Page 503 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

500 ART AND CRAFTS

cloth as a two-dimensional surface. No alternative to cloth as easily available is
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known to have existed at that time, particularly for drawing narrative pictures on a
large surface and for carrying, displaying and preserving such pictures easily. There is
no mention of silk fabric or paper in the discussion about painting-techniques in
ancient India in Vishnudharmattoram, though pictures drawn on walls, wood, cloth,
and even iron is referred to. Because of its exclusive use as surface for painting, the
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word ‘pata’ gradually became synonymous with the two-dimensional painting
surface, and, in continuation to that, even today we describe any two-dimensional
painting surface made of any material to be chitrapata. The same history is perhaps
preserved in words like drishyapata, paschatpata, patabhumi, etc.
Patachitrakala is the oldest mode of painting in the Indian subcontinent which is in
currency even today. Due to the influence of the weather, patachitra drawn on cloth
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does not last for a long time in this country. Thus, no patachitra from earlier than the
15th century could be found. A patachitra entitled Vasanta Vilasa drawn lengthwise
and suitable for keeping scrolled was found in the Gujarat region, possibly because the
climate of that region is a little dry. It is dated to 1451 A.D. (collection of Freer
Gallery, USA), and this is the oldest of all Indian patachitras found so far. However,
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proof of the existence of patachitra in this region thousands of years ago are found in
the religious myths. It is gathered from the biography of a Jaina Tirthankara that a
monk who was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha and Mahavira (sixth century
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B.C.), who lived in the village of Nalanda and who was the founder of the community
named Ajivika, would go about begging by singing and displaying a chitraphalaka
(painted slab). Use of the word ‘pata’ in the sense of painting is marked also in the
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Mahabharata and Katyayanasutra composed in the 5th century B.C. The particular
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piece of information that Chandragupta’s minister Chanakya appointed a patua and a
snake-charmer as spy is available in the Mudra-rakshasa composed by Vishakhadatta
during the eighth century A.D. One comes to know about traders in yamapata from
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Harsha-charita composed by Banabhatta during the first quarter of the seventh
century. There has been use of patachitra among the adivasi communities of Bengal
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and Bihar since ancient times. Many consider these patas of the indigenous
communities as the source of the patachitras of Bengal. Whatever the source may be,
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there is no difference of opinion among the scholars over the question that the tradition
of patachitra of Bengal is thousands of years old.
In the Bengali language, those who live solely on creating patachitra are called
patuas. But, they have different names, in different regions. For example, in North-
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west Bankura and Purulia, they are called patidar, and chitrakar in some areas of
Birbhum and Midnapore. They are again known as patua in southwestern Bengal. 19
They are found to be observing customs and rituals of more than one religion. That
means that their religious identities are not well defined. Thus, they are considered to
be very low class people by both Hindu and Muslim communities of Bengal. 20
However, Markandeya, in the seminal book about Indian painting, Chitrasutra, has
opined that, ‘Among the arts, painting is judged to be the most important.’ However,
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