Chalchitra (বাংলা- চালচিত্র) is a part of ''Bengal Patachitra''. It referred to the ''Debi Chal'' or ''Durga chala'', the background of the

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around co ...

Pratima or idol. Originally, these were used to give a proper proportion to the structure. This tradition is very ancient and is still maintained.

Significance of the name

''Chalchitra'' is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

word where ''Chal'' means covering. It is drawn in Pratima Chala. So, it is called Chalchitra.

Patua The Patua (Bengali: পটুয়া, ''paṭuẏā'') are an artisan community found in the state of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha in India and parts of Bangladesh. Some Patuas are Hindus, while others are Muslims. Hindu Patuas are ...

, the artists of Chalchitra, called it Pata Lekha, which means the writing of

Patachitra Patachitra or Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, based in the eastern Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal and parts of Bangladesh. Patachitra artform is known for its intricate details as well as mythol ...

. It is also called ''Durga Chala'', ''Debi Chala''.

Classification

According to the shape of the Chali, the structure of

Pratima has some varieties like Bangla Chali, Mothchouri Chali, Tanachauri Chali, Sorbosundori Chali, Khep Chali, Markini Chali. Among them, the commonly seen Chali is the Markini Chali. The Bangla Chali follows the tradition of temple architecture. It stretches on both sides of the idol in a suspended pattern and is long enough to fit all the idols present there.

Theme and style

The main content of the ''chalchitra'' is Shib-Parboti, Kali, Shib attending Nandi-Vringi, Mahish-mardini, Dashabatar etc. Such a special Patachitra is seen in Durga Pot in the ''Hatsarandi Sutradhar society'' of

Birbhum district Birbhum district () is an District#India, administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five Divisions of West Bengal, administrative divisions of West Bengal. The distr ...

, which is called ''Durga Pot''. However, instead of Durga idol, it was worshiped in ''Durga Pot''. Durga Pot has a semi-circular Patachitra where Patachitra of Durga is in the middle position. Ram, Sita, Shib, Nandi-Vringi, Brahma, Vishnu, Shumbha-Nishumbha are painted on this kind of Chalchitra. Krishnanager Rajrajeshwari Durga is seen to be uniquely noticed. In the middle of the Chalchitra, there is Panchanan Shib and Parvati is beside him, on one side there is Dasha-mahabidya and the other side, there is Dashabatar.

Antiquity

Two of the most famous forms of idol making in Bengal are Bishnupur style and Kansanarayan style. Among them, Kangshonarayan style is most popular. 300–400 years old idols of Nabadwip Shakta Rash used Chalchitra as a part of Pratima. At a time, the use of Chalchitra became fade, but now it has a great popularity. Chalchitra artist of

Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...

, Tapan Bhattacharya said-

Tradition

Rajrajeshwari Durga Pratima of Krishnanager Rajbari uses a unique Chalchitra. Baishnavadas Mallik of Kolkata's Darpanarayan Tagore Street and the tradition of writing pot in the Bose family of Ramkrishnapur is still fine. Bimanbihari Sheel of Ramchan family in Chorabagan, north Kolkata said- Krishnanagar's Chalchitra artist Biswanath Pal wrote pot in various Banedi families of Kolkata. He said-

Technique

On the upper surface of the idol, a half-domed

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

structure was strapped on it, and the width of the cloth was wrapped in a width of thick cloth and the back part of the cloth was folded behind the

structure. When the

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

ed cloth dried up, it was given a few layers of Chalk Dust. After that, the planned storyline is drawn on it.

Colour

Natural color is used in color, which is one of the characteristics of the Bengal Patachitra. In general, blue,

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

are used in the Chalchitra. Indeed, the painting illustration has been imitated by the Patachitra of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. Chalk dust is used for white color, pauri for yellow color, cultivated indigo for blue,bhushakali for black and mete sindur for red color in chalchitra.

References

{{West Bengal Bengal Patachitra Culture of West Bengal Shaktism