The painting that you see on this page is a pattachitra. Pattachitra is the name given to the traditional folk art of Orissa. It is a portmanteau of the words ‘patta’, which stands for the locally produced fabric canvas, and ‘chitra’, which simply means image. This pattachitra has been handpicked from amongst the studios of the region’s finest painters, for its beauty as well as authenticity.
The theme is, of course, Krishnaleela. The patta is divided into multiple quadrilateral panels of varying dimensions. At the very centre is the largest of them, depicting Krishna in the company of a herd of milkmaids (gopiyaan).
On either side of this panel are two each. They depict the most popular of the Krishnaleela legends: (anticlockwise from top left) His victory over Kaliya, the lengths He would go to to steal butter from Yahsoda’s pantry, the superhuman strength with which He lifted Mount Govardhana, and His merciless teasing of the milkmaids of Vrindavan.
The series of panels surrounding the ensemble described heretofore is a visual narrative of the life of Vishnu’s eighth avatara.
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