Naya village in Pingla, West Bengal, is home to Patachitra singing painters or ‘Patuas’ who paint stories in a series of frames on long scrolls of cloth using natural colours. Government of West Bengal’s Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises & Textiles, in association with UNESCO, has developed a Rural Craft Hub in Pingla. The village has a Folk Art Centre built by WBKVIB with lodging facility for guests equipped with basic amenities.
One can plan a day visit to Naya to take a village tour, see the beautifully painted walls and the colour trail, participate in workshops to learn to make natural colours and listen to the Patachitra songs or ‘Pater Gaan’ to know the stories of the paintings. Visit the Folk Art Centre to learn about different kinds of scrolls, the stories and marvel at the wide range of diversified products like t-shirts, hand fans, lamps, bags, umbrellas etc. you may also visit the nearby mat weavers hub at Sabang.
Naya has an annual festival called POT Maya when the whole village looks like an art gallery! The ninth edition of POT Maya will be celebrated on November 16 – 18, 2018.