Prakash Kumar Maharana, 43, hailing from Puri, Odisha, has found his artistic home at DakshinaChitra, Chennai’s thriving heritage museum. As he walks a tourist through his intricate Pattachitra paintings, Prakash slips a whole range of memories into the commentary.
It begins with his early days growing up among artisans and ends in the “now”, right here in Chennai where he is captivating streams of visitors.
“When I start engraving on a palm leaf,” he says while carefully carving a tree design with an iron pen on the leaf stripes, “I have to finish it in one continuous stroke — no mistakes allowed.”
The precision he requires comes from watching his brothers carve in the palm leaves since he was a child. After etching, he explains, the leaves are coated with ink and then washed, leaving only the engraved lines intact. Later, the leaves are stitched into a canvas; one would never spot a gap between them. And voila, there is the artwork.
It is a blessing for him to live on East Coast Road with his wife, who is also a Pattachitra artist, and his children, and work at DakshinaChitra. With shop rent gone, he can devote all his attention to palm leaf engraving and Pattachitra pieces.
“The traditional artisans in our village usually draw themes of mythology, Tree of Life, incidents from Ramayana, Mahabharat, Dasavatharam and other epics,” he shares, adding that they would make about three to four Pattachitra artwork pieces in a month.
“My longest project has taken me two months to finish.”
Being in DakshinaChitra for many years now, Prakash conducted workshops in schools across Chennai, and even once in Germany sponsored by DakshinaChitra, conducting workshops and teaching the history of PattaChitra and Palmleaf engravings.
“Centuries ago, people used to write on the palm leaf engravings, and gradually, they began to draw on them,” he explains. “The tradition is still alive, because people continue to admire it — both the young and old.”
However, the artist explains, admiration does not always translate into sales. “Not many people buy it,” he admits.
While tourists and residents of Chennai often marvel at the artwork whenever they visit DakshinaChitra, and express interest to learn more about its history, only a small number actually make a purchase.
“Out of a hundred who visit, only four buy it. But that is still a good deal for me. It is enough to make a living,” he shares. Despite the challenges, Prakash remains committed to his craft in Chennai.
“We artisans often deal with years-long backaches and neck pain from doing such intricate artwork. Sometimes, I need to look away, rest my eyes, and find comfort in the trees and the neighbourhood scenes, before returning to my art. Even with all these challenges, this is our life.”
Pattachitra is the family tradition, with everyone in his family practising the craft. He shares, “But compared with my hometown where many artists do the same, it is relatively easy to make a living from the art in Chennai. In Chennai, people seem to be more intrigued by my work because it comes off as new, giving me chances to make a living from it.”
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