• Art of India Patachitra religious painting

• Size: 12 inches x 18 inches

• Organic color on paper

• Made by traditional temple artists living in a village near Puri in Orissa in India

• Ancient Folk art of India

Folk Art, Patachitra Paintings for home decor, come from a small village Raghurajpur near Puri, in Orissa. An annual ritual in the famous Jagannath Temple of Puri, a beach town in the State of Orissa, has given rise to one of Indias most treasured folk art from India, the Patachitra. The origin of the ancient India art Patachitra paintings can be traced back to the 8th century AD and it is considered as one of the earliest forms of indigenous paintings. Each year, the painted wooden images of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Shubhadra in the Jagannath temple of Puri are ritually given the holy bath. This cleansing leads to the discoloration of the images. Hence, they are removed from the garbha griha (the Seat in the Temple) for repainting. During this period, the temple images are substituted with three paintings, depicting the holy trio, on specially treated clothes or Patas prepared by the temple painter. Thus the name Patachitra (Sanskrit Pata = cloth, Chitra = painting). Organic colors are used in the Patachitras. The leaves of plants, flower petals, fruits (like mangooes), ground rocks and even the urine of domesticated animals contribute to the production of a variety of shades and hues. The predominant gem like colors that are used are vermilion red derived from cinnabar, brick red from red ochre, yellow from orpiment, blue from indigo, green from green leaves, white from conch shell and black from lamp black. Once, the colors are extracted they are combined with gum resin and then used in painting. The brushes used to apply the paint are prepared from plant fibers or animal hair. The depiction of images in a Patachitra is not always uniform.