Kalighat Painting: Visual Storytelling Through Scrolls and Pat

Kalighat painting, also known as Kalighat Pat, originated in the vicinity of the Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata in the late 19th century. Initially fashioned as souvenirs collected by devotees and other visitors alike, they came to form a distinct genre of Indian painting. Originally relegated to the depiction of religious themes, they have come to include a variety of secular subjects and social commentary. Traditionally created as scrolls or pats, these paintings accompanied their artist-performers, who travelled as minstrels narrating tales to their audiences, employing these scrolls as visual devices. Over time, these works started capturing simple happenings of daily life, their charm being the reason that won them a place in the modern artistic repertoire.