This pata-chitra – cloth painting, rendered in vertical format on a
fine piece of cloth, a blend of mercerized cotton and silk, using
primarily the blue and black and the subdued tones of yellow and green
as subsidiary palette, represents the ten-armed
Goddess Durga
enshrining a magnificent sanctum. Typical of Orissa pata-chitra
tradition, in the painting most of the forms and effects are
line-drawn, the brush seems to have been used only for rendering
background against which such forms are discovered or for rendering
the thicker areas, though these could be both, the brush-work as also
the densely drawn lines. The judiciously used colours attribute to the
white of the background the status of yet another colour – the one
like others, and perhaps more effective than any of them, for it is in
its contrast that they all find a form, effect and their entire magic.
The sanctum’s interior has been conceived with deep lustrous blue, and
the sky above, with as dark black. In characteristic Oriya tradition a
large number of miniaturized flower-plant-motifs scattered all over
break the monotony of this deep blue interior, and the tiny
cloud-motifs, rendered in light blue floating in the space above, of
the sky. The Oriya pata-chitra painters are unparalleled in creating
most delightful effects: a kind of lyricism and rhythmic vibrancy,
out of a deep background in blue or even black, which could otherwise
be monotonous, by sprinkling over it multiple repeats of any
design-motif, even an irrelevant floral pattern, a dot, or whatever.
The painting’s pata-chitra character, typical of Orissa tradition,
reflects as powerfully in the style of its architecture, especially in
the tiered temple-tower, pedestal and the sanctum’s arched opening
with moderately deep corbels, and in the beautifully painted facade.
The ten-armed goddess is holding in her hands on the right side sword,
trident, disc, lotus-bud and an arrow, and in those on the left, snake
with shield, conch, mace, bow and in the fifth, the demon’s hair. In
an astonishing move, she gets up from over her mount lion and while
supporting her massive figure just on a single foot, set firmly on her
mount’s back, she charges upon the demon with a mighty blow of her
other foot, and another, that with her spear on his chest and the
completely dismayed demon submits to her and to his destiny. Baffled
by her blows as he is, the goddess catches hold of the demon’s hair
and drags him close to her feet where her mount lion charges at him
and tears his figure, and her ferocious snake, one of her attributes,
shakes him with horror disabling his all mental faculties. The goddess
rises into the space pervading it in entirety and the demon,
overpowered by her blows, falls on the ground blow.
Installed in a sanctum the figure of the goddess, obviously the
goddess Durga – the most widely worshipped female divinity and one of
the most widely worshipped deities of Hindu pantheon, is essentially a
sanctum image. Durga’s votive images, enshrining sanctums, are mostly
in operative forms though at the same time she has a form that is
all-pervasive, the act she is represented performing being just the
most insignificant aspect of her being. She is usually represented as
killing a demon, in most cases the buffalo demon Mahisha, known in the
popular tradition as Mahishasura, and hence, the goddess, as
Mahishasura-mardini – suppressor of the demon Mahisha. In popular
sculptural/visual traditions Mahisha, meaning buffalo, is a figural
blend of human and buffalo anatomies, mostly a human head emerging
from a buffalo’s body; however, sometimes, as here in this powerful
painting, he is also represented only with human anatomy. In myths and
conventions of visual representations, it is mostly Mahishasura whose
body the goddess’s lion is alluded to as tearing for accomplishing the
goddess’s crusade against evil powers. Sword and shield are widely
alluded to as being Mahishasura’s attributes. This determines the
demon’s identity as Mahishasura.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.
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