Mace Maker

On his visit to the Ram Katha museum in Ayodhya,Brajeswar Pattanaik was commissioned by Culture department of the Uttar Pradesh government to create a ‘patta-chitra’—the traditional art form of Orissa—for exhibition at the museum. “I was given a free hand and no deadline,” says the Oriya artist who created in nine months and 20 days a 10-feet and 14 kg papier-mâché mace with graphics depicting various episodes of the Ramayan. It was his idea to narrate pictorially the story on a ‘gadaa’ (mace) the weapon of Lord Ram’s greatest devotee,Hanuman.

“It took the skills and labour of 10 artists to put it together,” who was invited to unveil the mace at Lucknow on the occasion of ‘Odisha Day’ on Friday. “We will be installing it in Ayodhya. Props have already been built there according to our specifications,” said Pattnaik at the UP Sangeet Natak Akademi,the venue of the celebrations,in which Governor B L Joshi was the chief guest. “I began the mace with a huge ball made of rice cane. It was covered with mud and once I had layered paper pulp on it,I removed the ball from the globe. Natural colours like vermillion for red and puverised stone for yellow were used in the multi-hued pictures,” he said,adding that these colours won’t fade for tens of decades.

“I have begun the story from ‘anant shayan’ (the eternal slumber) into which Lord Vishnu slipped lying on the serpent ‘Shesh Naag’ for the ‘dashavatar’ or the 10 incarnations. It concludes with Ram’s return to Ayodhya,” says the artist about the object of art that cost him Rs 1.5 lakh to make.

“I did not quote a price and was not offered any. Right now,I am only looking forward to the installation of the mace at the Ayodhya museum,” says Pattnaik,a native of Olesingh village of Bhubaneswar district.