Patachitra is a unique art tradition of Bengal and Orissa that essentially presupposes the graphic narrative or the concept of modern cinema. It perfectly interlaces sequential visual images with an oral narrative. Simply put, it is a ritualistic folk tradition that combines hand-drawn pictures painted with organic colors, accompanied by songs. In Patachitra, stories are painted as frames on long scrolls and the patuas (painters) gradually unfurl them while presenting the story through their songs. This tradition of Bengali Patachitra originated as part of a religious ritual devoted to a particular local deity like—Sitala (goddess of small-pox), Manasa (goddess of snakes), Pilchu Haram (Santali ancestor) and later extended to mainstream deities like Goddess Durga, Kali, and sometimes Shiva. This tradition was mainly devised to propagate the rites and rituals for the worship of the non-Brahminical religious cults, observed mostly by rural communities who had little to no access to written religious texts.

The art of Patachitra has many variants in Bengal based on its geographical, cultural, structural, and thematic variations. The districts of Purulia, Bankura and Murshidabad are particularly famous for the practice of this art form. However, the Kalighat (Kolkata) Patachitra variant, stemming from the heart of the old imperial capital of India, Calcutta, has made this art a truly global phenomenon. As the fame of Kalighat pat gained momentum, especially with the brushstrokes of Jamini Ray, these rural versions began to fade in oblivion. The artists struggled for livelihood and their art took a backseat. This article particularly focuses on the most obscure of them all—the Santali Patachitra of Purulia.

The district of Purulia is plagued with many woes—economic backwardness, political turmoil, unemployment, extreme climate, and rugged terrains. Santali, or the native tribal community of Purulia, have braved these hardships for years, being mostly deprived of formal education, their sagas have survived through Patachitra. Unlike their sophisticated counterpart, the Santali pats are largely simplistic, with a minimalist background. The figures are composed of basic geometric shape and appear in a repetitive pattern. It is meant to be more of an archive of their stories, a record of their simple daily lives, rather than being a commercial piece of art. Their source of color also shows their intrinsic connection with nature—yellow is made from holud pathar (yellow stone) that are abundant in this region, green is made from leaves of the simal tree, red from palash (flame-of-the-forest) flower etc.

In terms of themes, these paintings offer a panoramic worldview of these humble anddowntrodden people, who are largely mistaken as “uneducated, backward, or ignorant”. These scrolls offer a small peek into their world order, which unlike ours, is a world of equality—where plants, animals, and humans share the planet and its resources equally and exist in co-dependence. The plurality and vastness of their imagination finds testimony in their home-spun myths and legends. Further, these scrolls also elucidate their political view and serve as a medium for resistance and rebellion. Through these scrolls they archive the episodes of exploitation and by telling these stories they register their hitherto unheard voice of protest. The message is explicit, their silence is their compulsion, and oppression and should not be mistaken for naivety.

During my field survey in Purulia I had the opportunity to record and capture some of these performances. The most interesting and layered, however, was their story of genesis.

The Santal genesis story:

“Thakur jiu” (God), the primordial godhead of the Santals, made two human couples from earth. When He was ready to impart souls or breathe (life) into them, the “Sin Sadom” (Sun in the form of horse) came down from above and trampled them to pieces. Thakur jiu became awfully aggrieved by this but he did not give up his plan of creating humankind. The myth further asserts, that then Thakur jiu created physical formation of male and female birds instead of human formation out of damp clay. The birds were imparted breath or soul (life) by the Thakur jiu from the inner part of his bosom. He named the birds—“has” and “hasil” (meaning goose and gander). He used to keep the birds on his hands and talked and played with them. When the birds needed a place to live, Thakur jiu formed the earth and whole creation along with all the necessities. These birds made a nest in a clump of thatching grass. The female bird (hasil) laid two eggs. From those eggs two humans were born—one male child and a female child. They were called—Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi.