This was Probably One of the first designs popping out of the oven from our studio.No wonder its so special and close to our hearts .And the response we have been getting on not just this one but all our designs is so encouraging .
Let's quickly jump to the story of "The Temple Dance " Pillow .This Design Features an Indian Classical Dancer Motif ,across a temple backdrop.In ancient India, the female dancers used to worship the temple deity and dedicated their art forms storytelling about the deity.This design has been inspired by the Pattachitra art form from India .
Source:Wikipedia
Patachitra or Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll paintings,based in the eastern Indian. This artform is known for its intricate details as well as mythological narratives and folktales inscribed in it,originally created for ritual use and as souvenirs for pilgrims to temples in Odisha(an East Indian state). Patachitras originally served as a visual device during the performance of a song.
The Main subject of these paintings is the local Deity " Lord Jagannath " and his siblings .All deities are presented in black ,white and yellow.The Paintings mostly revolve around the mythological fables and worship and rituals.But as of today the art forms have evolved around time and move around nature too.
The story of this art form is steeped in legend and it goes as the Summers are quite hot in Eastern India ,so the deities are taken out of the temple for a ceremonial bath .And due to the bath ,the deities fall sick for 15 days and this is the time when they cannot meet their devotees .This is when this art form was born to replace the idols from the temple with these paintings.As the name suggests patta means cotton cloth and chitra means paintings made on cloths .
Pattachitra is a living art form practised till date in rural parts of East India.