Palm leaf engravings from Orissa

Talapatrachitras or palm leaf engravings are one of the most ancient and exquisite craft forms of Orissa, India. These palm leaf engravings consist of frozen linear drawing as illustrations of manuscripts. In these engravings colours are muted and only play a very minor part to emphasize the inscriptions or to fill up the blank space.

This technique is used by the artists to depict as many scenes or episodes to illustrate the mythological tales. Raghurajpura in Orissa is famous for the artists belonging to this craft.

These unique craft items are exhibited at Surajkund Crafts Fair, a venture by Haryana Tourism to promote the handloom and handicraft tradition of India.