• ISBN13: 9788189738068
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Fine Arts
• Publisher: Niyogi Books
• Publisher Imprint: NiyogiBook
• Publication Date: August 6, 2007
• Pages: 128
• Original Price: INR 950.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 500 grams

A little-known art form of Orissa is illustration on palm-leaf, which flourished along with the Orissan tradition of copying kavya texts on palm-leaf manuscripts and illuminating them. This art form touched its zenith during the 18th century when a large number of chitra-pothis (illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts) were done. Chitra-pothi: Illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts from Orissa traces this tradition and the development of Oriya literature, which provides the basis of palm-leaf art. It throws light on the making of the chitra-pothis and the nature of the texts that were illustrated, weaving into the larger canvas the patron, the scribe and the artist, as it goes on to analyse palm-leaf art as an illumination of the text and as an art form in itself.

Jagannath Prasad Das is a well-known poet, playwright and fiction writer whose Puri Paintings continues to be a masterly volume on Orissan art. He has also co-authored with Professor Joanna Williams of University of California, Berkeley Palm-leaf Miniatures: The Art of Raghunath Prusti of Orissa. His other publications in English include First Person, Timescapes and Lovelines - collections of poems; Before Sunset, The Underdog and Sundardas - plays; The Magic Deer, The Forbidden Street and Dear Jester - collections of stories. His plays have been translated into several Indian languages and staged in different parts of India. Before Sunset is considered a classic among modern Indian plays.