Naya is a little village in West Bengal’s Midnapore district. Nearly 250 Chitrakaars known as ‘Patuas’ practice an ancient folk art called ‘Pata Chitra’. They were painters, lyricists, singers and dance performers. ‘Pata Chitra’ is a type of storytelling using painted scrolls. These story tellers sang songs moving from village to village. In course of time, people lost interest in this art form. Patuas established a Patachitra village at Naya to keep their art alive. The efforts to receive their artistic heritage was fruitful.
A traditional Pata was created by painting on a canvas. Today, the Patuas make rectangular and square-shaped painting of different sizes. Social messages figure out in these paintings. Since 2010 an annual three day festival, ‘Pot Maya’ has been held to celebrate the success of the local artists. During the festival, several workshops are held, stories are told and different types Of Pata art work are displayed for sale. They also hold demonstrations on natural colour extraction from sources. Watching them singing gently is an unforgettable experience. The play Of light and shadow from the oil lamps on the soft colours and paintings is magical.