Chitrakattis

The word chitrakattis is a combination of two words Chitra means Picture and Katha means a story, with this word chitrakathi has emerged, one who narrates visual stories with paintings, it is identified in three forms Leather shadow puppets, stringed wooden puppets, and picture stories.

Many many years ago, once upon a time, a team of singers, painters, and musicians moved from one village to another village to perform the stories of Indian Mythology in the form of street play to lead their livelihoods by earning money from these street plays. People who earn income from this plays as known as Chitrakattis.

These artists attract their audiences with the stories from the epics of Ramayana, Mahabharatha, a crowd of people gathered there to see their performance and there are examples of people who travel along with them for long distance to see their performances at different places.

These stories were illustrated using primary dyes extracted from plant sources, and these episodes were painted on large cloth fabrics, these painted fabrics later known as KALAMKARI art which is inspired and originated from these Chitrakattis innovation. During Mughal era, Kalamkari art was used for tents, hangings, and bedsheets

Later on, these artists thought to improve and develop their entertainment through attractive means, so they got a brilliant idea to heighten the excitement in their audience by performing their plays with the help painted sketches of motifs belonging to Hindu mythology, they had a huge painted panel to bring liveliness for their plays.

This innovation brought in the audience by the herd, from the far and near. Huge shafts of canvas painted with basic and natural vegetable dyes, people were in wonder state at this spectacular display of artwork, picture after picture of gods, natures from these paintings on cloth is the origin of Kalamkari art which is hand dyed painted or block printed fabric textile forms.