After the holy bath on the Snan Purnima when Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra go to the Garvagriha for treatment to get rid of their fever, it is Patti Dians who are worshipped at the mukhasala of the temple.
The Patti Dians give darshan to the devotees in place of the Lords. Behind the making of these Patti Dians, there are about 50 families in Athagarh who throughout the year remain engaged in making such handicraft Pattachitras and provide to different temples, hotels, corporate houses and rich men to fit in the walls of their respective organisations.
These artists maintain their livelihoods from this profession who work for at least three generations, said Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, a national award winner for the Pattachitras from here.
Due to their achievements in making qualitative Pattachitras, multiple artists have gained several national and State level awards from different Government and private institutions. The State Government has provided a facilitation centre here for making, displaying and selling of these handicraft items.
But during this lockdown and economic slowdown period, these artists are facing the problems of raw materials and marketing of the products. No order from any corporate house has reached these artists for the last six months for economic slowdown, said Narayan Sahoo, a renowned artist of Pattachitras here.
Similarly, they don't get adequate raw materials used in this art form for several months due to shutdown and lockdown procedure of the Government from time to time for Covid-19 pandemic. In this juncture, these handicraft artists face much difficulty to earn their bread.