Raghurajpur

Raghurajpur is a heritage crafts village in Puri district, Odisha, India, known for its master Pattachitra painters, an art form which dates back to 5 BC in the region, and Gotipua dance troupes, the precursor to the Indian classical dance form of Odissi. It is also known as the birthplace of the Odissi exponents Padma Vibhushan Guru and Kelucharan Mohapatra and the Gotipua dancer Padma Shri Guru Maguni Charan Das. It is also the birthplace of Shilp Guru Dr. Jagannath Mahapatra, who is a prominent Pattachitra artist and has made a huge contribution to the development of Pattachitra art and Raghurajpur village. Apart from that, the village is also home to crafts like Tussar painting, palm leaf engraving, stone carving, wood carving, cow-dung toys, papier-mache toys, and masks.[1][2][3]

Entrance of Raghurajpur
Paintings of Jagannath on betel nuts in Raghurajpur
An artist at Raghurajpur demonstrates palm leaf etching

In 2000, after a two-year research and documentation project by INTACH, the village was chosen to be developed as Odisha's first heritage village and developed as a heritage crafts village; soon the village had an interpretation centre, commissioned artwork on the walls of the artists' homes and a rest house.[4][2][5]

It also has the distinction of being the only place where the traditional decoration called Patas is made, used under the throne of Lord Jagannath and on the three chariots during the annual Rath Yatra festival that takes place at pilgrimage town of Puri, some 14 km away, known for its Jagannath Temple.[6][7]

Government and other stakeholders use online campaigns to promote Pattachitra art of Raghurajpur village.[8]

  1. ^ Bindloss, p. 648
  2. ^ a b "A visitors' delight". Frontline. Vol. 19, no. 24. 6 December 2002. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ § Bu, Bundgaard. p. 65
  4. ^ Datta, Rangan (18 April 2022). "Raghurajpur: The Odisha village of patachitra painters". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  5. ^ "HERITAGE: Mural village". Frontline. Vol. 25, no. 16. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ Rajhurajpur – pattachitra
  7. ^ "Behind-the-scene action before the Rath Yatra". CNN-IBN. 15 July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  8. ^ "A Twitter campaign lifts Pattachitra artists out of crisis in Odisha". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 June 2022.