The evolving art of Patachitra

2500-plus-year-old tribal art Patachitra reinvents its thematic to keep pace with contemporary mindsets… The ancient art of Patachitra is widely practiced in the states of West Bengal and Orissa in India. Patachitra is the confluence of two words – pata meaning cloth-based scroll and chitra meaning picture. The artists painting them are called ‘Patuas’, who sing along songs known as ‘patergaans’ to narrate the stories that they paint. This traditional art that thrived on regaling its audiences with narratives from Hindu mythology and folklore faced a setback with the changing times, more so with the introduction of the electronic media. […]