Pranab Narayan Das , India's leading Orissa Pattachitra artist .
Pranab Narayan Das lives in Dandasahi, near Puri in Orissa, and is a pattachitra artist whose expertise lies in painting on tussar silk and the wooden containers used as 'dowry boxes' during weddings in his community. Pattachitra painting developed around religious centres in Orissa like Konark and Puri, and recalls the ancient murals of the region. These finely detailed works are created on layers of primed cloth or 'patta', and usually feature religious subjects, particularly Lord Jagannath, Vishnu and Krishna as they were originally used to worship on days when the temples were inaccessible because the idols were being bathed. Pattachitra paintings are created using extremely fine brushes and colours derived from natural sources like the conch shell and lamp soot. After the paintings are completed they are coated with a mixture of lac and resin to preserve them.