Patachitra - Ancient Art of sToRy TeLLiNg (Grade 3)

PATACHITRA  - The scroll paintings

the art of story telling

Political map of India

Since Grade 3 Art junkees were studying about literature in their class, so in their Art lessons they decided to find out about Art which is influenced by Literature!

Very interestingly they did find out an ancient art form of storytelling from India called 'Patachittra'.

'Pata' literaly means cloth and 'chitra' means a Picture in sanskrit.

These paintings were traditionally done a piece of fabric treated with tamarind seeds and gum, which makes the fabric thick and a good base to work on. Patachitra are done in Orissa and West Bengal in India. Both the schools have different style of drawing, color schemes and themes depicted.
Art Junkees studied both the schools in detail and compared the style.

Patachitra - Orissa

Patachitra  

PATACHITRA IN ORISSA

Patachitra in orissa have religious theme mainly associated with the famous Jagannath temple of Puri.  The drawings are very elaborate and delicate. attention is given to the details such as the accessories or jewelry of the gods.The patachitras have an important role in the rituals of the temple at Puri. They are temporarily placed instead of the deities during the few times the idols are taken out of the temple for the processions. The subject matter of Patachitras are generally pictures of the god Jagannath, Episodes from the Hindu epics, Ritual themes related to the worship of various gods and goddesses, folk tales and animal and bird themes.

Tsunami

Patachitra - Earthquake

Patachitra  - Ramayan

PATACHITRA IN WEST BENGAL

Patachitra from West Bengal have themes from Hindu mythology such as stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana as well as other stories. the drawing are simple with black bold outlines. Side profile and front view are the common angles shown in patachitra. Human body proportion and perspective are not given any importance. Borders are the common feature in all the Patachitras. Characters of the story are not given any individualistic features. All of them look alike, differentiation is only made through the variiation in the skin tone.

students observing and identifying the characteristics of  Patachittra

To make their own Patachitra, Art Jukees first went on to find out about Patachitra.

research work

our findings!

They watched videos on the the art of singing and telling the stories through Patachitra. They were  lucky to have the first Patua scroll to be made into the form of a book, 'Tsunami' in our library.

Students viewed, read and got inspired to make their Patachitra of their favourite story

'Tsunami' - first ever Patachitra printed into a book

Tsunami - A book by Tara books

They also viewed the vedio of the patua artsit Joydeb and Moyna singing the story of 'Tsunami'

After a inquiring about the art of scroll painting- Patachitra, students started creating layouts in their Art journals.

making layouts

Some of the stories selected by the students!

The thirsty crow

The Indian red riding hood

Students working on their Patachitra in pairs

busy bees!