पटुआ चित्रकला की जन्म कथा
कलाकार: श्रीमती मणिमाला चित्रकार
क्षेत्र: मिदनापुर, पश्चिम बंगाल
हजारों वर्ष पहले गाँव से लगे जंगल में एक भयानक दैत्य रहने आ गया था, जो हर शाम बस्ती से किसी बच्चे को पकड़कर अपने भोजन के रूप में ले जाता था। गाँव के एक चतुर आदमी ने दैत्य की गुफा के सामने बड़ा आईना रख दिया। दैत्य ने जब अपनी ही जैसी दूसरी बलशाली आकृति देखी तो उस पर वार किया, जिससे आईना टूट गया और उतने ही दैत्य नज़र आने लगे, जितने टुकड़े थे। घबराकर दैत्य नीचे गिर पड़ा और उसके प्राण-पखेरु उड़ गये। चतुर आदमी ने यह सारा दृश्य गाँव वालों को चित्र के रूप में बनाकर दिखाया तब जाकर उनको उसकी बात का यकीन आया । यही व्यक्ति पहला पटुआ चित्रकार था ।
MYTH OF THE GENESIS OF PATUA PAINTING
Artists; Smt Manimala Chitrakar
Region: Midnapur, West Bengal
Thousands of years ago, in the adjoining forest of the village, came a terrible demon who made it his daily practice to carry away a child for dinner. Everyone in the village was upset. However, there was a clever man among them who placed a huge mirror in front of the demon’s cave. When the demon saw his replica, he was furious and pounced at it. So much the worse for him, the mirror broke, and the images multiplied to as many as the broken pieces. Seeing this the poor fellow got so horrified that his heart stopped beating altogether. The news however was too good for the timid villagers to believe and they did not dare come to the cave to see it for themselves. The clever man then had to paint the entire sequence of events on the scroll to convince his village men. This was at last something that the folks could relate to. This clever man was the first Patua painter, who eventually also became the pioneer of the tradition that continues till date.