Migrated Artist and Artisans of Pata Painting and Nakshi Kantha

What is it about?

Illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India, which includes both refugees and economic migrants, continues unabated. There is no reliable figure on the exact number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in India. An analysis of population growth and demographic statistics for Bangladesh and India in the last four censuses of 2011, 2001, 1991, and 1981, however, suggests with reasonable certainty that their number exceeds 15 million. The artists who do this kind of works are popularly known ‘patuas’; but they are also known as ‘chitrakars’, which literary means picture makers. It is interesting to note that the term has been adopted as a surname or a cast title. The term “patua” and “chitrakar” are used interchangeably, though the artists generally use the “chitrakar” as their surname. Traditionally ‘patuas’ were men, who were assisted by their womenfolk in several stages; but in recent time women have also come forward to lay their claim as ‘pata’ artists. Similarly, ‘Nakshi Katha’ is the popular hand embroidery art from of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The word ‘Nakshi’ derives its origin in the Bengali word ‘Naksha’ that means design or pattern. These itinerant painters are part of a long lineage that has passed the tradition down for generations. In the past, ‘patuas’ travelled long distance to perform in small villages, singing the songs and unrolling the scrolls panel by panel to accompany the narrative in exchange for food, clothing or payment.

Featured Image

Photo by Luca Lago on Unsplash

Photo by Luca Lago on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Both the primary and secondary data was used in this study. The primary data is collected by village surveys of artists and face-to-face interviews of ‘Pata’ and ‘Nakshi Kantha’ artisans. Secondary data was collected through various e-resources, documentaries, articles and by books. We have gone through with the historical facts of migration from Bangladesh to India. Importantly spread all over the Indian states, also we analyzed the facts of numbers of migration and immigration to and from Birbhum District. The deta analysis and documentation of Pata and Nakshi Kantha artists performing and practicing on this modern period.

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