Introduction to Traditional Art and Craft of Odisha
This domain tests whether you can place an Odisha craft on a map, in a community and in a technique - not merely name it. Expect cluster-to-craft matching, terminology questions (bandha, tarakasi, chandua, pothi) and short notes on why a craft holds a GI tag.
A working classification
- Temple-linked / classical - Pattachitra, stone sculpture, wood carving, silver filigree (tarakasi, Cuttack).
- Village and functional - pottery, terracotta, appliqué, handloom weaving.
- Tribal - Saora idital wall painting, Kutia Kondh and Gond work, Kotpad cloth of the Mirgan community.
Cluster anchors worth memorising
- Raghurajpur (Puri district, on the Bhargavi) - Pattachitra, palm-leaf engraving, Ganjapa cards, Gotipua dance.
- Pipili (Puri district) - appliqué, especially the chandua canopy.
- Nuapatna and Maniabandha (Cuttack district) - Khandua cloth.
- Bargarh - Pasapali weave; Sonepur and Ganjam - Bomkai; Kotpad (Koraput) - natural-dyed tribal textile.
- Berhampur (Ganjam) - stone carving; Puri - wood carving and the daru idols of the Jagannath triad.
Worked example
Question: “Which of these belongs to Pipili?” Options: (a) palm-leaf pothi (b) appliqué chandua (c) tarakasi (d) Kotpad shawl. Reason: pothi is Raghurajpur, tarakasi is Cuttack, Kotpad is Koraput - so (b). The examiner is testing cluster mapping, so an answer that names only the craft and not the place earns half credit.
Traps that cost marks
Writing the old spelling “Orissa” in a current-affairs answer; giving vague locations (“a village near Puri”) instead of district plus community; assuming every Odishan painting is Pattachitra; treating a GI tag as a quality certificate rather than a geographical indication of origin.