THE RAMAYANA BY YAKUB CHITRAKAR - THE PATUA OF BENGAL

 

Yakub Chitrakar, with a Ramayana scroll

THE RAMAYANA BY THE PATUAS OF MEDINIPUR, WEST BENGAL

The patuas of Medinipur have for many generations painted scrolls designed to be unrolled while the story accompanying the pictures is sung. The patas are sheets of paper of equal or different sizes sewn together and painted. Historically the scrolls told religious stories but in the 20th century the artists have added historical events, ecological disasters such as storms and floods, and commentary on social issues.

The patua ekes out a meager income by going from village to village and house to house with his bag of scrolls. In return for money or food, he unrolls a pata and tells or sings the story. While most of the patuas are men, there are now a few women artists.

Yakub, with his family, at work

The patuas of Medinipur are an endogamous caste whose religion and customs lie between Hinduism and Islam. While they follow Muslim custom for life-marking ceremonies, they paint more Hindu stories than Muslim, and observe a number of Hindu rituals. 

Yakub, applying cloth to the back of a scroll

YAKUB CHITRAKAR

Ram, Sita, Lakshman with a sage

For centuries, Muslim patuas of this village, about 150 km from Kolkata, and a few others spread across several districts of West Bengal like Hooghly, Bankura Birbhum and Purulia, have retold India’s favourite story through songs and scrolls. “When I am singing and pointing out how Ravan repents his deeds as Ram is about to kill him, I am not a Hindu or a Muslim. I am just the story,” says Yakub.

Ram hears from Jataya that Sita has been abducted

The paintings are characterised by the use of bright colours and quirky narrative styles. Traditionally, each scroll is about 30 foot long, replete with intricate panels depicting scenes such as Sita’s abduction or Ravan’s death. The paintings are a part of performance and the chitrakar unfurls it to the accompaniment of the song.

Sugriva says, "We must go and get Sita back."

As someone growing up in the village, it was not surprising that Yakub chose this profession. He was trained by his grandfather Banamali Chitrakar from when he was about seven years old. “My grandfather was a very well-known chitrakar. Quite a few museums have his work in their collection. He trained me not only with the paint and the brush but also as a singer,” says Yakub.

Angada curled his tail, so he could sit higher and took Ravana's crown

When it comes to the antecedents of the Muslim chitrakars, there are various theories. Medieval texts, such as the Mangal Kavya, suggest that the patuas were originally a Hindu caste who converted to Islam. Yakub says that is not the case with his family. “My ancestors were originally Muslims and came from a village near Dhaka. It could have been a famine in the village about 200 years ago that led us to settle down here,” says Yakub. He straddles two faiths, practising customs from each religion. “We offer namaz three times a day, but we also follow many traditional Hindu customs when it comes to weddings and other important ceremonies,” he says.

Ram and Ravana fight in Lanka

Text by: Premankar Biswas and Geraldine Forbes Photo credit: Subham Dutta, Geraldine Forbes and Amitabha Gupta