jarano pat (Scroll Painting)

This scroll tells the story of the Bengali polymath Ishwar Chandra Vidysagar, a cultural hero, known for his efforts to promote Bengali language and literature.

A long scrolled painting sewn onto a cotton cloth lashed to a piece of bamboo handle, at the top, while the bottom simply has a bamboo handle. When rolled, the cloth acts as cover for the scroll. Twelve rectangles of paper have been stitched together sequentially and painted with scenes arranged vertically, and separated by a foliated border in light green, red, yellow, and black. From top to bottom: A large man sitting next to a tree with a house in the background to his right; a woman caring for a child under a hut with two girls each carrying a bag; a man and a woman sitting with a group of people standing outside, around a blind-folded person; three women in an archway and three more people in a hut with two people walking above diagonally across a corner and seven numbered grave stone-like shapes on top; a six storey building and a sitting person illuminated by a street light with another person behind the light post; a person lying down surrounded by four people, a man wearing white clothing facing a man wearing a red top-hat-like hat, and a man wearing a red cap-like hat facing a man wearing white clothing; a person swimming down a stream with another watching; a column with two people on each side; a bearded man behind a man wearing red clothing while entreating to a man wearing white clothing in a contemplative position, and a scholar teaching a student; a man carrying a bundle on his head with another pointing his finger behind him and a train going up diagonally across one corner; four people around a pot and six people in a circle underneath columns; and a large human head on a platform surrounded by three people.