lathework
ABOUT THE CRAFT
The word “Pattachitra” comes from Sanskrit with “patta” meaning cloth and “chitra” meaning picture. Pattachitra is a traditional style of painting from Odisha, India. It is an ancient art form that dates back to 5th century BC. Pattachitra is GI (geographical Indication) tagged.
The colors are applied using brushes made from the hair of domestic animals, and the paints are often mixed with adhesives like kaitha gum or wood apple.
The materials used in making the colours used for the painting are vegetable, earth, and mineral sources.
- Red: Made from the mineral hingula or a locally available stone called hingal
- Yellow: Made from haritala, a stone ingredient
- Blue: Made from ramaraja, a type of indigo
- Black: Made from lampblack, which is soot collected from an empty tin placed over a burning lamp, or from burning coconut shells
- White: Made from powdered conch shells boiled with kaitha gum to form a paste, or from chalk powder
- Green: Made from green leaves, such as neem leaves, boiled with water and kaitha gum, or from green stones
- Brown: Made from geru stone powder mixed with gum and water
OUR INTERVENTION
We have got the Pattachitra paintings done on Wooden Trays, by a President awardee Mr Gangadhar Maharana. The artisan has used traditional authentic motifs on the tray paintings. Generally the motifs used in the paintings are small, on the tray they are scaled up but with the same detailing.
