KALIGHAT PATACHITRA20 (2006) Painting by Ranjitava Biswas

Kalighat Patachitra
Kalighat paintings originated in 19th Century West Bengal, in the vicinity of the Kalighat temple in Kolkata.
The main themes of Kalighat painting in the early 19th century were religious depicting Hindu gods and mythological characters but from the middle of the 19th century, the image of contemporary society started appearing with humorous themes, showing decadent floppish babu culture.
Paintings are produced with different water based colours on mill papers or handmade paper backed with cloth.
The painters prepare their own colours using vegetables, stones, leaves and minerals. They use several colours like Blue (from Aparajita flower), Red (from mineral Hingula), Green (from neem), Yellow (from turmeric), White (from conch shell powder) and Black (from soot of oil lamps or burnt charcoal shell).
Silvery and golden colours were also used for ornamentation.
Brushes were made from squirrel, goat and calf hair.