Pattachitra
Cloth scroll painting with fine black line, natural pigment and a lacquer finish.
Pattachitra means 'cloth picture'. In Odisha it is bound to the Jagannath temple at Puri, where painted substitutes are displayed while the deities are repainted each year; in Bengal the patuas painted scrolls and sang the story as they unrolled them. The line is the discipline — a fine, unwavering black contour drawn without preliminary sketching.
What to look for
- Fine unbroken black outline over flat colour
- Dense floral or geometric borders
- Narrative panels read in sequence
- Krishna, Jagannath and Ramayana episodes
How it is made
Cotton cloth layered with tamarind-seed paste and chalk, burnished to a smooth ground, painted in natural pigments — conch white, hingula red, lamp-black — then lacquered for durability.
Before you buy
Check the ground: a true patta is stiffened layered cloth, not paper. Ask whether pigments are natural, which affects both the price and how it should be lit.