TRIUMPH IAS ACADEMY MUMBAI

Raghurajpur, it’s a dream destination for art lovers. The entire village is like an open museum of art and craft. There are more than hundred families living in this village and majority of them are into some kind of handicraft work. The artisans here create magic with their skilled hands on pieces of cloth, paper and palm leaves. The small village is situated in Puri district of Odisha. The village is surrounded by palm, mango, coconut and other tropical trees along with betel leaf gardens. But Raghurajpur has its own identity it depicts the rich tradition of Odisha’s art and craft. Raghurajpur is famous for Pattachitra. In Odia language ‘Patta’ means canvas and ‘chitra’ means picture. This is made on ‘Pati’ a handmade canvas prepared by pasting together layers of cloth. The artisans use handmade natural colour for the paintings. The tradition of Pattachitra painting in Odisha is very old. The theme of Pattachitra are mostly mythological, religious stories. The stories...

The months of April and May, when the temperatures soar and the country side is soaked daily in the brightest of sunlight, villages and small towns in the Malabar region (Northern parts) of Kerala reverberate to the exciting rhythms of various instruments. The colorful and musical festivals of Poorams are held during this period.             The pooram festivals are conducted with the local temple as the centre. The biggest and most colorful festival takes place at Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur and is called Thrissur Pooram . It happens during the Malayalam month of Medam (April/May). Another important festival not far from Thrissur is the Arattupuzha Pooram , which has around 60 elephants. This year the Arattupuzha pooram is being celebrated on April 11. Arattupuzha is a village located near Puthukkad in Thrissur district of Kerala , in South India about 12 kilometres south of the town o...

1. Bharata Natyam comes from the words Bha va (Expression), Ra ga (Music), Ta la (Rhythm) and Natya (Classic Indian Musical Theatre). Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by many dancers all over the world. The Encyclopædia Britannica states that Bharata Natyam is Sanskrit for Bharata’s dancing . Surviving texts of the golden age of Tamil literature and poetry known during the Sangam Age such as the Tolkappiyam (தொல்கப்பியம்), as well as the later Silappadikaram (சிலப்பதிகரம்), testify to a variety of dance traditions which flourished in these times. The latter work is of particular importance, since one of its main characters, the courtesan Madhavi, is a highly accomplished dancer. The Silappadikaram is a mine of information of ancient Tamil culture and society, in which the arts of music and dance were highly developed and played a major role. 2.Ghoomar is a traditional women's folk dance of Rajasthan , India whi...

1. The Pahari school developed and flourished during 17th-19th centuries stretching from Jammu to Almora and Garhwal , in the sub- Himalayan India , through Himachal Pradesh , and each creating stark variations within the genre, ranging from bold intense Basohli Painting , originating from Basohli in Jammu and Kashmir , to the delicate and lyrical Kangra paintings , which became synonymous to the style before other schools of paintings developed, which reached its pinnacle with paintings of Radha and Krishna , inspired by Jayadev 's Gita Govinda . It gave birth to a new idiom in Indian painting, and grew out of the Mughal painting , though this was patronized mostly by the Rajput kings who ruled many parts of the region. 2.Madhubani painting has been done traditionally by the women of villages around the present town of Madhubani (the literal meaning of which is forests of honey ) and other areas of Mithila . The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud wal...