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The Patuas are an artisan community found in the state of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha in India and parts of Bangladesh. Some Patuas are Hindus, while others are Muslims. Hindu Patuas are active in the Kalighat and Kumartuli regions of Calcutta, along with some other parts of West Bengal, where they are reduced in number. It is believed that most Patuas are actually converts from Hinduism to Islam. Today, they practice customs that are both Hindu and Islamic in nature. They may have also been Buddhist at various points in time. Today, however, the majority of them are impoverished Muslims who rely on patronage from mainly Hindus, but also increasingly from tourists who buy their painted scrolls, as Frank J. Korom has described and analyses in his book Village of Painters: Narrative Scrolls from West Bengal (2006. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press). Scholars argue that the Patuas, originally Hindus, were cast out of the Hindu society for not following canonical proceedings in pursuing their trade. Patuas are also known Patigar or Chitrakar. 

An intricate tapestry of music and visual art is what makes Naya more than just a village in West Bengal’s Paschim Midnapore district. A quaint little village, Naya is home to around 250 patuas or chitrakaars, a unique community of folk artistes who are painters, lyricists, singers and performers all rolled into one. These traditional painter singers specialize in the ancient folk art of pata chitra, a traditional and mythological heritage of West Bengal, divided into some different aspects like Durga Pat, Chalchitra, Tribal Patachitra, Medinipur Patachitra, Kalighat Patachitra and etc. The subject matter of Bengal Patachitra is mostly mythological, religious stories, folk lore and social. The Kalighat Patachitra, the last tradition of Bengal Patachitra is developed by Jamini Roy. The artist of the Bengal Patachitra is called Patua, a type of narrative scroll painting. Over time, however, interest in this art form faded out. To ensure that their art form remained relevant in the contemporary world, the patuas adapted their skills and themes to changing times. As a part of this effort, a group of innovative patuas established a patachitra village at Naya.

Slowly, their efforts to revive their artistic heritage started paying off. 

Today, after a period of decline, the patachitra art is flourishing again in the village, with village youngsters taking up the traditional art form as a passion and profession. A pata is created by painting on a canvas made by stitching together multiple sheets of commercial poster paper. In earlier days, jute fibre canvas was used. Plant-based colours and lamp black (a pigment made from soot) are mixed in coconut shells with the sap of the bel tree (wood apple), which acts as a binder. After finishing, a thin cotton cloth is glued to the back of the painting to provide longevity. Next, the completed scrolls are kept in the sun to dry. The patuas also paint wooden souvenirs, decorative hangings and mud walls with striking natural colours.

Although Chitrakars origin is difficult to be precisely determined, historical and mythological memories coincide that their existence is traceable to the 13th century. Different accounts explain their standing in the Indian caste system. The Patua are a unique community, in that their traditional occupation is the painting and modelling of Hindu idols, yet many of them are Muslims. Their name Patua is a corruption of the Bengali word Pota, which me an engraver. They are also widely known as Chitrakar, which literally me a scroll painter. The Patuas paid little attention to faith, while looking for patronage. Chitrakars themselves might have converted to Islam as a strategy to avoid the oppression by a hierarchy of subcastes created during the Sen Dynasty. This was an extremely slow process with the Patuas, as seen by the fact that every Patua has two names, one Hindu and one Muslim.

The Patua are found mainly in the districts of Murshidabad, In Bihar they are mainly found in the Magahi and Maithili speaking regions as well as in the adjoining regions of Jharkhand. In West Bengal they are a Bengali speaking community, with little or no knowledge of Urdu. The community is strictly endogamous and prefers cross-cousin marriages. The Patuas visit villages and go from house to house with their bags of scrolls. They narrate stories while unrolling the scrolls; in return of his services he is paid in cash or kind. The traditional occupation of the Patua is scroll painting, image making and other decorative work. They paint pictures on course pieces of cloth, showing images of Hindu gods and goddesses. These paintings are referred to as patas. Like other Muslim artisan groups in India, they have seen a decline in their traditional occupation. The majority are now employed as daily wage labourers.