Patachitra is an ancient folk art of Bengal, which refers to traditional cloth-based scroll painting. The painters, known as ‘patuas’, with their aesthetic imagination draw on a variety of subjects including mythological tales, tribal lifestyle, rituals, local legends of Hindu gods and goddesses, contemporary stories, historical events and others. Patuas use natural colours for their painting, which they procure from various trees, leaves, flowers and clay. The scroll painting is accompanied by songs, known as ‘pater gaan’, which the painters sing as they unfurl the scrolls. Patachitra as an art form has been included in the purview of intervention since RCH project (2013-2016) and also included in both the phases of RCCH project. While artists of Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Purulia was incldued in earlier phases, seeing the potential of the artform, new beneficiaries of Birbhum, Bankura have joined the initiative A total of 380 artists from Paschim Medinipur, 319 from Purba Medinipur, 125 from Birbhum, 76 from Bankura have been included in the mentioned project purview. Bengal’s Patachitra has been accredited with the tag of Geographical Indication (GI) in the year 2018.
