A trip to the golden triangle of Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark remains incomplete without a visit to Raghurajpur. Recently declared as a Heritage Village by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, this delightful hamlet set amidst lush green coconut palm groves has been always known as an artisans’ village.

A short walk down the narrow lane with houses on either side is like ambling down an art gallery. The exterior walls of the houses, many of them shaded by thatched roofs, showcase some of the finest examples of exquisite mural paintings of Orissa. Themes and styles are varied to present a complete picture of the rich artistic styles of Orissan pictorial art. If one wall has a mythological narrative, another showcases the everyday scene from a village life. Some paintings are replicas of wall paintings found in temples and religious institutions in different parts of Orissa.

The project on Revival of traditional Mural Painting Skills supported by NORAD and implemented by INTACH ICI, Orissa Art Conservation Centre, is indeed a success story of retrieving a dying art and an explicit example of conservation of our cultural heritage.

The social and economic impact of this revival exercise can be gauged from the increase in tourist flow to the artisan village of Raghurajpur. The interest shown by art patrons and various government and non-government agencies has rekindled the enthusiasm of the artisans. The Raghurajpur experience has shown immense possibilities for using art conservation as a lever for social change.

Besides revival of the mural painting skills, the project has also revived the skills for making traditional lime plaster using a variety of ingredients such as lime, sand, jute molasses, lentils, curd, extracts from fruits, etc. With the abundant use of cement plastering, most artisans and masons in the state had forgotten the techniques for preparing lime plaster used earlier for construction purposes. Besides being long lasting, lime plaster is used as a base support for the mural paintings.

Even the pigments are made from naturally occurring minerals such as crude cinnabar for red, orpiment as the source for yellow and black from the soot gathered from an oil lamp. The binding material for the pigments are again extracts from plants like gum from the wood apple and elephant apple. These colours are slightly subdued in comparison to chemical colours but have proved to last for years together and are resistant to pests.

Women folk in artisans’ families are generally entrusted with the preparation work such as grinding the stones for making paints. In this revival project, for the first time women artists came forward and have executed beautiful paintings on the walls. And the subjects chosen by the women artists are again a deviation from the usually dominant mythological stories. For instance scenes from the life in a farmer’s village, scenes from a traditional wedding show the sensitivity of the artists to everyday occurrences.

The chitrakaras can be commissioned to paint similar mural paintings elsewhere. If that is not suitable, one can always carry back a smaller version of the paintings in the form of a patachitra – a painting on cloth. In fact, patachitra is the most prominent handicraft of Raghurajpur. In ancient times when pilgrims visited the temple town of Puri, they would often carry back souvenirs in the form of paintings of the deities.

Shopping for handicrafts is a fascinating experience in Raghurajpur. Displayed on the narrow verandahs you will find colourful masks, mud and cowdung toys, stone statues, palm leaf etchings, and many such delightful souvenirs. The artisans will be only too happy to show you the wide variety of handicrafts and there is something to suit every pocket. After all, here art and crafts is a way of life.

Sarojini Nayak writes to us from Bhubaneswar, Orissa

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