Tribal Story

Lord Shiva has always been a much sought after figure of Patachitra, as these paintings, when done on the back of clay saucers instead of papers, are used in the place of clay idols of deities and are worshipped in the household of many common Bengali people. This is also quite an old piece of art done by Bahadur Chitrakar. 

The location of these Patachitra Shilpi or artists falls in a place, popularly known as Jangal Mahal in West Bengal. The area is home to a number of indigenous tribes like Santhals, Vills, Mundas. The paintings, for obvious reasons, depict the tribal culture. One such example by Nazra Chitrakar, who learnt the art from her older generations and is now passing it on to her successors. The painting shows how the tribal youth goes hunting and fishing. Their hunts are always accompanied by Madal (a kind of drum) the beats of which brings the animals and the birds out of their hide outs. 

The famous scene of abduction of Seeta by Ravana, as depicted in Ramayana, is painted here in this piece of art by Bahadur Chitrakar. The giant bird Jatayu came to rescue Seeta but could not succeed as he got wounded by Ravana’s sword. Such stories of the Hindu epics make for the  subjects of many of these art pieces by the Pata Shilpis. It’s quite an old piece of art and is a heritage of Bengal’s culture.