu Patua for transmission to the deceased. He then puts the finishing touch to the picture by performing the act of chaksudan. It is perhaps from this semi- magical practice that the Jadu Patua derives his name (Jadu= magic; Patua= painter). From the point of view of pictorial art also the Jadu Patuas occupy a unique place. The primitive pictorial art of the Jadu patuas is still a living art retaining its original vigour. The customs of Chaksudan is also a very unique intangible cultural heritage of India.

Pattachitra have deep root in Indian culture and tradition and continuing from Mhabharat period to this date. Experiencing rough weather and pleasant moments in its jorney it has deeply agitated the society and entertained them through the years but unfortunately it is going to coma due to new techniques of modern day’s entertainment. But there is no doubt that the Pattachitra have been the soul of Indian folks. It should be saved and patronised to make it alive.

Acknowledgment : We are indebted to all the researchers, scholars, authors, artists and media persons whose work are either used or inspired in compilation.

About the Authors:

*Sanjib Kumar Singh, Archaeologist & Museologist, National Museum, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Janpath, New Delhi-110011

**Joyee Roy Ghosh,Museologist & Curator, Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal