The paintings of Madhubani

Each nation has its own culture, heritage and different form of cultural expression
in art and literature. India as a country celebrating its diversity is rich living history
of arts. Madhubani art is one such popular art form of our time with its root in
ancient Bihar. The origin of Madhubani art is said to be associated with Bhitti
chitra done on the mud walls in the reign of Janak. In the wedding of Godess sita ,
King janak ordered his citizens to decorate their house walls with drawings .i.e
bhitti chitra. The alternative name of Madhubani painting is Mithila painting. In
the Mithila region of Bihar , it is a traditional part of culture and is passed from
one generation to next generation .

Madhubani painting can be classified into many categories like floor

painting, wall painting or mural paintings, canvas painting and so on. They
express their love of nature, spiritual concepts and knowledge of epic through
these paintings. In one of the interview conducted regarding the history of
Madhubani painting, artist Rajkumar Lai mentioned, "In around 1964 the place
Madhubani was attacked by a big earthquake. That time few members of the All
India Handicrafts Board, Delhi came to Madhubani for survey. At that time they
were attracted by the wall painting of Madhubani. They gave suggestions to some
local artisans to paint on cloth and paper in their traditional way. They also
encouraged the women of Madhubani for commercial sale".
Since then the wall paintings were replaced on handmade paper and gradually it
earned praise for other mediums and design like greetings cards, bed sheets, saris,
wooden crafts and other materials. It is from 1975 , government of India sarted to
acknowledge the contribution of madhubani artists . Jagdamba Devi was awarded
by padam shri in 1975 and after her many deserving artists got awards in later
years.
The tradition of Madhubani painting of Bihar has continued unbroken to the
present day and has yet evolved with the times and changing more. Madhubani
painting was traditionally done with fingers, twigs,brushes, nib pens and
matchsticks using natural dyes and pigments. Colors were prepared by kusum
flowers, turmeric, soot and other natural elements. The geometrical pattern are eye
catching in Madhubani paintings. Lines and spacing are very important aspect of
these paintings as there is no empty space left in whole drawings. The space for
sky or land is filled with foliages. One more crucial aspect of Madhubani painting
is double outline, which is usually left uncolored in order to create more intensity,
depth and harmony.
 These paintings are practiced by the women folk, which is an entirely feminine
school of folk painting. But at present some educated male artists involve in this
pictorial tradition. The canvas paintings seen at every house in Madhubani are very
attractive, whether painted with colors or ink painting.
Madhubani art has five distinctive styles namely, Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Nepali
and kohbar. It is a curious study to know that casteism and class consciousness also
work in realm of art too. Bharni and katchni style is popular among only kayasth
and Brahmin women who have higher social prestige in caste based Indian
society.

This ethnic art tradition is practised till date in the village of Jitwarpur,
Ranti, Rasidpur, Simri, Bacchi, Rajangarh etc . But now, Madhubani paintings
have reached everywhere . The most significant development though has been its
interpretation on various products such as saris, bedsheets, curtains, pottery, trays,
etc. As an art form Madhubani paintings bring art more close to life.