Pipili craftsmen’s applique work to adorn raths across the globe

Bhubaneswar: On Thursday, when chariots roll across the country and abroad to celebrate Rath Yatra, many will be showcasing the applique work of craftsmen from Odisha’s famed Pipili village in Puri district.
Apart from raths in Odisha, the bright and colourful clothes with Pipili applique will be draping chariot frames in cities like Delhi, Faridabad, Pune and Kharagpur in the country as well as places in Fiji and the US. Pipili’s famed craftsmanship will also form part of the chariot decor and procession in the form of chanduas, trasa, alata, chhatis and the decorative cloth used on wooden horses and sarathi.
“Work on the cloth for the chariots starts three to four days after Snana Purnima, when the orders start coming in. I usually ready the applique work beforehand because the chariot cover traditionally has Rahu munda, parrot, kalash, and banana plants. We follow the Puri Jagannath Temple tradition in all our work,” said Ramesh Chandra Mohapatra, secretary general of the Pipili Applique Cluster, who has been supplying cloth to nearly 17 Jagannath temples in India and abroad.
Notable among these are the temples in Faridabad, Hauz Khas in New Delhi and Pune. He also supplies to the temples in Khallikote, Sheragada and Aska in Ganjam district, Nilagiri in Balasore district and to the KIIT and Patia festivals in Bhubaneswar.
“The biggest is the covering cloth for the Faridabad temple chariot. It is 54 feet in circumference and 15 feet tall. Around four craftsmen took 3-4 days to make it,” said Mohapatra.
Like Mohapatra, around 10 famous craftsmen and their artisans are busy completing the job during this time every year. Veteran craftsman Jabar Khan has been doing it for nearly 18 years. This year, he and his artisans have made the cloth for chariots of Jagannath temples at Bokaro Steel Plant, Kharagpur, Paralakhemundi, Kujang and Tala Telenga Bazar in Cuttack. “They give us the measurements for the chariot cover. Besides the traditional items, temples also order many hanging lamps to decorate their chariots,” said Khan.
The Jagannath Temple in Bokaro has been ordering decorative items for the three chariots from Khan for 18 years and the temple in Kharagpur since 2016. “This year, we have spent Rs 40,000 on the decor and the amount comes from donations. Ours is the biggest Rath Yatra in Midnapore district. In Kharagpur, the Damodar Valley Corporation and Goudia Math also take out their own chariots,” said R K Panda, secretary, Shree Jagannath Temple Committee, Kharagpur, and senior financial advisor, South Eastern Railway.
Prices of the chariot cloth and other decorations vary based on the size and craftsmanship and sometimes go beyond Rs 1 lakh. The craftsmen usually deliver them by hand or courier or send them by train. Mohapatra sent his Pune parcel with a priest from Odisha who has gone to perform all the rituals at the Jagannath temple there. “We first ordered from him in 2015. We have one chariot for the sibling deities,” said Ajay Kumar Samal, an ex-serviceman and member of the Jagannath Mandir Committee, Pune.
Temples also order other decorative items to lend an Odia touch. The Jagannath Temple at Hauz Khas has decorated the temples on its premises with chanduas from Pipili. “The orders from temples across the country not only bring us extra money, but fame too. It keeps the art alive by making it popular,” said Khan.