Home Address:
Village + Po - Naya, Rs - Pingla Police Station, Dist - Midnapore, West Bengal - 721140

Note:

This is a painting drawn on a piece of cloth known as 'Pati' or 'Patta'.

The brush used is made of a bamboo stick and goat hair. Colours are got from natural herbs & plants. The Patuas of West Bengal are traditional artists who are specialized in painting narrative scrolls. They also sing the songs to accompany their unrolling. In olden days, the scroll painters would wander from village to village, seeking patronage by singing their own compositions while unraveling painted scrolls on sacred and secular themes.

In West Bengal there are five folk forms of Patashilpa:

a. Chau dance of Purulia

b. Jhumur Song and dance of Bankura and Purulia

c. Gambhira and Domni of Malda

d. Baul and Fakira of Nadia

e. Patachitra of Purba and Paschim Medinipur

Today, scrolls by the young painters venture even further into current affairs, history and other subjects outside their tradition. Patashilpa is one of the ancient folk art traditions of Bengal and dates back to over five thousand years. Their style is reminiscent of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa as also the Ajanta Caves. These scrolls are painted with vegetable dyes fixed with a vegetable gum on paper. The panels are sewn together and fabric from old saris is glued to the back to strengthen the scroll. Individual paintings may resemble single panels from same scroll stories, or independent images of wild animals and scenes from the artist's imagination.