Himanshu Guru
Acclaimed pattachitra artist Bijay Mohapatra who belongs to the Chitrakar clan has a thorough understanding of the tradition and heritage of the art form. His works reflect a rare modern refinement in the depiction of millennia-old patterns and motifs…
Utkal was the name of ancient Orissa. It literally means a land which is rich in art. True to its name, the state has provided the fertile soil on which many rich art forms thrived and are still blooming. Of the many distinctive art forms of Orissa, pattachitra is one. We notice pattachitra works in the Lord Jagannath temple premises in Puri. The Lord’s various rituals are performed by certain families. Out of these, the pattachitra works for the Lord are done by families of Chitrakars, according to Bijay Mohapatra, a national merit award winning pattachitra artist. Bijay hails from a family of Chitrakars whose occupation – hereditarily – has been to prepare pattachitra works for the Lord. Sunday Post spoke with the artist about the different facets of the art form.
Son of Sanjukta and Rabinarayan Mohapatra of Gadasahi village in Athagarh sub-division of Cuttack district, Bijay, aged 38, received formal education up to Class VII. According to the artist, he quit studies due to acute poverty and took up the family occupation of making pattachitra works. Later, he moved to Danda Sahi in Chandanpur tehsil of Puri district to work under Silpiguru Ananta Maharana, his maternal grandfather.
During his stint there, he came across the opportunity to create works on the famous chariots of Lord Jagannath ahead of Rath Yatra. His other pattachitra works were related to worship during the Anasara period. Currently, he is based in Athagarh sub division and runs a pattachitra training centre.
Dwelling on the many features of the art form, Bijay said: “Jagannath culture is alive in 18 ‘gadjats’. The Chitrakar families are patrons of pattachitra. Earlier, Chitrakars used to make clay and wooden puppets. Subsequently, they moved on to ‘ekaka chitra’, done with a single colour. The artists also made mangalapatti and chariot images. Nowadays, Chitrakar families in Athagarh make pattachitra works during Khudurkuni puja. Our family also specialises in such works and those who worship the Goddess at homes come to us to buy the Khudurkuni pattachitra works.”
Bijay is also versed in mathachitra and palm leaf inscription, synonymous art forms. “I have am privileged to fabricate ‘anasar patti’ for Lords Jagannath and Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on the glorious occasion of Rath Yatra in Puri. For the chariot, we draw images of horses and chariot wheels on ‘hansapata’, ‘parabhadi’, and other parts of the chariot. We draw on the parts, which are later fixed to the chariot. I have also carved art on the Rukuna Rath of Lord Lingaraj in Bhubaneswar during Ashokastami,” he said.
“Patta paintings, or pattachitra, date back to antiquity. Earlier, the painting was done on palm leaves. Subsequently, the paintings were made on tussar cloth and vegetable dyes were used. The important thing about this art is its canvas, on which the creative imagination gets reflected. The canvas is made out of cotton fabric of different sizes as per the requirement, which is coated with a paste of tamarind powder. The artist invariably takes puranic stories and legends as his themes,” Bijay said.
Pattachitra artists of Puri are good at creating ‘yatri patti’ and ‘tikili’ while in Athagarh we are good at creating Khudurkuni patti, wooden puppets, clay puppets, cow dung puppets and paper masks. Historically, the first generation pattachitra artists did arts of ‘gola’, ‘tikili’, ‘panchamandaria’ and ‘yatripatti’. The next generation worked on images of temples and mutts. The third generation dealt with the Bhagabat, moon, Rekhapanchami, Nrusingha Janma and Janmastami. All these images were done by members of the Chitrakar clan,” the artist added.
Bijay has received many awards and honours. Besides the national merit certificate in 2009 given by the Union ministry of textiles, the artist has received the Gadajat Samman in 2011 at the Athagarh Mahotsav, the State Handicraft Ability award from the state handicraft and handloom department in 2010, State Merit Award, Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana award in 2009 and the Sahitya Dharmasabha and Saraswata Pratibha Samman from Jadimangala Sahityasansand, Cuttack in 2005.
Bijay has participated in the Barabati Nrutya Utsav (2013) held in Cuttack, crafts demonstrations programme in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan in 2013, state-level traditional artists’ campaigns organised by the Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi, 15th National Youth Festival 2010 and the Design Development Workshop On “Pattachitra” conducted by NIFT, Hyderabad. Bijay has taught pattachitra at the National Conversion Central Vidyalaya in Kerala organised by SPICMACY in 2009. He was appointed master craftsman by the State Development of Art and Craft, Bhubaneswar in 2008 entrusted with training 15 students in pattachitra painting over a period of six months.
Bijay has travelled to different parts of the country and abroad. He visited Brazil in 2009. Of his foreign trips the artist said: “It is my art which has given me publicity. Going to Brazil was a memorable experience. For the Master Craftsman Programme in August 2012 I visited the expo held at the Centre Norte in Sao Paulo. Seven people from India attended the expo where I was the only craftsman from the state. It was a great experience.”
