The Kalighat pats were not just the product of a particular era; they constituted the mirror of the times. The influence of the Kalighat pats has been quite considerable on modern Bengali art.

The development of painting as a medium of cultural expression became popular in Bengal in independence of the conventional art of temples and the influence of the royal court. The traditional and original paintings of Bengal, the ‘pats’ as they are popularly known were usually the representation of mythological stories and folklore in paint and paper. The pats derived their name from the ancient painter-story tellers, the ‘patuas’ who went story telling throughout Bengal using their paintings as illustrations to enable the listeners in the understanding of their stories.
 

Pat painting gained heights with the emergence of the Kalighat patuas in the scene during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. These painters came to Calcutta from the surrounding rural areas to earn a livelihood by trading their works of art. They began in a humble way by selling their pats to the numerous pilgrims who thronged the Kali temple. Initially the Kalighat patuas concentrated only on religious subjects for the theme of their paintings. But gradually the pats became an instrument of satire to mock the growing trend of the western culture.

The ‘Kalighat pats’ existed since 1820. The later inclusion of naturally coloured wood works and the colourful lithography depicting the then social life, were inspired by the Kalighat pats. The ‘patuas’, ‘patidars’ or ‘chitrakars’ from Midnapur in rural Bengal, came and settled near the Kali temple on the banks of the Adi Ganga in Kolkata. Though they tried hard not to come under the European influence, they were only partially successful. Thus their pats went through transformations under the impact of the fast growing western urban culture.

As William Archer stated:

Theology and mythology predominated the subject of the Kalighat pats. Various Gods and Goddesses are intricately designed and depicted. The pats also depict the social life of Bengal. Some paintings show illustrations of housewives and their various activities, like playing the ‘veena’, the ‘behala’ and the ‘tabla’ (Indian musical instruments), some protecting themselves with broom sticks, some taking care of the child, while others are seen engaged in dressing themselves up. Birds and animals were also sometimes included in the pats.

History too had its influence and provided the patuas with numerous subjects to work with. Figures like Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmibai, Shyamakanta fighting with a tiger, the great scandal of Tarakeshwar, a Bengali woman flying up in the sky in a balloon, or even the affair of Elokeshi and Mohanta, were some of the popular subjects. The elite society, the ‘baboos’ and the ‘bibis’, the dancing girls, the ladies of the town, and the loving couples, all added a touch of excitement and entertainment to the already colourful paintings.

The Kalighat pats would also remind us of familiar images from ‘Hutum Pyanchar Naksha’, ‘Naba Babu Bilas Naba Bibi Bilas’, ‘Apnar Mukh Apuni Dekho’, and so on. The Kalighat pats were a sort of mirror to the society in which they were produced.

The Kalighat pats were of high significance to the social life of Bengal as they threw witty remarks with a touch of satire through the medium of paint and paper. Thus they were not particularly appreciated by the ‘Bengali baboos’ and the elites of the society, though they were a treat for the common people.

The significance of the Kalighat pats as works of art lies in the fact that the differences between them are remarkable. Moreover, the style of figuration, the division of flat unadorned pictorial space by rhythmic lines, the division of the same pictorial space into a mosaic of flat colour masses and many such artistic details add to the aesthetic nature of the pats.

Yet, the curious fact is that these drawings and paintings on rectangular sheets of untreated paper surface, done in ink and water soluble opaque colours, were made as cheap souvenirs for selling these to the pilgrims to Kali temple at throw away prices. A coloured pat cost one ‘anna’ or one-sixteenth of a rupee in those days.

The Kalighat pats are the earliest examples of popular urban art. In spite of the fact that these pats could not stand to the onslaught of the more advanced lithography, oleography and much later the block bazaar pictures, it cannot be denied that they proved the immense strength, the resilience and the adaptability of folk art tradition of Bengal.

Pat making is generally a team work. The head patua begins with a pat and does the detailing. It is the job of the helpers to complete the work. Vegetable colours and water colours are used. Pats are either made of paper or clay, the latter being specially of Gods and Goddesses or men and women. After the completion of the painting the clay pats are burnt. They are then painted with ‘Ghusum’ soil, which is generally found in ponds. Gum of marmelos is mixed with ‘Ghusum’ soil and applied on the pat. Finally, boiled tamarind seeds are used to varnish the clay pats to give them a shining effect.

The subject matter of the paper pats was based on the ancient scriptures. They were made of ‘Tulot’ paper (cotton pulp) and depending on the length of the stories, the shapes of the pats varied. These pats can still be found in many museums.

The present day pats are composed on art paper. Vegetable colours are used. Thin strips of cloth are pasted behind the paper after the completion of the painting. The brushes are made of goat hair.

The patua used primary colours like yellow, red and blue. Green and brown are also among the other colours used. Both vegetable colours as well as water colours are used to paint the pats.The vegetable colours are extracted from various plants and spices.

Due to the level of popularity to which the Kalighat pats rose, the patuas found it difficult to cope with the increasing demand. The extra pressure on the patuas made them turn to lithography to enhance their productivity. In lithography the outline of the painting is printed in a faint impression and is then coloured.

The pats had a twofold beneficial nature. Apart from being great works of art they educated the people who bought them and on the other hand they provided for a livelihood to all those numerous patuas who were engaged in the making of them.

Celebrated painter Jamini Roy (1887-1972) whose works are influenced by Kalighat pats expressed his views on ‘Kalighat pats’: “A wrong notion prevails about what is patua-art. Many a one is inclined to identify it with the Kalighat-pats. Not that there is no truth whatsoever in such an idea, but the truth has really a very slender basis. During the early days of the growth of Calcutta as a city, a group of village craftsmen came to settle in Kalighat and went on with their paintings. They were essentially rustic artists: certain changes in their traditional work were, however, inevitable because of their contact with the urban life. They had to cater to urban taste and had their market in the city.”

It is unfortunate that such craftsmanship that reached the heights of popularity gradually declined and finally lost its glory and is confined to the four walls of museums. The patuas returned to Midnapur from where they originated. But there are hopes that the pats may once again gain back the lost glory as the demands for them keep rising. Nowadays, most of the pat paintings are exported to foreign countries. But awareness among the Bengalis is on the rise. In 2002 Durga puja a pandal was decorated entirely with pat paintings.