Madhubani Painting—Vibrant Folk Art of Mithila

This article traces the historical journey of a unique art-form, that of the painting of walls, floor-spaces and on the medium of paper, of Madhubani painting, referring to the place from where it became famous from the region of Mithila in North Bihar. The land of its origin being India, the social and cultural context is also explored. The article aims to document the main artists in the field, who have given their lives in preserving this form of painting and been applauded by the Government of India for their efforts. The painting style has ancient origins and it has caught the eye of both Indians and foreign art enthusiasts. The different sources from which the colours are derived for use have also been noted. Now the art-form finds expression in walls of public places like railway stations, in addition to traditional spaces and during social events. There have been National Award winning artists and the art has made long journeys. The art has combined both the traditional and contemporary themes and been transferred to apparel, upholstery, tableware and sold as artwork for modern homes and interiors. Novel themes have found a place in the art to give it a new appeal. The artists who have made a contribu-tion in revival and sustenance of the art have been listed, with their short bi-ographies in the article, along with interesting illustrations of this vibrant, colourful and timeless art-form.

in India. This art is popular in North Bihar and originally in some parts of Nepal. Though this art is now well known to the world, news items like this help refocus the world's attention to an ancient art form which originated in the land of Mithila to which Madhubani belongs. This art is mostly referred to as "Madhubani painting". Figure 1 shows women artists decorating the walls of the Madhubani railway station in Bihar. Figure 2 depicts a bright mural drawn at the station.
The Indian epic Ramayana is well known and Lord Rama is believed to have commissioned a painting during his wedding to Sita, daughter of King Janaka of  http://indianexpress.com/photos/lifestyle-gallery/mithila-artist-transforms-madhubani-rail way-station-with-traditional-madhubani-paintings-for-free-4930059/2/ (newspaper image) (accessed 12.03.2020)).

S. Ghosh
Mithila to capture the event. The term Madhubani means forests of honey. Also it is a place in Mithila whose art form has become synonymous with liveliness and colour. In the present times, Madhubani is a market town and most of the painters work in villages like Jitwarpur, 3 km away. Mithila painting and Madhubani painting are interchangeably used, though the term Mithila art is an umbrella term which includes art on paper, apparel, pots, dishes, fans and other items both decorative and utilitarian. The journey of the art can be well understood by and trace its history and evolution over the years, including the techniques and colours used for the paintings. Also the contributions of the artists who were initially anonymous housewives and later came to their own by sheer merit and Government and other support, can be studied to get the total story of this art form.

Historical Backdrop: Echoes from the Past
Regarded as the Mithila School of painting, it originated mostly in North Bihar and depicts religious stories in painting. It is called commonly called Madhubani painting which is done mostly by women (Anand, 1984). This vibrant art of Madhubani art is being created since many centuries in some parts of Bihar in India; in fact there is no concrete evidence as to when it actually began. The art was first highlighted as "Maithil" painting (Archer, 1949) (Thakur, 1981). But innovation is inevitable which can be taken as either dilution of the art or as some freshness being infused to a traditional art form.
To step back in time it is mentionable that Mithila is an ancient land north of the Ganges (Thakur, 1981 Oinavaras and were carried on during the Khandavalas, also called Darbhanga raj upto recent times. The art of aripana or drawings on the floor is a legacy, handed down through generations. The aripana is an important part of occasions and during festivals. The women get to learn and execute the aripanas as they learn it as a part of growing up, naturally. The main lady who does the drawing is called the aripana denihari. Aripanas relating to worship of different Gods and Goddesses are made during different pujas and rituals. The art is taught by mother to daughter and the painting tradition is continued. The aripanas are done in different ways; mandala drawings and the tantric designs, vrata mandalas. Aripana or alepana is derived from the word alimpana which means the art of drawing ali (wall) and that these drawings made for vratas are believed to act as a channel for invoking nature's energies. These aripanas as line drawings on the ground are done during ceremonies (Thakur, 1981). It figures among the 64 arts mentioned in the ancient treatise grihasutra. They are made in the courtyard, at entrance of the house among other places. Aripanas are traditionally made with a mix of rice powder and water called pithara. The colours red, green, yellow and black are also used along with vermillion (sindoora). Various deities of Hinduism like Shiva-Parvati, Radha-Krishna, Vishnu-Lakshmi are depicted.
The aripanas are of different types: The sarvatobhadra is a diagram drawn during Tulasi puja, Durga puja and in vrata, usually done on an initial format of one, three, five, seven or nine dots of vermillion as two triangles, one pointing to the sky and one to the earth. This motif is believed to be the source of all mandalas in vrata puja and the yantras used in the puja have also evolved from it; drawn near the Tulasi plant in the courtyard of the Brahmin and Kayastha homes of the Mithila region. The sarvatobhadra used to be drawn during Vedic sacrifices. Aripanas symbolises the presence of Shakti. The aripanas are closely related to Tantric cults. The astadala, another type of aripana is an 8 petalled lotus drawn for the Durga Puja. This is also used for the worship of Lord Vishnu.
During worship of Lord Vishnu, his various forms are depicted. The other aripanas include saddala aripana, swastika aripana, dasapata aripana and madhusravani aripana. Aripana is a ceremonial art and done on occasions like the thread ceremony, marriage, Batsartli (worship of Bat tree (banyan), a symbol of long life. Also made during Nag-panchami; the worship of snakes, Satyanarayana puja as well.
Other castes, who have been called Harijans by Mahatma Gandhi and now called "Dalits", from castes like Chamar, Dusadh and Ahirs, have taken up painting which depict their heroes like Rahu, Salhesa (actually Vedic God Indra) and Govinda. They also made narrations of their daily life and ritual practices.
This art developed at Jitwapur, 3 km from Madhubani town and also got accepted by art lovers. As already stated, men joined painting activity and socially relevant themes too found a place (Neel, 2010).

Madhubani Murals: The Writing on the Wall
The folk paintings of Mithila region are made on walls; the murals are what is commonly understood as Madhubani painting. These paintings are made on the walls of houses at Madhubani at Jitwarpur, Ranti, Darbhanga, Saharsa and Purnea. In 1967-68 this painting form got a fillip by the efforts of Sri Lalit Narayan Mishra, Foreign Trade Minister, Upendrra Maharathi and Bhaskar Kulkarni, artists (Thakur, 1981). It is a feminine art mostly made by women who are housewives. Some important artists have been Maha Savitri Devi of Ranti, Sita Devi of Jitwarpur, Baua Devi Jha, Jagadamba Devi and Mahasundari Devi who have become world famous. Figure 3 is an iconic painting by artist Sita Devi depicting Radha-Krishna along with a "gopi" or cowherd girl, a popular theme. and Dusadhs also do paintings but only isolated households got involved but with time more have come to the field. A girl was given the designs in paper form when she gets married so that she can use in her new home, and also introduce new designs. The area of Mithila has been under Brahminical domination which has had an influence on all aspects of life in Mithila. The process of painting has given a medium of expression to the women. These women are natural artists and don't really follow any norms. Though some artists are well known many faded away after creating awesome art.
The wall paintings in Mithila homes are mostly executed on the wall of three places. The Ghosain-ba-ghara, room of the family deity, the Kohabara ghara; room for newly-weds and kohabara ghara ka koniyan, the verandah outside the kohabara. The kohabara room has paintings mostly of mythological stories and legends made of red coloured mineral pigment, gairika (Thakur, 1981). Figure 4 is an example of a kohabara painting by artist Sita Devi. Not all paintings are narrative in nature, some depict nature; plants and animals. Figure 5 shows a stylized peacock, the national bird of India. There are themes of the paintings like the Harisauna piya ka chitra done with vermillion depicting the life of two girls. The Ghosain ghara ka chitra is also a type of wall painting. The Sarovarachitra is a family pool and depicts fish, turtles etc. Inside the bridal chamber nayana yoginis with articles which they carry on their heads is painted in four corners. The verandah outside has paintings of rural scenes of the Mithila region. Figure 6 depicts the Mahavidyas, a concept from Indian mythology; which refers to the group of ten aspects of "Adi Parashakti", all forms of Goddess Parvati in Hinduism. Sometimes the paintings are made on paper, pots, fans and earthen-dishes. The art from lacks symmetry, animals are depicted to symbolize   ing images (Tiwari, 2018). The net result is one of brightness and a burst of energy.

Techniques of Painting: A Labour of Love
The wall surfaces are prepared by plastering with cow dung or first white-washed on which paintings are made. The paints were previously prepared but now they are procured from villages from the market town of Madhubani, Purnea with the supply coming from Kolkata. The colours used are gulabi, nila, sindura, sugapankhi (green). Originally black was made from burnt barley seeds, yellow from turmeric, or chuna (lime) mixed with milk from banyan leaf, orange from palash flower, red from the juice of the kusuma flower and green from bel leaves.
Paintings of the Kayastha families have brown, yellow-ochre, turmeric and myrobalan (harada), madder red and black colours which are bought in modern times, mixed with goats milk. White colour can be got by mixing of rice powder in water. Colours used to create black is from soot, light brown is derived by mixing cow-dung and gum in fresh water. Pipal bark yields pink when dried and boiled in water. Blue colour is obtained from berries of an herb called sikkar. Dark green is from the Siam creeper and parrot green from the sepals of gulmohar. Red can also be derived from clay, yellow from pollen (Thakur, 1981), but nowadays other organic and mineral colours are being used. Figure 7  them draws the composition and others fill in the colour. Younger girls assist the older women. Kayastha families keep paper notes of the artwork, to be made during ceremonies. It is even shared with the same caste from different villages. The styles get repeated but with variations, though the idioms remain the same. Now synthetic colours are also being used as seen in Figure 8 for modern creations, since organic dyes take long to prepare.

Theme of the Paintings: Varied and Timeless
The favourite deity of the Brahmins and Kayasthas is Goddess Durga. Goddess Kali is an important deity in Tantrik rituals and tantra has had an important effect in the making of Aripana and wall paintings. The major motifs used depict flora, fauna, mostly natural life, also Gods, goddesses, lion, fish, parrot, turtle, bamboo, lotus, creepers, "swastika'' among others. These forms are interchangeably used as per the ritual. Events like the thread ceremony, initial wedding formalities, final wedding rites, the renovation of shrines, all demand paintings. Paintings are made for both beautification and sanctification of the courtyard and threshold. Kohabara paintings augment well for the marriage.  own significance. Elephant, palanquin denote royalty. Sun and moon represent long life. Goose and peacock are symbols of welfare and calmness (Thakur, 1981). Lotus denotes good luck and the feminine, the bamboo denotes future progeny and the male gender.
During the thread ceremony or upanayana, Gods and Goddesses, sun and moon are depicted. Figure 10  lack of Western influence (Neel, 2010). However another school of thought will always feel that the Kohabara version is the authentic Madhubani and commercialistaion of the form is destroying the tradition.
In spite of all this, this art is evolving with the times. It is getting depicted on saris, t-shirts, paper stands, bags, home décor and apparel like dupattas and palazzos in addition to public places and traditional surfaces.

Baua Devi
Baua Devi is from Jitwarpur in Mithila district, Bihar. She brought the wall  Figure 11 shows the artist, Baua Devi showcasing her work.

Ganga Devi
Born  Figure 12 is an image of Mahasundari Devi at work.

Bharti Dayal
Bharti Dayal is a contemporary artist from Samastipur, Darbhanga district of Bihar, working in this field from 1984. She is actively propagating the art on media like acrylic and canvas. She has got recognition of the art as a fine art worldwide and has won many awards and held an exhibition at the Museum of Sacred Art, Belgium. She guided other women artists. She paints with natural and vegetable based colours (Dayal, 2016). She combines traditional art and modern topics of the day. She has won the National Award for Excellence in Crafts in 2006. Her painting in Figure 13 "Bitiya" means daughter, in Hndi language, highlighting the girl child.
The image in Figure 14  A painting with a depiction of a scene from the "Ramayana" epic is seen in Figure 15. This is the kidnapping of Sita, the wife of Rama, by the demon Ravenna. Ravana is sitting on the backs of horses. Made in the bharni style (coloured), derived from the tradition of the Brahmins and Kayasthas. A jail in New Delhi has Madhubani paintings on its walls as shown in Figure   16, which could probably set a trend for other institutions to encourage this practice.
Jitwarpur has produced artists like Siban Paswan, Siva Lal Das, Rekha Das, Satya Narayan Koru and Joy Narayan Lal Das in the field, which has Governmental support with 38 centres in Bihar, 21 in North Bihar alone and assistance given for marketing of the finished pieces as well (Das, 2013).
Modern 21 st century homes are always looking for something "different'' or unique to enliven living spaces. Figure 17 depicts a wall livened up using this art form. Madhubani art is thus helping in this regard with both retail outlets selling the paintings across India and with the advent of shopping through Internet portals, it is being sold online which goes a long way in sustaining this ancient art-form by providing livelihood to the artists and from it getting lost in the vicissitudes of time.

Conclusion: The Journey Continues
This ancient art which began as murals on walls and floors of village homes in North Bihar continues its journey with both the traditional motifs and the modern idioms juxtaposing each other as can be seen on walls, public spaces and in   outlets selling the craft. As seen in the article, the traditional families will continue to make the paintings during ceremonies and the art form will adorn the rooms of newly-weds, the kohabara. On the other hand in addition to narrating a mythological event from the strong repertoire of Indian legends or depicting daily life and rituals, or depicting social themes and motifs of animals and birds, the paintings will find a place in public spaces and elite drawing rooms thus ensuring a market for survival. Also online e-commerce sites have begun selling the craft which augurs well to expand the market. So as we move on to the 21 st century there will be more of Madhubani on different surfaces including apparel, tableware, upholstery and home décor. Innovations will find a way to keep the art thriving and fresh in the eyes of the discerning global buyer who may also be an art enthusiast. The painting practice provides income and empowers women who also have a goal to empower others, which makes them aware of their rights and gives them confidence to deal with other social issues.

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.