Twenty-seven years ago, a 17-year-old boy was presented a beautiful beaded fan from Rajasthan. The boy decided to stir the air with the fan, and soon enough, was mesmerised. The boy embarked on a journey collecting pankhas, growing up to be the renowned artist Jatin Das. Over the decades his collection grew,
making him one of the biggest fan connoisseurs in the world. “Today, I own around 6,500 fans from all over the world,” says the 58-year-old artist from Orissa, who has a deep interest in traditional art forms and besides fans, also owns a grand collection of lacquered handcrafted toys, terracotta objects, ceramics and other handicrafts by Indian artisans.
For Das, fans are his connection with antiquity. “Fans are a minuscule part of Indian culture, but have survived because rural folk still make and use them. I would often ask chowkidars, cooks and peons for hand-fans because they are the people who are still connected to the tradition. Although the cost of making a pankha is minimal, the workmanship, effort and personal touch make these delicate objects priceless. My collection of hand-fans is a small attempt to draw attention to this rare and dying craft of India,” says the artist.
Das believes that pankhas are a form of romance, poetry, erotica, subtleness and tales. “Its beauty lies in its function, in cooling, cajoling and embellishment. The whole idea of a pankha collection is not selling or making money. It is pleasure without any ulterior motive. It’s like finding happiness in small little things and doing it without any value judgment,” he says.
In the past, fans formed an intrinsic part of every Indian household, and they came in a wide array of shapes and fabrics. From beads, leather, cotton, silk, bamboo, khajoor (palm leaf) to brass, silver, ivory and gold, there were revolving fans, lavishly decorated royal fans, small ceremonial Krishna fans, fly whisks used in mosques and gurudwaras. “I also have antique hand-pulled ceiling fans from the Mughal period that were used in royal courts and aristocratic darbars. There is one made by sadhus from Majuli Island in Assam. They are huge fans, made from ivory and cane. They make it over several months and then sell it to affluent families, who present them to brides as heirloom pieces,” says Das.
In addition to 6,500 fans, Das also has about 2,000 paintings and photographs of fans. “I have made 10 documentary films on fan-making and also have a collection of poems on fans,” he says. He now plans to make his treasures available to the public at the JD Centre of Art, which is under construction in Bhubaneswar.