West Bengal, India
Bengal Patachitra
Bengal Patachitra is a scroll painting tradition practised by the Chitrakar community, who travel from village to village unrolling their painted scrolls while singing the stories depicted. A living oral and visual art form, it narrates religious tales, folk legends, and current events.
History
The Story Behind the Art
The Bengal Patachitra tradition is practised by the Chitrakar community — artist-musicians who create painted scrolls and perform the stories depicted in them, singing ballads as they unroll the scroll panel by panel.
Traditionally, the Chitrakars travelled from village to village performing at fairs and festivals. Their scrolls depicted stories from Hindu mythology, but the tradition has always been responsive to current events.
Today, the Chitrakar community is based primarily in Naya village in Pingla, West Bengal. Contemporary Chitrakars continue to make traditional scrolls while also engaging with contemporary themes and social justice.
Techniques
How It Is Made
Bengal Patas are long scrolls divided into horizontal panels, each depicting a scene in the narrative. The style uses flat colour fills with bold outlines and no perspective or shadow. Figures are expressive and dynamic.
Natural colours derived from clay, lamp black, indigo, and plant sources are applied to cloth or paper. The colours are bright and immediate.
Materials Used
- •Cloth or paper scroll
- •Natural dyes from clay, lamp black, plants
- •Bamboo brush
- •Natural gum as binder
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