Chaksudan Pat, Santhal Paintings & Tribal Scroll Paintings
Art365 India
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The Santhals are a tribe spread over the region of present day Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of the Indian subcontinent. Like any other tribe the Santals have an exclusive artistic perception rooted in their cultural traditions and physical environs.
The Santhals paint the walls of their huts during their village festival for ceremonial celebratory performances as also for self expression. They worship a stone, as a formless representation of the Divine, sing of the burthen of their life and provide a vivid portrayal of their day to day experiences, shared by animals and birds.
Done in primary colors, infested with leafy patterns in the foreground, background and borders, the Santhal paintings are characterized by a directness and a child-like simplicity in the depiction of birds, animals and insects. The figures are static, frequently multicolor, artistic rather than realistic projections. Bodies of fish and birds are joined in one head. Mother and child as well as human, animal and bird couples are brought together by a philosophy of love and unions.
A panoramic view of the village forms the backdrop, with women carrying firewood and water, men driving the bullock cart to the market, dancing and singing under a tree, a couple under flowering creepers; a family going for cultivation; men and women cutting wood, gathering firewood, carrying water on the head; hunters returning with their catch ; fishing; taking mud pots in a cart to the village market for sale, flying kites and swinging, brothers of the bridegroom carrying the bride in a basket. These are telling of a strong family bond and brimming with life.
The colour scheme holds no logic. A bird or a fish appear in many colours. The picture is first drawn in black and then coloured. Originally, the Santhals used natural colours made from plants and stones, with a striking tinge. The older generation still sticks to natural colours while the young opt for synthetic colours.
Santhal Paintings are exceptional but sadly becoming increasingly rare. These paintings originally had numerous genres which cannot be spotted now. One such kind is Chakshudana which was painted for the family of the recently deceased. It is for this genre that the painters got famed as Jadupatua or magic painters as they were believed to help the dead.
The name Chaksudan pat comes from the area in which they were made. Just as the name Kalighat pat has a location based identity, Chaksudan is similarly named. Chaksudan pats had ordinary rural people as its subject matter and were used for illustrated travel story books in performances. Although they were drawn in a flat manner, there were always intricate details that gave the viewer an idea of what the Patua saw in his everyday life. Making pats was also a traditional occupation as these traditions were handed down from one generation to the next.