![]() ![]() We would receive a footfall of 400 people every day before the pandemic, but in the last year, I have not sold even one painting. “Coronavirus has robbed close to 150 families of their livelihoods in our village. But only Raghunath knows the burden of having unsold paintings worth lakhs just lying around. Within the confines of the house, colours explode in a way that looks like you’re part of a festival. This, alongside following his daily routine of making organic colours, is his way of assuring himself and his family that things are going to get better once the pandemic ends. So instead of colouring on the cloth, Raghunath has been colouring his house walls for the last few weeks. However, the coronavirus-induced pandemic has severely affected his sales ever since March 2020. In fact, he is one of the many artists keeping alive this art in his village, which is a hub of the indigenous art form, with at least one artist involved in the trade in every family. What makes Raghunath’s paintings stand out is that he makes organic colours from seashells, flowers and leaves to make sharp, angular and bold lines to depict epics, gods and goddesses. In the last 22 years, the artist has created hundreds of these intricate paintings. ![]() This art form dates back to the 12th century. Raghunath, a resident of Odisha’s Raghurajpur village, is a fourth generation artist engaged in Pattachitra, a cloth-based scroll painting. This is an example of the complex relationship which the village shares with the environment and is exclusive to the place, making it an important focus of rural tourism in the state. and the manner in which the painting is done. These practices are also the very essence of sustainability, a trend catching up throughout the world, as seen from the raw materials used in the painting process, in the colours, canvases, etc. The traditions of the residents make it an open air museum for the outsiders but a home for the residents. Though the state government has attempted to improve the physical conditions so as to make them tourist friendly but the impacts of these interventions have been minimal. The village was given the status of heritage village, the first in the state, by INTACH in the year 2000. The master dancer Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, belonging to this village, is the person responsible for the popularity of the Odissi dance form today. These activities have provided them income opportunities outside their state and even in foreign lands. The artisans of this village are also engaged in crafting various other craft objects like wooden toys and masks, palm leaf engravings, wood carvings, etc. and Gotipua dance which existed as a predecessor before the emergence of Odissi dance and is hence the home of a prominent visual art as well as a performing art. This village is recognized for its folk art called Pattachitra, an art form which dates back to 5th Century B.C. ![]() Raghurajpur is a heritage crafts village in the district of Puri in the state of Odisha. ![]()
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