The Sacred Stories of the Ganga Patams: A Visual Study

Abstract

The present paper is a brief introduction to patams (cloth wall hangings) and canopies that were used primarily for temple decorations and for narrating stories based on caste mythologies. They are generally called as Ganga Patam/ Duppati (wall hanging/ Textile) named after the principal icon and deity, Gangamma who is worshipped mainly by Yadava or the Golla caste (cattle herders) and are hand painted using the cloth dyeing process of Kalamkari. The paper tries to trace the journey of this traditional art from walls, to cloth and to various regions and shifts in themes.