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A village of pattachitra artists

DANDASAHI (Puri district): As one takes a left turn from Chandanpur on the busy Bhubaneswar-Puri road and drives barely half a kilometre, this idyllic village tucked amidst coconut grooves on the banks of Bhargabi river appears like a piece of painting.

In fact, it is a village of painters - professional pattachitra artists - who have made a mark in the national and international arena. Although as old and attractive as the nearby Raghuajpur artists’ village that has occupied a prominent place in the tourism map of Orissa, Dandasahi is yet to be known to the large number of visitors thronging Raghurajpur.

"Our village has a rich history. On his way to Puri on a pilgrimage, Sri Chaitanya had halted here for a day when he had performed certain rituals following a bath in the river. The Dandabhanga Gopinath temple was built here nearly five centuries ago to perpetuate memories of his visit to this village," revealed Shilpa Guru awardee famous pattachitra artist Ananta Moharana.Earlier, 200 families of this village were engaged in the art of pattachitra as those were in demand among the pilgrims at Puri. But as times and taste changed, the traditional artists were marginalised forcing most of them to leave the village or switch over to other avocations. It was due to pioneering work of guru Moharana that the glory of the village is being restored, observed P.K. Jena, an officer with the tourism directorate. Apart from creating a series of famous patta paintings that fetched him the coveted honour from the government, Mr. Moharana has groomed about 40 disciples who along with their families have adopted it as a profession .With the community’s involvement, the master artist has further launched an annual cultural festival - Maha Bishuba Utsav - in the village two years ago that aims at attracting tourists and pilgrims to the village. His idea has clicked. Mr. Moharana’s son Bibhuprasad has another dream project. He intends to build a museum to permanently showcase his father’s masterpieces. “The art of pattachitra is gradually becoming commercial,” he asserts.

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