Putting a bird on it – ‘Rock star’ Chitta Dey from Bengal carves giant birds using in-situ rock surface
Purulia’s iconic Pakhi Pahar- 800 feet high hill (Murraburru Hill) is a canvas for artist Chitta Dey who has been dexterously using in-situ rock carvings to promote conservation.
The famous Pakhi Pahar of Purulia, West Bengal has been capturing the attention of travellers for some decades because of life size birds chiselled on the rock surface by Dey 65, who was Inspired by the soaring of birds and fancied showcasing his work on a canvas without limits.
Along with Pakhi Pahar, Dey has also created a series of carvings at nearby Kana Pahar. Being Part of the region’s Ayodhya Hills, this is but a small section of the growing canvas of artist Chitta Dey’s work.
It was over three decades ago, in 1989, that Dey began to draw his Pakhi series. Birds, with their freedom to fly, always inspired awe in the artist. Growing up in Taki, he’d watch flocks take to the air after pecking on paddy fields, and the imagery has remained with him since.
He created a humongous artwork of a bird in 1992, which was too large to actually fit in the gallery space and he had to cut off parts from the wing to accommodate it. Later, on the request of the patron who bought his piece, he restored the wings of the bird to their original size.
The experience planted the idea of wanting to give his art a bigger canvas. The sky was the limit and he wanted to showcase his work in a way that people could view without restriction — and the idea of Pakhi Pahar was born.
Dey believes that rocks inherently have images and once the extra bits are chipped off, the imagery is revealed.
He also worked as a make-up artist for a long time after training under veteran make-up artist Shakti Sen. His work with Sen laid the foundations for his interest in sculpting. It was an exhibition held at the Natya Mela in 1977, showcasing posters, photographs and set models of various theatre productions, which changed the course of Dey’s life.
He created a set model of the play Chak Bhanga Madhu, which he fitted with fairy lights. The models on display were covered with a shade and thus only clearly visible when studied closely, making his lit-up creation stand out.
A decade later, in 1987, Chitta Dey became the art director of the first Bengali television serial aired on Kolkata Doordarshan, called Tero Parbon. Following this, he worked as the art director of other hit serials such as Sei Shomoy and Uranchandi. Offers for movies also came in, but Dey didn’t get much satisfaction. He had something larger than life in mind, and soon left his job designing sets to concentrate on painting.
He travelled to Barabar caves, Kalra caves, Ajanta-Ellora, Unakoti and many other sites to research.
Unlike carved stone structures like the Konark Temple, where stone slabs are transported to a designated site and then carved, the in-situ carving involves creating sculptures where the rock is carved out in its own place.
The project also focuses on preserving these naturally beautiful areas and the hills through art. Dey chose Purulia’s Ayodhya Hills as the site of his project after travelling across the country. He was given permission by then-Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and the project took flight.
Dey’s more recent ventures include carvings on Kana Pahar made in 2019 on Ayodhya Hills. The Kilometer long expansion are colourful etchings of squirrels, elephants, frogs, 49 million-year-old Ambulocetus, or the Triassic Age Longisquama.
Five boulders in the area have been selected to carve out a cave and Dey plans to spread out his canvas with carvings on the hills of Charpaniya, Marble lake, Bamni and Shimatar, all along the Ayodhya Hills.
Chitta Dey wishes to open a training centre in Purulia to pass on the skills he has learnt in the decades pursuing his art. He wants to appeal to the government to train the guides of Pakhi Pahar and to limit the movement of vehicles so these stone mountains can be preserved.
He is of the belief that he might not be able to finish the work of carving rocks, but the rocks carved by him will be preserved as he has triumphantly put the birds on them.
