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Raghurajpur village, a small village near Puri, is well-known for its art and culture. It is situated on the southern bank of the river Bhargavi, about 14 km away from the city of Puri. It has occupied a prominent position in India’s cultural map. The village represents the rich cultural heritage of the state of Orissa. Almost every family in Raghurajpur village is engaged in art and craft works, and as such it wouldn’t be an overstatement to refer to it as the artisans village.
Raghurajpur is considered as the heritage craft village of the state of Orissa. Surrounded by coconut, jackfruit, mango and some other tropical trees, this village has a very pleasant atmosphere. The nearby paddy fields are dotted with numerous betel-leave gardens. This village houses numerous small temples dedicated to Lord Lamxinarayan, Radha Mohan, Raghunath, Gouranga, Gopinath and Bhuasuni, which happens to be the local deity of this village.
Almost every house in Raghurajpur village has a skilled artist. The artists are seen busy engaged in various activities like the patta paintings, engravings on palm leaf, as well as creating stone idols, masks, wooden idols, sculptures and toys. The community of artisans in Raghurajpur creates various types of handicraft items including talapatachitra, patachitras, which are the folk paintings in Orissa, papier mache toys, tusser paintings and cow-dung toys. They have developed mastery in creating poetry on cloth, dried palm leaf or paper. Patachitra painting is considered as the internationally celebrated art form of Raghurajpur village. There are about 103 houses, having approximately 311 artisans in Raghurajpur village. Some of these artists are the National Award winners.
The three patas painted by the chitrakaras in this village are placed on the singhasana or the deity throne of the main Jagannath Temple in Puri, during anasara (the fortnight following the full-moon day) in the months of May-June. The chitrakaras also create beautiful paintings on the chariots of popular Rath Yatra in Puri.
Besides these arts and crafts, Raghurajpur village is also famous for its traditional performing dance, known as Gotipua. This village is the birth place of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the great Odissi dancer. He had his primary training of Gotipua in this village. Now, Maa Dasabhuja Gotipua Odissi Dance School, Gotipua Gurukul, has been established in the village under the guidance of Guru Maguni Charan Das. Even today, the young boys in the village practice the Gotipua dance.
Raghurajpur village is an ideal place to get some fascinating glimpses of the rich cultural heritage of Orissa. Your Orissa tour is incomplete if you miss to visit this quaint village, where art rules the hearts even in this age of crude materialism.
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