Kalighat Pata
Kalighat Pata (patachitro, patachitra) is an interesting example of how a rural folk art form reinvents
itself in an urban milieu. It FLourished vigorously in a semi-urban setting around the temple area of
Kalighat in the early decades of the nineteenth century and lasted for only a century.
The area around a Kali temple founded in south Kolkata towards the end of the eighteenth century
came to be known as Kalighat. With the rapid expansion of Calcutta as British Indias capital, the temple
became an important destination for pilgrims, drawing a large number of devotees throughout the
year. The commercial bustle that built up around this area also attracted rural artisans and farmers, in
search of a better livelihood. Among them were the patuas (painters community) who came from
different districts of Bengal like Bardhaman, Nadia, Birbhum, Bankura and Medinipur.
With their natural predilection towards depicting mythological gures, the great majority of Kalighat
patachitras dealt with gods, goddesses and heroic gures from the epics. But the forces of economics and
the speedy marketability of their products among the floating population of pilgrims resulted in the
patuas moving away from the traditional jodano pot (scrolls). Instead, they painted on chouko (square
or rectangular) pot, which were popular in Birbhum district. These were faster to make and more easily
marketed than the longer (or wider) jodano pot which traditionally had to be accompanied by a
narrative song. Thus square pot paintings on cheap and thin sheets of paper, usually of goddess Kali,
became the standard memento quickly picked up by the devotees visiting the temple, for as little as an
anna or a pice.
But gradually, mythological and religious themes of these pots gave way to themes of topical and social
interest - the decadent culture of the nouveau riche (the foppish babu culture), their sexual exploits, the
hypocrisy of the priests, and even events like a man hunting a tiger and so on. Kalighat pot thus emerged
as a major vehicle of social satire. Uprooted from their agrarian community these patuas keenly
observed with an outsiders perspective the follies and foibles of urban social life and with a grim sense
of humour, the urban folk artists painted the spirit of the time. Thus it was possibly the first secular
school of painting in India and was a mirror to the world of 19th century Calcutta.
The Kalighat patuas also excelled in the depiction of animals and birds inspired by Mughal
miniatures.The new pots drawn by these folk artists in Kalighat were different in theme and technique
from their traditional counterparts. Using a minimalist style, they expertly thematised a narrative,
whether religious or the contemporary Tarakeswar scandal. The Kalighat artists painted on paper
instead of cloth used by traditional rural potuas. Cheap mill made paper, a few brushes and inexpensive
natural colour were all they could afford. forms
By the third decade of the twentieth century, these paintings had become merely a collectors item.
Many of the original Kalighat patas are now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and
some in the Prague Museum in the Czech Republic.
In recent times, Kalam Patua, born into a family of scroll painters, has been credited with reinventing the
lost art of Kalighat Patachitra. His work is strikingly here and now. If the original genre poked fun at the
westernised or nouveau riche Bengali, it is middle class double standards in Kalam Patua`s frames: a
couple sipping tea nonchalantly as they watch the 9/11 tragedy on TV or a middle-aged man staring at a
skimpily-clad mannequin on a shop window.
His work is on display at museums across the world: The National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi to
National Museum in Liverpool, UK, the Museum of Civilization in Canada to Chicago Children`s Museum,
US.The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, which holds the single largest collection of Kalighat
paintings, has acquired and showcased his work in its touring exhibition across South Asia.
