Madhubani Paintings

Double lined contours filled with smooth running marrow like lines or cross hatchings to emphasise the sensuous beauty of the represented figures, big eyes with curiously shining black pupils gazing happily at the viewers, predominant use of colours like blue, green, pink, orange and red, and a host of imageries culled from myths, folklore, rituals and contemporary events- Madhubani or Mithila paintings stand distinct amongst a host of Indian folk and tribal traditions of paintings. As the name suggests, the origin of this style could be traced back to the Mithila region and a village named Madhuban in North Bihar.

Today, Madhubani paintings have admirers all over the world. Important museums like Arts and Craft Museum in New Delhi, Chandradhari Mithila Museum in Darbhanga, Museum of Sacred Art in Belgium, Mithila Museum in Japan, Museum of Norway and so on house large collections of Madhubani paintings. Besides, many contemporary artists, both self-trained and academically educated, practice Madhubani style painting as a part of their experimentation with visual linguistics as well as for pure pleasure. Scholars and avid art collectors, ethnic art promoters as well as laymen with hardly any exposure to nuances of fine arts, equally enjoy the simplicity and liveliness of Madhubani paintings and collect Madhubani portfolios.

However, it would be interesting to know that till half a century ago this wonderful folk visual art tradition was unknown to the world. Calamities change not only the socio- political and cultural landscape but also the human mindscape. This was what exactly happened in Mithila in 1934. After a tragic earthquake that had devastated most of the villages in northern Bihar, a team led by the British colonial officer W.G.Archer visited the villages to make an extensive survey for future reconstruction. There, on the collapsed walls, Archer found some paintings that could, according to him, stand at par with the works of the modern masters of the West. He photographed them and published an extensive article in the illustrious journal of art and culture, Marg. Though Archer’s article attracted many art enthusiasts towards this new genre of art, it took another thirty years for the government to pitch in and do something towards bringing out Madhubani paintings as a popular art tradition of India. Exactly thirty years after the earthquake, in 1964, when the Mithila region came under a severe drought situation, Dr.Pupul Jayakar, the then Director of the All India Handicrafts Board, sent a Bombay based artist, Bhaskar Kulkarni, to train the women in Mithila to experiment with various portable contemporary mediums like canvas, fabric, paper and boards.

Originally, Madhubani paintings were done by women in Mithila region. While it was a gender specific cultural activity, it had also a lot to do with ritualistic practices pertaining to religious as well as domestic faiths. When religious aspects were involved, in a stratified Indian society, it was impossible to wish away the caste specifications attached to the practice of this art form. Mainly, Madhubani paintings were done by Brahmin and Kayastha women. But, at the same time, women from the lower castes and Dalit sections were also practicing the art from within their socio-cultural perimeters. Whatever their social niche, all those women used wet mud or cow dung coated walls to paint the imageries using their traditionally handed down skills. Today when the regional and religious barriers have crumbled, women from this region paint on various surfaces without thinking much about the permissibility of certain imageries. Interestingly, even the gender barrier has collapsed today and we can see quite a few male artists practicing Madhubani style painting.

Myths say that the King of Mithila, Janaka, while preparing for the marriage of his daughter, Sita, the quintessential woman, paragon of all virtues and the heroine of the epic, Ramayana, had asked the women of his kingdom to paint their houses with beautiful pictures. The king was so liberal that he gave permission to them to choose any theme that they wanted to paint. However, women of the kingdom stuck to the idea of fertility and procreation, celebration of nature and adulation of gods as the royal order was given during an auspicious marriage ceremony. It is also said that women paint mostly auspicious images because of their perennial religiosity and their inner urge to be one with the divine soul. For women at the bottom of the rung in a society, Madhubani painting might have served as an instrument of liberation themselves from social clutches.

Kohbar Ghar in Maithili means a nuptial chamber and one major aspect of Madhubani painting is the decoration of these nuptial chambers with fertility images. After marriage the newly married couples are led to live in this chamber for three days and on the fourth day, they are expected to consummate their marriage. Madhubani painters use twigs, brushes and naturally procured pigments for painting their images. Even after shifting from wet mud walls to papers, the original Madhubani artists stick to the traditional painting materials and tools.

Government of India recognized the contribution of Madhubani painters by honouring the pioneering Madhubani artist, Jagdamba Devi, in 1970. In 2008, another artist, Mahasundari Devi, was awarded Padmashri. Both public and private art promoting agencies today consider Madhubani painting as one of the definitive cultural contributions of India to the world and promote Madhubani painting on national and international platforms with respect and verve. This portfolio by Lalit Kala Akademi is one such effort to keep the legacy of Madhubani painting going strong.

Portfolio Name: Madhubani Paintings
Source: Lalit Kala Akademi