The images of all forms of Lord Jagannath and his siblings are worshipped in the form of patta chitra paintings in Puri temple. Pictures by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, June 16: After the change in season from summer to monsoon and a lavish holy bath with the water of 108 pitchers, the divine siblings of Puri temple — Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra — have caught fever.

The trio have gone into a hibernation of over a fortnight, depriving lakhs of devotees the opportunity to get a glimpse of their lords.

However, devotees still manage to get solace and seek blessings of the divine trio. There is patti dian or the lords on the patta chitra that are installed in the sanctum during this period.

The images of all forms of Lord Jagannath and his siblings are worshipped in the form of these paintings.

Created on freshly prepared tussar cloth, the patta paintings are made by artistes of the Jagannath temple, who belong to the chitrakar family.

“We start the work only on jestha amavasya (no moon day) and complete the entire painting by 15 days,” said Ananta Moharana, an artiste. “It is an age-old seba (service) of the members of chitrakar family and we make sure we deliver paintings in time despite all odds,” he said.

“We first get the new cloth and soak it in water. Then we create a double layered canvas out of it,” said Moharana.

The artistes also create a variety of colours from natural elements.

“We prepare colours such as black, blue, green, red, brown in various shades. Most of these are created by grinding mollusc and conch shells and then adding pigments of flower extracts or other natural ingredients,” said another artiste.

A group of 10 to 15 artistes worked on the paintings this year to prepare images of different deities such as Ananta Narayan, Ananta Basudev and Bhubaneswari.

“According to tradition, we create three paintings of the deities who represent the three divine siblings. While Ananta Narayan represents Lord Jagannath, Ananta Basudev is Lord Balabhadra and Bhubaneswari is Goddess Subhadra,” said Moharana.

Each of the patta paintings is created on a cloth that is 5.5 feet long and 4 feet wide.

Patterns of birds, floral motifs and traditional designs for the images of the temple are drawn by the artistes along with small images of devotees. The deities are shown in traditional forms and attires.

“We are bound to carry on the tradition of the patterns, and the paintings are the same every year. None of the patterns can be tampered with,” said an artiste.

The patti dian’s are worshipped in the sanctum until the lords return from their vacation to their aunt’s house during the bahuda yatra. After that these are placed at the Basudev temple.

Devotees love to see the new form of Lord Jagannath in the patta paintings.

“The lords acquire a new form. The patta paintings are as charming as the divine idols made of wood,” said Mandakini Behera, a devotee.