Pattachitra is one of the oldest surviving painting traditions in India. The name comes from Sanskrit: patta (cloth) + chitra (picture). Developed over a thousand years in the sacred context of the Jagannath temple at Puri, it is both a devotional practice and a complete artistic tradition with its own iconography, philosophy, and materials technology.

The artisans who created Pattachitra — called chitrakars — were originally employed by the Puri temple to paint the sacred icons of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra. Over centuries, this sacred practice evolved into the rich secular art tradition celebrated today. The village of Raghurajpur became its spiritual centre.