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Pattachitra was a dying art by the early 50s of the last century .The kings no more patronized the artists and the public did not buy the paintings any longer. It was an American lady called Halina Zealy who resuscitated and revived the art .Today village Raghurajpur has become a model art village. This village has traditionally been entrusted to male patta paintings of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra for the fourteen day long ‘Anavasar’period before the annual car festival in June July. These paintings called ‘Anasara Pati ‘are hung from a bamboo split screen inside the temple while the wooden images are repainted .These patta paintings then represent the deities and are worshiped during that period.
The chitrakars also paint the temple walls, the temple walls, the chariots and in their free time paint scrolls and sells to the public. The paintings they do are famous as ‘Jatripati’.They also paint circular playing cards (ganjifa) known as ‘Ganjapasara’
Pattachitras of Puri areunique and known for their exquisite artistry. These are different from the patuas of West Bengal, miniature paintings o f Rajasthan, folk paintings of Madhubani and the narrative paintings of Kalamkari.The paintings of Puri are still linked to the Jagannath temple and have ritual significance
Though Raghurajpur village on the bank of river Bhargavi about twelve kilometers from Puri is considered Orissa’s art land Dandasahi and Khasposak are also art village that produce numerous pata painting for commercial purpose. The chitrakars take their art with seriousness and they maintain strict regimen in their life style. Earlier, it was only the male chitrakaras who used to paint .But today, others have also adopted the art and womenfolk have carved a niche for themselves