Patachitra or Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting,[5] based in the eastern Indian states of Odisha,[6][7] West Bengal[8] and parts of Bangladesh.

[9] Patachitras are a component of an ancient Bengali narrative art, originally serving as a visual device during the performance of a song.

[11] Charanachitras, Mankhas, Yamapatas were ancient form of paintings executed on textile-scrolls and dealt with themes of a narrative-didactive nature of storytelling which finds mentions in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, according to historian N.R Ray these textile-scroll paintings were ancestor of Pattachitra art from.

Pattachitra is thus a painting done on canvas, and is manifested by rich colourful application, creative motifs, and designs, and portrayal of simple themes, mostly mythological in depiction.

][citation needed] The painting the 'pattachitra' resemble the old murals of Odisha especially religious centres of Puri, Konark and Bhubaneshwar region, dating back to the 5th century BC.

[18] This old tradition of Odia painting still survives in places like Puri, Raghurajpur, Paralakhemundi, Chikiti and Sonepur.

The oldest record of Patta Paintings does not probably go beyond the establishment of the present shrine of Shri Jagannath at Puri.

The wooden statues of the three deities are also covered with cloth and then overlaid with glue mixed with chalk, and then given paint only with four limited colours of red, yellow, white and black.

Themes are chiefly on Lord Jagannath and Radha-Krishna, different "Vesas" of Shri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the 'Gita Govinda' of Jayadev, Kama Kujara Navagunjara, Ramayana, Mahabharata.

The background on which the figures are represented, is delineated with decorations of flowers and foliages and is mostly painted in red colour.

Woman members prepare the glue, the canvas and apply colours what we call the fill-in, and give the final lacquer coating.

The master hand, mostly the male member, draws the initial line and gives the final finishing.

The canvas is prepared by coating the clothing with a mixture of chalk and gum made from Guar or tamarind seeds.

The mixture of gum and chalk gives the cloth's surface a leathery finish on which the artists paint with vegetable, earth and stone colours.

The final lines are drawn and the patta is given a lacquer coating to protect it from weather, thus making the painting glossy.

[citation needed] Pattachitras are painted in five natural colours - Hingula, Haritala, Kala, Sankha and Geru which are - Vermilion, Green, Black, Pearl White and Brick Orange respectively.

The images are traced by using black or white ink to fill grooves etched on rows of equal-sized panels of palm leaf that are sewn together.

[29] The subject matter of Bengal Patachitra is mostly mythological, religious stories, folk lore and social.

Patachitra of Naya village in West Bengal is now collected in National Museum of Ethnology (henceforth MNE) in Lisbon.

It dates back to the Pre- Pala period which is still tucked away with small villages of Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Howrah, Hooghly and 24 Parganas.

Religious pots encompass the story of Hindu epics like, mythology, Ramayana, Mahabharata narrating stories of Hindu gods and goddesses like Radha Krishna, Chaitanya, Kali, Shiba and the indigenous Bengali folklore of Manasha and Chandi, Behula and Lakshinder being the most popular.

[36] Chalchitra artist of Nabadwip, Tapan Bhattacharya said- It's good to see a lost painting coming back around.Durga pot or Durga sara is recognised as the worshiped patachitra.

Ram, Sita, Shib, Nandi-Vringi, Brahma, Vishnu, Shumbha-Nishumbha are painted on this kind of Chalchitra.

The patachitra of Manbhum, now known as Purulia can easily be distinguished by their preference for one particular shade of burnt sienna relieved by white and yellow patches and densely packed composition.

The seated figures of Dasaratha and Chand Sadagar of Medinipur crowning the Ramayana and Kamale-Kamini scrolls are impressive and monumental.

In general, blue, yellow, green, red, brown, black and white are used in the Patachitra of West Bengal.