Myriad hues of Neelanchal
With its breathtaking textile traditions, highly respected Odissi dance and pattachitra paintings, Odisha is one of my favourite states
The other evening at my favourite watering hole I couldn’t help overhear a conversation or rather a pontification of a person on the next table as he held forth about Odisha. His theory was that since the British were not able to make too many inroads into the Neelanchal, the progress was slower post Independence and modernisation took longer to penetrate into the region.
My ears twitched because Odisha happens to be one my favourite places in the country. I love the region, its monuments, and the gentle people. But for me the three most important aspects of the state are the highly respected Odissi dance, the pattachitra paintings and traditional sculpture and lastly but certainly not the least its amazing textile traditions. I love the fact that its women all across the economic strata take pride in learning the dance and wearing the sarees from the state on a day-to-day basis. In no other state is this even a possibility, let alone it being a reality. I have myself undertaken a journey across Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar to find the elusive and exclusive Behrampuri patta saree, going into practically every store to find it and drawing a blank until literally the last shop of the town!
I personally have some very fond memories of the state — travelling into the interiors in a jalopy looking for the Archaeological Survey of India-protected 64 Yoginis temple with the clock ticking away to catch a flight back to Delhi! I have a vivid memory of sipping a drink in an azure blue swimming pool bar overlooking the dark sandy beach of Puri with burgeoning clouds in the monsoon. The image of the Pipli appliqué workers whirring away at their sewing machines to create vibrant and dramatic umbrellas and long lampshades is live in my mind.
I can still feel the softness of the stones worn with age warm under my feet going for darshan in the freshly washed precincts of the Puri temple early evening, as I stood humbled at the feet of the almost abstract form of the siblings Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra in the sanctum sanctorum.
The suffocating fervour of the rath yatra in an experience that is indelible. The chipping away of the chisel and hammer of classic sculptures being created in and around Konark and Cuttack that could faintly be heard from anywhere is a sound that can easily relate to. The glint of the golden early morning rays of the sun in the Konark temple with the stones awash with the tangerine glow is stuff memories are made of.
The drive from Bhubaneshwar to Puri along the Bay of Bengal is almost as beautiful as a drive along the Danube. Along the way in Raghurajpura if you are lucky as I was, you will find the most exquisite pattachitra painters conjuring images from the Krishna Bhagwatam. I feel it was one my greatest blessings to not only have met and interacted with Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra extensively on Odissi dance but to have him share some of his happy and sad experiences with me in a long interview still humbles me.
Given the reverie of this canvas in my head, when Pragati Aggarwal of Art Tree invited me to see the ongoing show Hues Of Neelanchal — exhibiting nine marginalised yet talented artists from Odisha at the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, all these memories uncoiled from my memory bank! The aim is to support the artists to showcase their talent and for them to be recognised in their individual capacity for future commercial success. The artists include Banoj Mohanty, Amarendra Mahrana, Chiranjib Pand, Deenbandhu Marndi, Nirakar Chowdhury, Anil Roy, Rajesh Pattnaik and Sushant Kumar Panda.
With nearly 45 artworks specially created for the show by these artists, the exposition endeavours to bring to the fore imagination blended with the richness of myriad hues and expressions by these artists, some of whom have never been showcased before. One artist whose work I have been seeing off and on over the
years is Banoj Mohanty and I was delighted to see the progress of technique and content in his work. Some works did look a trifle green behind the ears and lacked polish of both form and content but then it’s nothing but lack of exposure. And hopefully such shows can bridge the gap.
It was a beautiful moment when senior artists like Jatin Das and Jagannath Panda and politico Baijayant “Jay” Panda came to encourage and bond with the artists. The organisers even got the popular traditional snacks of the state to really get the flavour of the region right. It was a rather nice touch, I thought!