Chaksudan Pat is a ceremonial art practiced by the Santhals in Bengal and Jharkhand. These paintings are commissioned when someone passes away. The patua artist initially depicts the deceased without eyeballs, symbolising that the body is devoid of spirit. According to tradition, without sight, spirits are unable to navigate the afterlife.
Chaksudan Pat is a ceremonial art practiced by the Santhals in Bengal and Jharkhand. These paintings are commissioned when someone passes away. The patua artist initially depicts the deceased without eyeballs, symbolising that the body is devoid of spirit. According to tradition, without sight, spirits are unable to navigate the afterlife. It is only when the family compensates the artist that he paints the eyeballs on the figure, symbolically granting the deceased the vision needed in the afterlife.
When the Santhal community hears of a death, the artist approaches the grieving family with pre-drawn figures—men and women, young and old, of various ages. The family often offers daily items as offerings for the artist to draw the eyes on a selected figure. These exchanged objects are typically depicted in the painting. Given the cultural significance of this ritual, the painter is revered as a quasi-magician in the community, guiding the deceased from the mortal world to the afterlife.
Water colour on paper
14.5x10 Inch
Water colour on paper
25.5x20 Inch
Water colour on paper
5x3.5 Inch
Water colour on paper
4.5x3.5 Inch
Water colour on paper
26x20 Inch
Water colour on paper
14.5x10 Inch
Water colour on paper
14.5x10 Inch
Water colour on paper
25.5x20 Inch
Water colour on paper
25.5x19 Inch
Water colour on paper
25.5x20 Inch
Water colour on paper
26x20 Inch
Water colour on paper
14.5x10 Inch
