5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INDIAN FOLK ART PATTACHITRA PAINTINGS OF RAGHURAJPUR

Raghurajpur is a small but heritage art village of Odisha which is carrying ancient Indian art and craft traditions and oldest form of Odissi dance – Gotipua.

What art and craft items should you collect from Raghurajpur ?

• Every household here has rich collection of artifacts like

• Pattachitras painted on cotton canvas

• Pictorial form of Hindu mythological stories painted on palm leaves

• tussar paintings of Hindu deities (Some notabe and famous forms of Hindu god Jagannath’s tussar paintings are Raj besh, Barosringar besh, Nagarjun besh etc.)

• Saura tribal paintings

• Papier Mache mask

• Paintings on coconut shells

• bottle paintings

• handmade toys

• and many more collectible artifacts.

What important things to note before purchase?

• There are some newly formed Raghurajpur villages in surrounding areas. To reach original Old Raghurajpur check a white temple and a brown welcome gate at the entrance. (Or watch a youtube video☺)

• There are around 120 families in Raghurajpur village. Only few of them are working for the temple and drawing old authentic paintings as a family tradition in Guru sisya Parampara. However, many artists beyond these households got national awards and padma bhushan for their intrinsic art work. Every household has their unique tradition(gharana) and you need to find yours because art cannot be defined by limits but with an open mind.

Please try to communicate with the artists and encourage them.

Which material is used?

• Natural stone pigments and organic colours are used for palm leave paintings, pattachitras and tussar paintings. It takes 8-10 months on avg to complete a painting.

• What is the life span of the paintings?

• Tussar paintings approx. 50 years

• Pattachitras on cotton 100 years

• Palm leave paintings for decades

Famous artists of Raghurajpur?

Many national award winner artists were born in this village.

Jagannath Mohapatra got president award for promoting Pattachitras all over the India. Padma Shri awardee Maguni Charan Das was the master of Gotipua dance.

Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra gave a new life to Gotipua dance form through his lifelong research. He also created pattachitras which are ageless.

Every member of this heritage art village is an artist indeed.

From a traveler's view:

While walking through the small village pathway we found each wall of this village is a mural depicting Hindu mythology art of Hindu god and goddess and tailing a story of the artist’s journey to the enlightment.

This village is a must visit and heaven for Indian art and craft collectors undoubtedly.