Patachitra
an integral part of our intangible heritage which bears an essence of folk & traditional media
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Selected Cards, designed by students of classes 3 to 10
Live performance of Monimala Chitrakar at our institution
Finally, after the drawing is complete, the songs are ‘created’ to suit the visuals. Each song has primarily three stages-
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The kahini or the story
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The mahatmya or the glory
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The bhanita or the self-introduction of the artist
The patua finishes each performance with a personalised touch by mentioning his/her name, the name of his/her village and sometimes the name of the police station under which the village is located. Thus, the songs are a signature tune to the entire creation of a pat. The songs follow a trend and a pattern referred to as “tripad” or three beats in Indian classical music. Primarily, this only includes vocals, but later on simple instruments like percussion, e.g. the dugdugi or wind instruments like the flute or even the harmonium were added
While narrating, the body language and intonation is an important part of the activity of pat khelano or displaying. The patua often represents the characters - both good and bad through hand and palm gestures, eye movements and intonations. Facial expressions are however very limited in nature, but nevertheless helps to convey a message to the audience. Thus, if the patua is performing as Krishna and while speaking of his lady-love Radha, he would try to emulate a feminine voice. Thus, the characters are brought to life. “When representing dialogue, different modulations of the voice are distinctly observed. This specific feature has made them performers in the true sense.” (Islam:46).
