The tribal wall arts of Orissa are too many – obviously because there are too many tribes in Orissa and each of them have their own handicraft, music, dance etc!
On my trip to Orissa, I stopped over at Raghurajpur, the village where the religious art of Pattachitra is made. Pattachitra literally means Cloth art, where scrolls of fabrics are painted with scenes of devotional stories! These were used in temples as hanging cloth esp when decoration of the idol happens which is equivalent to God dressing up and this curtain is drawn! Today, they’ve started to diversify to sustain by introducing non-religious subjects as well as lifestyle products.All the walls of the houses in this village are filled with their tribe’s specific wall art. The wall art is especially made when a marriage happens in the house and the names of the bride and groom are written on the wall and entire outer wall is decorated. It’s a form of welcoming the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi, in the form of the new bride into the house! The pure form of the wall art here is like the above image where rice paste is applied with pointing, middle and index fingers, in a series forming patterns! Originally the houses themselves were Mud Houses! The major pattern is of paddy, as food is wealth! I spotted only these 3 houses with this style of painting while the rest of the houses have a very Pattachitra like styling on the wall art as well! Nevertheless, those too were incredibly beautiful and here are a series of images of the exteriors of several houses in Raghurajpur!!!
Here's a tip: Carry cash - its a village where no one has a card machine. Go there with an idea to shop and try not to bargain! They are craftspersons who are still practicing the craft that's been around since 5th C CE! They need a sustainable livelihood out of it, for them to pass on the craft to their children, so the craft doesn't die! They are the artists themselves and with no middle-men involved, whatever you pay is all theirs!!!
To Get There:
From Puri: 30km
Cars can go till Raghurajpur village, but buses can't. So from Chandanpur Bus stand, autos give a package of the to & fro trip to Raghurajpur with half an hour wait. From Chandanpur Bus Stand: 1.6km
