--> Skip to main content


Badhia Painting – One of the Oldest Forms of Pattachitra Painting from Orissa

Badhia is one of the oldest forms of pattachitra painting from Orissa and is essentially a grid depiction of the Jagannath Temple and its numerous customs. The painting consists of numerous images including the sanctum sanctorum of the famous Jagannath Temple along with deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Apart from this one can also see the images of Dashavatar, Rath Yatra and other festivals observed in the temple.


Brinda Suri writes in Deccan Herald 
The Badhia is essentially a grid depiction of the Jagannath Temple and its numerous customs. The painting’s most distinctive element is its central image — the main tower of the Puri temple housing the sanctum sanctorum of its three presiding deities: Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra. The Badhia’s mast has the dashavatara or the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu while mythical scenes and temple festivals, as the rath yatra, dominate other sections. 
Only classically traditional colours of red, saffron, green and black dominate the Badhia, which is always bordered by a floral pattern. A little fish at the corner of the painting signifies the Bay of Bengal. What appealed was its compellingly unrefined style of depiction as opposed to the finesse seen in other forms of Pattachitra.