ABOUT 20 minutes by road from Puri, in Orissa, lies a village called Raghurajpur, surrounded by thick groves of coconut palm trees. All the houses in the village run parallel to the banks of the Bhargabi river. This village is India’s only village where everybody is an artist. It is home to more than 300 artisans who practice various traditional art forms coming over generations. These artists live in each of the 100 or so painted, yet modest, houses that face one another. The lane is entirely occupied by the series of temples dedicated to local deities.
The chitrakars(painters) from Raghurajpur is famous for their brightly colored mythological stories about Lord Jagannath and other deities. It’s the most significant contribution of India’s cultural heritage is the Pattachitra painting. The famous painting Pattachitra comprises of two words- patta(canvas) and Chitra(picture), is a spectacular art form that Raghurajpur have for us. These paintings are made over a piece of cloth known as patta or dried palm leaf. It was originated in the 12th century. According to an artist, Pattachitras belong to the tradition of temple paintings which were used as decorative artefacts to adorn the sanctum sanctorum of temples. He further added that some artists, who are into mass production for commercial purposes, also employ stencils but that doesn’t affect the quality of work. These paintings are supposed to be painted with natural colours.
Today, in addition to patachitra, Raghurajpur can claim to produce some of the most beautiful works in palm-leaf painting and etching, wood carving, papier-mache sculptures and stone carving.
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