Raghurajpur is a village 10km away from the holy town of Puri. The village consists of 200 odd families who are actively involved in preserving the rare forms of art and culture of Kalinga -the land of art. Whilst moving to Puri from Bhubaneswar, you can just take a Peek-a-Boo into this village and get the task done. Yeah! If you are in an SUV, it might be a bit clumsy because the path leading to the village makes you move through a local marketplace. And you know about Indian marketplaces !!
The craftsmanship skills exhibited by the artisans in the form of miniature art called as “Pattachitra” (in the local language) speaks a great deal about the Rashleela of Lord Sri Krishna, the Boita Yatra (Marine Trade of Odisha) and various incidents based on the holy scriptures of Mahabharat and Ramayana and Puranas. The art form is named so because they are done on a specific form of the base called “Patta” which owes its name due to its manner of preparation. The “Patta” or the canvas is made up of cotton cloth pieces that are offered to Lord Jagannath during a sacred ritual. The layers of such cloths are pasted using a special form of natural glue prepared by using tamarind seeds powder. And “Chitra” means Art, which is done using fine brushes on the Patta.
Pattachitra is a rare form of art in the country and receives national as well as international accolades for the patience and fine blending of organic colours it calls for. The masterpieces take from around 11 days to almost 45 days to get the best concepts, colours and shapes. The four basic natural colours used for the preparation of the same are red, yellow, black and white prepared from basic natural entities such as rare stones, clay, turmeric, etc. You can also witness kids being trained with this beautiful form of art. I always long to learn it, but believe me I am cursed. Art is something I am very very bad at!
The other form of art that is damn famous in this village is called “Talapatra Chitra” or art made using iron needles and dye in date palm leaves. Believe me, folks! This would take away your breath. A locus of finely placed dots in perfect unison and dyed with black gives an impression of the splendour of art engraved to perfection. The choice and pre-seasoning of the leaves also involve a lot of preparation and toil. The best quality leaves after getting wet drown in the water used for pre-seasoning it whereas the low grade leaves float atop. The liquid used along with water for preseasoning is a special recipe itself. First, the engravings are done using iron needles and then the pin engraved leaves are dipped into the dye pt with black granular colours. As you wipe out the dyes from the leaves, the entire dye gets moped out. But the colours that fit into the grooves of the palm leaves remain intact thus creating a magical form of art.
Apart from these two major forms of art, you also get a chance to relinquish some other stuff too. The art forms on dry coconut shells and coconut choir also serve as a feast to the eyes.
This place serves as the perfect rendezvous for foreign tourists because of the culture and artform they have preserved. Raghurajpur also serves as the hotspot for Odissi dance. The Odia maestro Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra also hails from this place and the other segment of Odissi called as Gotipua Nritya – the dance form where the male personnel and especially boys dressed as female dance to different tunes – Geeta Govinda (being specific) by Jayadev, Durga Stutee, Vishnu Purana, etc. This form of art involving acrobatic skills and different forms of elegant posture along with the dance. Gotipua Nritya is itself an example of the pinnacle of cultural dance around the world. A platform in the banks of the river beside the village serves as the practice ground of many budding artists.
If you are ever planning a tour to Puri, make sure you save your schedule to this amazing place and do some souvenir shopping. Ah! That Boita Pattachitra, I shall gift you. You are a really patient reader.