Perfect lines of houses, their dividers enhanced with canvases, will welcome you when you enter verdant Raghurajpur town, about 10km from Puri, the well-known pioneer and sea shore town of Odisha. Indeed, even without asking, you will acknowledge you have entered a craftsmen’s town where homes bend over as workshops.
Once known as the guardian of Odisha’s antiquated pattachitra workmanship, to a great extent because of late Jagannath Mohapatra (winner of President of India’s honour in 1965) who lived here, today the town houses craftsmen rehearsing different conventional expressions.
The managing god of Puri, Lord Jagannath and his kin, go into isolation for a fortnight, before the Rathayatra celebration, when the sanctuary stays shut. In the old occasions, the craftsmen or the chitrakar would offer little high-quality works of art of the icons to travellers who visit during this period.
Art and Artists
It is said that pattachitra of Odisha go back to the twelfth century and has been passed starting with one age then onto the next. The canvas is done on uncommonly hardened seven layers of fabric which are cut into circles. Albeit common colours from plants and minerals may have been supplanted by engineered hues in numerous territories, conventional specialists of Raghurajpur want to utilize natural hues. Ganjifa playing a game of cards or the Dashavatar playing a card game of Odisha are likewise part of the pattachitra type. These one of a kind works of art, particularly the playing a game of cards, are in plain view in exhibition halls over the world.
Another significant craftsmanship rehearsed in Raghurajpur is palm-leaf painting. Almost negligible difference drawings in dark, some of the time with smears of hues, are made between bolted segments of palm leaves. Typically, each drawing resembles an embroidery portraying a story. Aside from conventional works of art, the craftsmen additionally produce trinkets, for example, painted palm leaf bookmarks.
Aside from pattachitra and palm leaf works of art, you will discover specialists making papier-mâché toys, covers, coconut creates, wooden toys, and so on. The two people fill in as specialists. The craftsmen are for the most part neighbourly towards guests and not disinclined to sharing insights about the starting point of the workmanship or the procedures in question. Numerous families even welcome guests to their family. You may straightforwardly purchase from the specialists. You may likewise appreciate an exercise or two from the specialists on independent installment.
Awards
In 2000, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) announced Raghurajpur a ‘legacy town’, which has helped the specialists investigate other conventional works of art too.
This thick convergence of gifted craftsmen, keeping alive a few Odissi works of art, is really exceptional. Since 2000, the Government of India, establishments, for example, INTACH, ICCI, NORAD, and the India Foundation for the Arts, have worked to create Raghurajpur as a specialty’s town.
While investigating the workmanship town, you may likewise stop to offer appreciation to the memory of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the much-granted example of Odishi dance, who was conceived in Raghurajpur.
The Daily Lives
Men and little fellows depict emotional mythic topics and ostentatious parades. Generally, ladies have meticulously arranged the canvases. Today, people gain proficiency with the specialty of planning and executing pattachitra artworks from their folks and grandparents, and gladly show various national honours for their amazing workmanship.
This current specialists’ town is likewise known for perplexing palm leaf collapsed pictures scratched in dark with patterns, sensitive brushwork on tussar silk, stone and wood carvings. The tales are omnipresent, uncovered in beautifully painted coconuts, painted winged animals, papier-mâché toys, covers and painted boxes that are shown on fastidiously clean stone entryway patios. Moulded from nearby materials — palm leaf, coconut, neighbourhood colors, mouse hair, stone and wood — the fine arts have novel excellence and straightforward appeal. They add to Raghurajpur’s gloss and shading.
The receiving area of each house fills in as both, a studio and a display space. Shockingly non-business in their methodology, the people and the craftsmen talk in Odia, distinctly demonstrating their work and clarifying the custom, account and the procedures they apply.
This present craftsmen’s town is likewise known for mind boggling palm leaf collapsed pictures scratched in dark with patterns, fragile brushwork on tussar silk, stone and wood carvings.
The craftsmen have prepared specialists to relearn customary strategies and apply them in their fine arts. For example, they were retaught how to apply mortar made of lime, jute, molasses, lentils, curd, casein and neighbourhood herbs, for example, trifala and bel. To support country the travel industry, the craftsmen were urged to paint their homes to grandstand and show their specialty.
You can read our another post on Forest Fire in Odisha: A Devastating Threat to Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Dance
Raghurajpur is likewise home to performing craftsmen, most eminent being the late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. His dad was a painter and mridangam player. Kelucharan prepared in the Gotipua move custom in Raghurajpur and got prestigious as the main defender of Odishi dance. He is credited for resuscitating this old form of dance structure. For Guru Mohapatra, dance was love. Today, there is a dance studio in Raghurajpur where youthful understudies despite everything get prepared in Gotipua, a gymnastic move structure that is a forerunner to Odishi. Understudies from Raghurajpur likewise take an interest in national move celebrations and open occasions.
Move instructor and craftsman Guru Gangadhar Nayak talked about his endeavors to pass on Gotipua. Not, at this point ready to see all around ok to do any work of art — in which he had exceeded expectations — today, he prepares little fellows to play out this nearby move custom. This is his obsession. In the Gotipua move convention, little youngsters dress as females and furthermore sing reverential tunes while playing out the move. The custom is installed in the Sakhibhav development, where enthusiasts believe themselves to be consorts of Lord Krishna. The melodies that are sung to go with the move are for the most part organizations of Vaishnav writers.
Ancient History
A Chaitanya bhakt from Bengal came and settled here, which was a wilderness at that point. He made a portrayal of Jagannath. He hued the essence of the Lord with coal, which is the reason Jagannath is as yet spoken to with a dark face. This sage was the principal craftsman of the town. In quest for the awesome he explored different avenues regarding limestone and afterward shading, and this was the manner in which our town developed and turned into a craftsman’s town. The work of art Chitrakala created here.
How to Reach Here
Raghurajpur is just 10km by street from Puri yet not on the famous visitor circuit. Along these lines, you need to book a vehicle or an auto-cart for venturing out forward and backward. The craftsmen and their families are inviting yet delicate as well. Along these lines, do take authorization before entering any family unit or workshop. It is likewise prudent to take authorization before taking photos of individuals and items in plain view. In the event that you are quick to purchase straightforwardly from the specialists, recall masterpieces have their own worth and the cost is set as needs be.
| Nearest Railway Station | Chandanpur |
| Nearest Bus Stand | Chandanpur |
| Nearest Airport | Bhubaneshwar |
Modern Times
Since the time Raghurajpur was picked as a legacy town, vacationers in more prominent numbers from India and abroad come here to respect craftsmanship and buy it legitimately from the specialists. A few guests additionally come to learn customary workmanship methods.
Last year, Raghurajpur was embraced by the Bank of India as a computerized town and 20 Points of Sale machines have been introduced by the bank. The bank additionally encouraged the opening of 200 reserve funds financial balances. There is an ATM machine in the town and a couple of craftsmans additionally acknowledge installments by means of PayTM.
Raghurajpur has been remembered for the perfect artworks town conspire and according to online sources, Government of India has endorsed ₹100 million for the town’s general turn of events. None of the individuals thought a lot about this improvement plot, however, evidently, three crore rupees have just been discharged by the legislature. As a feature of this activity, the state government is intending to plan the entryways of each house and fortify water and sanitation offices in the town. Allegedly, plans for a visitor house are likewise underway.
After some time, the legislature has called Raghurajpur a Crafts Village, a Heritage Village, and now, a Digital Village. The adjustments in classification have not influenced the creative fizz or the pace and style of life, which despite everything appears to be pure when contrasted and the material and physical neediness of a significant number of our towns and the business, mass delivered nature of such a significant number of our conventional expressions. Here, as Guru Mohapatra had once said about move, craftsmanship offers reason to one’s life as well as is life itself.
Impressions
Investing energy in Raghurajpur gives a brief look into a world that holds craftsmanship as its sorting out guideline. It structures day by day life. With some mediation from expressions and social associations, the aptitudes of specialists and craftsmans have been refined, a market is being created for their work, and the craftsmen can collaborate straightforwardly with clients to augment the returns from their works. “Today we show and sell our works all over the world. Individuals abroad value our abilities and customs, and are prepared to pay to procure our manifestations.”
Raghurajpur is really a national fortune. Making it a piece of the country traveler map, while protecting its aesthetic respectability, requests deft and sensitive taking care of.
A few specialists despite everything utilize unique mineral hues and vegetable colors. Be that as it may, the feature is the fine brush which is really made of “mouse’s hair.” No pencil or charcoal is utilized. In the long run an enamel covering is added to the painting to give it a completing touch. There are additionally dried palm leaves which are solidified and sewed together which structure a portion of canvas for Dasavathaar or ten avataars.
So next time you plan to spend thousands of bucks for an outdoor trip, do check out the whereabouts of Raghurajpur. This scenic place will not only save you from burning a hole in your pocket, but will definitely feed you with mesmerising and unforgettable memories.
