Themes Related to Gods and Goddesses

Although Jagannath and Krishna are perhaps the most common subjects of the pata-chitras, other gods and goddesses appear frequently in these pictures. We have already seen that there are many pictures of the dasavatara type that represent one of the ten incarnations of the god Vishnu. Pictures of goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati are popular. One may also readily find images of other goddesses such as Kali, Chamunda, Chandi, Chinnamasta, and Durga; of the hero-god Rama; and of the gods Siva and Ganesh.

Sarasvati

Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom, learning, and music, is shown in the exceptionally finely executed pata-chitra in Figure 26. In the iconography of Sarasvati, she is typically four-armed, and in her four hands she holds a book, a vina (a type of stringed instrument), a rosary, and a water pot. These items associate her with learning, music, spiritual practice, and religious rites. Sarasvati's vahana (the animal vehicle upon which Hindu deities are thought to ride) is the swan. Her color is gleaming white for purity; her demeanor is serene; and she sits upon a lotus flower, symbolizing transcendence.[31]

Figure 26. Sarasvati Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 8" x 7.5". by Sudarsan Mahapatra, Jagannath Mahapatra Studio Raghurajpur, Orissa. 1990s.

This painting has features that are both similar to and different from that of a typical pata-chitra. Its double border is a common feature. The outer border includes a branch, leaf, and flower motif. The inner border is a finely detailed drawing on an ochre ground of flowers on either side of a wavy line. A unique feature of the picture is the goddess's theatrical setting. We see the capitals of two columns—themselves not visible, being just outside the picture border—on top of which rest arches, from the middle of which hang draperies. Also of note in this pata-chitra is the black-on-white design in the arches. Although, as discussed elsewhere in this article, there are pata-chitras painted in black and grey on white, it's a little unusual to see a black-and-white area in an otherwise brightly colored painting. The background contains typical stylized forms but the color scheme is enlivened with the addition of grey, ochre, and brown to the common mix of red, blue, yellow, green, black, and pink. In contrast to the fine detail and precision in the inner border, the arches, the column capitals, the goddess's crown, and parts of her clothing, the dabs of paint that represent ripples in the water are sketchy and impressionistic. Finally, although occasionally touches of red are used around the eyes of figures in pata-chitras, it is interesting that the artist, in this painting, has made the red accent so strong.

Figure 26A. Head and arms of goddess; arch Detail of Figure 26.	Figure 26B. Feet of goddess; lotus flower; swan Detail of Figure 26.

Ganesh

Another deity who is occasionally a subject of pata-chitras is the elephant-headed Ganesh, as in Figure 27. His attributes may include a noose, a goad, a bowl of sweets (of which he is quite fond), or other items. His vahana, or vehicle, is the rat.

Figure 27. Ganesh Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 10" x 13". Near Puri, Orissa. 1990s.

Ganesh is commonly four-armed, but in this pata-chitra, he is six-armed. In his upper hands he holds a drum and a trident; in his middle hands, a goad and a serpent; and in his lower two hands he holds a piece of his tusk and a sweet. The broken tusk is alluded to in several mythological stories. Although it's a little unclear in this picture, the god appears to have a sweet in his lower left hand and another in his trunk. He sits on a throne with his two wives kneeling in front of him. His rat vehicle also sits before him. The designs framing the main picture are standard for pata-chitra inner and outer borders.

The monochrome style of this picture is, of course, specially interesting, being quite in contrast to the pata-chitra tradition of brightly painted images. Though not familiar with any reports of monochrome pata-chitras, the present author found quite a number of these (though still a vast minority) during a trip to Orissa in 1999. Though the draftsmanship may be similar in the multi-colored and the monochrome pata-chitras, in the latter it stands out more noticeably, not having to compete with the color for attention. In the monochrome paintings, the background is usually solid black and more detail is lavished on the clothing and other areas than in the typical colored pata-chitra.

Figure 27A. Head and arms of Ganesh Detail of Figure 27.	Figure 27B. Feet of Ganesh, one of Ganesh's wives, Ganesh's rat vahana or vehicle Detail of Figure 27.

Kali standing on Siva

The picture in Figure 28 illustrates a theme from the shakta tradition (i.e., the tradition of the worship of the goddess), that of the fierce goddess Kali standing on top of the prostrate Siva. This pose is a typical one in the iconography of Kali. The goddess has a necklace of skulls around her neck. She carries a sword in her upper right hand and, in her upper left, a bowl which would, according to her traditional iconography, be made from a human skull. Her lower hands appear to be in the gestures (mudras) of granting boons (varada mudra) (lower left) and granting freedom from fear (abhaya mudra) (lower right). Siva wears a snake around his neck and a tiger skin garment around his waist.

Figure 28. Kali standing on Siva Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 6" x 4". Near Puri, Orissa. 1990s. Collection of Michael Sczerba

Figure 28A. Kali; upper hands holding sword and bowl; lower hands in abhaya and varada mudra Detail of Figure 28.	Figure 28B. Siva wearing a snake and tiger skin garment Detail of Figure 28.

Siva dancing

Figure 29 is a pata-chitra of Siva dancing. This god's traditional iconography includes the trident, drum, snake, tiger-skin garment, and matted locks. All of these are present in this painting, in which the pose of Siva is also reminiscent of the south Indian images of Siva as nataraja, or Lord of the dance. (See Figure 30.) This Orissan example lacks the nataraja's typical encircling flames and the dwarf of ignorance under Siva's feet and replaces the single flame in the palm of Siva's upper left hand with the trident. Siva's lower left hand, both here and in the traditional nataraja image, is in the pose known as gaja hasta, or elephant hand. He points to his outstretched left foot, thereby promising to liberate the devotee from the suffering of the world. Often in nataraja images, the lower right hand is in the mudra (gesture) of abhaya, or freedom from fear. Here the hand seems to be poised to hold a rosary, another common attribute of Siva, although the rosary is not visible or is perhaps hidden behind the elbow of the forward arm.[32] Again, though most pata-chitras show scenes from the Vaishnava religion, this one—as the others in this section—pays homage to another tradition, the Saivite.

Figure 29. Siva dancing Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 6" x 8". Near Puri, Orissa. 1990s.	Figure 30. Siva nataraja Brass statue. Approximately 4". South India, ca.1990.

Figure 29A. Siva dancing Detail of Figure 29.	Figure 30A. Siva nataraja Detail of Figure 30.

Themes from Folklore and Erotic Themes

1. Themes from folklore: nava-gunjara

Pata-chitras based on folklore include paintings of Manasa, a snake goddess popular in parts of Orissa and especially Bengal, and of the nava-gunjara theme, in which Vishnu or Krishna is shown as a composite creature of nine different animals (Mohanty, 1980, p.10). An example of the latter is shown in Figure 31.

Figure 31. Krishna appearing as nava-gunjara before Arjuna Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 8" x 6". By Sudarsan Mahapatra, Jagannath Mahapatra Studio, Raghurajpur, Orissa. 1990s.

In a rendition of the Mahabharata (which, as noted, includes the Bhagavad Gita) by the fifteenth century Oriya poet Sarala Das, several episodes are added beyond those found elsewhere in India. In this telling of the tale, Vishnu himself proceeds to a hill where Arjuna is doing penance in a forest. Here, Vishnu reveals himself to Arjuna in the nava-gunjara form, a vigorous animal standing on three legs, those of the elephant, tiger, and horse. The fourth limb is not an animal leg, but an upraised human arm, the hand of which is holding a lotus flower. Besides these four creatures, Vishnu-nava-gunjara also has the head of a rooster, the neck of a peacock, the hump of a bull, and the waist of a lion. A snake comprises the tail. When Arjuna saw this creature, he immediately recognized it as the virat-rupa of Vishnu-Krishna. He threw aside the bow and arrows he had been carrying, folded his hands, and invoked the Lord's blessing (Swali & Swali, 1984, p.24).

Thus, in this painting, we see the various aspects of this story. There is the aggregate creature composed of the nine animals as described by Sarala Das. We see the creature's human hand holding the lotus, elephant leg on the ground, and peacock neck and rooster head facing Arjuna. We see vegetation—admittedly, rather sparse—representing the forested hilltop of Arjuna's penance. Arjuna's bow and arrow lie on the ground at his side. Arjuna himself, crowned, stands with folded hands before Vishnu, whom he has recognized. (See the close-up in Figure 31A.) The horse and tiger hind legs of the nava-gunjara are detailed in Figure 31B, as well as the waist of the lion, hump of the bull, and serpent tail. In this picture, we also see the typical double border, the outer wider border with a wavy leaf design and the inner with a design of arcs or semicircles. Note too that this picture is "out of square"; more a parallelogram than a rectangle. This is true both of the borders and of the outer edge of the cloth itself (not clearly visible in Figure 31). Such angled lines and cuts are frequent in pata-chitras.

Figure 31A. Nava-gunjara: Arjuna with folded hands; Arjuna's bow and arrow; rooster head; peacock neck; human and elephant limbs Detail of Figure 31.	Figure 31B. Nava-gunjara: lion waist; bull's hump; serpent tail; horse and tiger limbs Detail of Figure 31.

2. Erotic themes: kandarpa ratha

Themes in pata-chitras that have erotic overtones include the kandarpa ratha (Cupid-car) and the nari ashva (woman-horse). In the former, a group of gopi (cowherd) maidens form themselves into a chariot in which rides their beloved Krishna, or sometimes Krishna and his sweetheart Radha ride together. Some of the gopi maidens embrace each other in mimicry of the embrace of Krishna and Radha. Swali and Swali (1984, p.30) state that this theme is derived from activities at the Jagannath temple in Puri. The ratha in the pata-chitra supposedly recalls the rathas that are used in the famous Car Festival (ratha yatra) in Puri.

The nari ashva (or woman-horse) is another occasional motif of the Puri painters. The inspiration for the image of nari ashva comes from the book Rasa Panchaka by Divakara Das of Orissa. This theme involves the gopis whose bodies are arranged in such a manner as to create the impression of a sportive horse. In this image, just as the chariot of the kandarpa ratha is comprised of gopi maidens, so is the horse composed of the naked bodies of young women. Krishna rides joyfully on this horse, holding his flute and striding, perhaps, upon the buttocks of that pretty maiden whose body forms the back of the horse (Swali & Swali, 1984, p.30).

A pata-chitra of the kandarpa ratha is shown in Figure 32. This poetic image or metaphor is derived from the rasa-lila episode, told in Bhagavata, Book 10, Discourse 29, verse 1 through Discourse 33, verse 40. The sanskrit word rasa means something on the order of "savor," "flavor," "mood," "taste," "strong attachment," "sentiment"; lila means "sport," in the sense of "play." The rasa-lila is that evening's sport in which the gopi maidens danced with Sri Krishna, moved by powerful sentiments of love. The story of the rasa dance is critical to the subsequent mythology of Krishna, to the mystical practices of the Vaishnava religion, and to the development of much future art and poetry.

Figure 32. Kandarpa ratha Pata-chitra, painting on cloth. Approximately 12" x 18". Near Puri, Orissa. 1960s.

The story begins with Sri Krishna playing his flute, one night, in the forest around Vrindavan. Hearing his intoxicating music, the gopi maidens left their homes and husbands and hastened to be with their beloved in the forest. The wonderful love dance of Krishna with the village girls then occurred. The Lord multiplied himself into many Krishnas so that each gopi maiden would have a Krishna with whom she could dance. The story also mentions that Krishna at one point went off further into the woods with a favorite girl. In the Bhagavata, this girl is unnamed. However, later poets, such as the great twelfth century poet Jayadeva (who, according to legend, came to live in, or at least visited, Puri[34]) identified her as Radha, who subsequently took a major role in the Krishna mythology. Many pictures relating to the Krishna mythology show Radha by herself or Radha and Krishna together.

In this painting, in the middle of a chariot that is constructed of the bodies of the gopi maidens, Krishna stands alone, playing his flute. (See Figure 32A.) (In other renditions of this image in pata-chitras, Krishna is embracing Radha inside the kandarpa-ratha.) Or rather, he is kneeling (or perhaps it is an awkwardly drawn pose of sitting in a cross-legged position) on a lotus seat upheld by two of the cowherd girls. In this picture, we see some of the girls, in acrobatic poses, forming the wheels of the chariot. They are drawn such that their arms and one of their legs form the spokes of the wheel; they almost seem to spin around. The girls who form the superstructure of the chariot are in positions such that their limbs often wrap around each other in various ways (the hand of one grabbing the ankle of another, the feet of one standing on the forearm of another, the hands of one upholding the legs and buttocks of another, the arms of two around each other's shoulders). (See Figure 32B.)

The picture conforms to most of the typical aspects of the pata-chitras described in this article. However, it also contains several unique features. Note the additional color of pink that is present within that part of the superstructure of the chariot that is outside the gopis' bodies (the same pink is used in the area surrounding the central medallion of Krishna and Radha in Figure 21). And, with regard to color, the painting differs from the others in that a light green color successfully competes with red as the overall dominant color of the picture.

Several of the gopis in the painting carry fly-whisks or fans, presumably to attend to the comfort of Sri Krishna. Two of the maidens curiously float above the chariot carrying garlands that are perhaps intended for the bosom of their Lord. Two of the girls near the top of the chariot are shown in a very rare frontal pose. These faces are awkwardly drawn. In fact, the drawing of the faces in this pata-chitra generally seems to be less well done than that in most other pata-chitras described here. Another curious feature is that a few of the gopi maidens in the painting are drawn smaller than the others, a difference in scale that is rarely seen in pata-chitras. The picture contains the five-petaled flowers floating in the red background that are found elsewhere in pata-chitras. Finally, the girl balanced impossibly at the top of human chariot is, interestingly, lifted out of the picture itself through the inner border and into the outer border. (See Figure 32C.)

Figure 32A. Kandarpa ratha; Krishna in the center of the chariot of gopi maidens Detail of Figure 31.	Figure 32B. Kandarpa ratha; Gopi maidens forming themselves into the wheels of the chariot Detail of Figure 31.

Figure 32C. Kandarpa ratha; Top of the chariot Detail of Figure 31.

This pata-chitra imparts a sense of the dance that was a main event of the rasa-lila by means of the girls' intertwined limbs described above. This feature also conveys a sense that the gopis are bound together in love or common cause, a sisterhood dedicated to Sri Krishna. Generally, the picture displays the intense and one-pointed devotion of the cowherd maidens for their Sri Krishna. Furthermore, the frenzied girls are the vehicle on which, or in which, Krishna rides. Thus, the picture also reveals the undercurrents of sexuality that are present in the Vrindavan episodes in Krishna's life, as told in the Srimad Bhagavata Purana. These undercurrents were steadily developed by later poets, and sexual imagery and sometimes also practice were incorporated into elements of the Vaishnava religion.

Summary

This article has explained some common themes in the pata-chitras of Orissa and has illustrated those themes with examples of paintings produced in the vicinity of Puri. The painters, known as chitrakaras, often work in a studio setting, in which a master painter supervises the work of other less skilled artists. This tradition is still very much alive, and it continues to serve one of its original purposes, that of providing devotional images to the pilgrims who visit the Jagannath temple in Puri, as well as other temples in Orissa. The paintings are generally brightly colored (with some exceptions, as we have seen), with relatively standardized borders and stylized figures and forms. In recent years, paintings illustrating a series of scenes, especially around a central image, have become more common, as have monochrome paintings.

The images in the pata-chitras refer to stories from Hindu mythology and religion, especially from the Vaishnava religion; or they illustrate the traditional iconography of the gods and goddesses; or they depict various incidents in the rituals of the temples. These stories, iconographic attributes, and rituals would mostly be well know by the chitrakaras' traditional clientele. But in latter decades pata-chitras have also been purchased by collectors, who may not necessarily understand all the details of the mythology or iconography; or who, on the other hand, may have a more sophisticated understanding of the paintings than the average pilgrim.[35] Heightened interest by both Indian and foreign collectors, along with increased government support for traditional crafts, has resulted in a widened market for the chitrakaras, whose works can be found in government stores and other handicrafts emporia.[36] With these developments, the pata-chitra tradition is more secure than it was a hundred years ago. But it remains to be seen how this folk art form will fare in the coming century, given the struggles of traditional art forms in the face of modern mass media.