At Kolkata’s Durga Puja pandals, visitors often spot patachitra artists selling paintings, kurtas and other curios. But behind these colourful displays lies a much older tradition of travelling storytellers and sung scrolls.
Patachitra, a folk art form from Bengal, has long combined painting, performance and oral storytelling. The artists who practice it have historically moved from place to place, narrating stories through hand-painted scrolls.
Today, the tradition is at a crossroads as artists adapt to new markets and changing audience tastes. While the craft is finding fresh forms of expression, there are concerns that its original storytelling heritage could gradually be lost.
