Palm Leaf Etching - Siddhi Vinayak Ganesh By Bibhu Maharana

Unique and beautiful Ganesha's Siddhi Vinayak avatar with his 12 different poses engraved on 10 palm leaves stitched together.

Know Your Art

Palm leaf etching is among the oldest handicrafts of Odisha. All manuscripts, thousands of years old, in the country have been engraved on palm leaf and are in the museums. Palm leaf, or Tala Patra is cut into rectangular pieces and semi-dried. They bury it next in swamps and dry it in shade. The pieces are strung together as required, on which they etch the desired painting/text. They use a sharp iron tool for etching. To highlight the figures, they rub black/blue colour extracted from nature. The paintings are generally depictions of mythological stories, incidents, themes, gods and goddesses, natures, etc. Palm leaf etching is also used to create different kinds of products including bookmarks, lampshade, and more.

Know Your Artist

Bibhu Maharana is a traditional Pattachitra artist from Danda Sahi who has won several accolades and awards for his work. He is trying to keep alive the traditional Gurukul system of learning and propagating the art form. He believes Pattachitra is a divine art form that everyone must know about, and that this art form brings him closer to himself, and the Lord of the Universe, Lord Jagannath.

Raghurajpur and Danda Sahi are two popular crafts villages in close vicinity to each other where the artists have lived for ages. These artists are the finest in their work and create breathtaking artefacts. Their skills are recognized across the globe, and these artisans truly pull us closer to our roots, our land, and our soil.