By Vidushini Prasad, TEDx Speaker, Artist, Writer, Art Influencer
As a Madhubani artist, I have dedicated more than 20 years to practicing this art, from creating and exhibiting my work worldwide.
In this article, I’ll try to capture the journey and evolution of Madhubani Painting from an artist’s perspective based on my research and speaking to many stakeholders in this profession.
The present-day district of Madhubani was carved out of the old Darbhanga district in 1972 after the state reorganized its districts. It was originally a sub-division of the district of Darbhanga in the north. It consists of 21 Blocks and is bound on the north by a hill region of Nepal. It extends to the border of its parent district, Darbhanga in the south, Sitamarhi in the west, and Supaul in the east. Madhubani fairly represents the center of the territory once known as Mithila.
Madhubani: Where it all started
This folk art form originated in Madhubani (Forest of Honey) and its adjoining areas. It is a region in the northern part of Bihar, practiced mainly by female artists, where the trend is passed down for generations from mother to daughter. Madhubani Art does not belong to any conventional school of art, and due to its originality, it stands out. Most Madhubani artists are self-taught, mostly learning from their family members, handed down from generation to generation. Despite this, the basic style has remained the same, despite some changes and improvements.
Madhubani and its adjoining areas have traditionally painted walls to beautify their dwellings. Typically, women members of the family painted images on the interior walls (most of the time, it was deities of the Hindus with the local flora and fauna) of their homes on the occasion of some domestic rituals. The tradition of Kohbar, where intricate artwork is done on the walls of the room where wedding rituals take place, continues to this day in Madhubani and other parts of India.
Origin of the Madhubani Painting:
According to legend, Sita, a central character in Ramayana, was born in Madhubani. This is an essential reason for depicting her life stories in many of Madhubani’s paintings, which continue even today. According to legends, it was Janak, King of Mithila, who commissioned artists to create unique work as decorative pieces for use during the wedding of his daughter Sita. Mithila was the capital of the Videha kingdom of ancient India and Nepal. Even today, Mithila artists are spread across Madhubani in India, bordering areas between India and Nepal.
Historians attribute the original inspiration for Madhubani to women’s craving for religiousness and an intense desire to be one with God. This was based on the belief that painting something divine would help them achieve that desire. This led to an increasing number of women beginning to paint their work with themes of gods and goddesses.
Several sources give W.G. Archer, a British official in Madhubani, the credit for bringing Madhubani onto the global map. He was visiting Mithila in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 1934. During the survey, he stumbled upon several Mithila paintings, which he and his wife documented in some of his writings. He is said to have named it Mithila Art in the 1940s CE. Archer became the South Asia Curator at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. He likened many works to some of the artists like Klee, Miro, and Picasso. It has been reported that he took photos of some of the paintings, and it was published in an article in the Indian Art journal Marg, which drew general public attention to this art form.
Another vital incident that resulted in Mithila painting becoming mainstream was post-1968, which is well documented and suggests that drought during that year saw the involvement of the India Handicraft Board getting the affected people to transfer their Mithila paintings from the walls to the paper. All India Handicrafts Board is also credited with encouraging a few upper caste women in villages in Madhubani to replicate their wall paintings to paper so that they could be sold and become a source of income for women, which provided some form of empowerment. This prompted several women to take this up, and many turned out to be artists of repute. Lalit Narayan Mishra, Pupul Jayakar, Bhaskar Kulkarni, and Upendra Maharathi have also been credited with popularizing the Madhubani art in India and abroad.
The Turning Point:
The art would have remained within the confines of Madhubani had it not been the beginning of the transition from the art remaining confined to the four walls of houses in the region to getting started to being made on paper. This is considered to be the most crucial development in the spread of Mithila art and the freedom and creativity associated with it. Historians trace this moveability phenomenon from walls to paper to the 1960s. Apart from walls, floors were also used as a medium for painting.
The global recognition of Ganga Devi and Sita Devi was also a watershed event, and this encouraged local women, who aspired to becomeGanga Devi or Sita Devi.
Jitwarpur: The Epicenter of Madhubani Art
Jitwarpur is a village situated on the outskirts of Madhubani town in Bihar. It is famous thanks to Sita Devi, who lived here and whose work received global recognition. She is considered the mother of Jitwarpur village, largely due to her commitment to encouraging many people in her village to take up Madhubani art. The village is also credited with the first recipient of the President’s Award, Jagdamba Devi, in 1970. This was followed by other artists who were also honored. This includes Mahasundari Devi, Sita Devi, Ookha Devi, Godavari Dutt (she passed away on August 15, 2024) , and Bua Devi.
Primary Purpose of the Art: Decorating the House
Madhubani painting was meant to decorate the mud walls during marriages and other festivals. Kohbar (Kohbar is the place in the house where various marriage ceremony rituals take place) was mandatorily created on the wall. The marriage ceremony ritual used to be performed with the bride and groom seated before the painting. The paintings depicted Hindu gods, goddesses, and other deities of a less critical nature seeking their blessings to consummate the marriage successfully. Apart from the bride, groom, and attendants, many other symbols representing fertility and prosperity, such as fish, serpent, lotus, bamboo, parrot, peacock elephant, and tortoise, were also depicted. Kohbars were also themed on the pond life, depicting the lotus plants.
Historical Patronage: According to legend, the origin of Madhubani Art is traced to the marriage of Lord Ram and Sita. It is said that Janaka, the king of Mithilanchal and the father of Sita, ordered subjects to decorate the mud walls of their houses with paintings as a celebration and to give the entire city a colorful look.
Themes and Motifs
The themes of these paintings are usually folk or mythological. The paintings of Kobhar (done in the nuptial room on the walls) are designed to bless the newly married couple. The central theme of most of the above paintings is love and fertility. Symbols of fertility and prosperity, such as fish, parrots, elephants, turtles, the sun, moon, lotus, and bamboo, are prominent.
Apart from that, the stories of Rama-Sita, Krishna-Radha, tales from Krishna’s life, and stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata are common. Shiva – Shakti, Kali, Durga, Saraswati, Ganesh, Lakshmi, and Ramana are also some of the characters represented by Madhubani.
The floral, animal, and bird motifs form the backgrounds. One unique feature is that there is hardly any space left. All empty spaces are filled with the motifs of flowers, animals, and birds or geometric designs. The human figures are abstract and linear in form. There is no shading technique used. The outline is done with double lines, and the gaps between the lines are sometimes filled with cross or straight lines. These wall paintings became a commercial activity and were transferred to handmade paper, cloths, canvas, silk, greeting cards, dress materials, etc.
Nature of themes also underwent changes around 2000 when artists took to creating their work based on local, national, and international events (Floods, global warming, terrorism, etc.) and some burning social issues (dowry, patriarchy, bride burning, female infanticide, etc.)
In the beginning, homemade natural colors were used, but now, primarily synthetic colors are readily available. The colors are usually deep red, green, blue, black, brown, pink, and yellow.
Styles of Madhubani Painting:
Bharni (Filling) style: The Brahmins of the society practice this. The painting is first sketched with black ink with the help of a nib with intricate designs, and then They fill the paintings with bright colors. This gives the paintings a very vibrant look. This mainly is done by the people of Jitwarpur village.
Kachni (Hatching) Style: This is practiced by the Kayasthas of the society. They opt for muted hues; the figures and paintings are mainly filled with fine lines. This is also called hatching, an artistic technique that creates tonal or shading effects by drawing (or painting or scribing) in closely spaced parallel lines. In this, the paintings are sketched with black ink with the help of a nib and then filled with intricate lines to create dense, beautiful patterns and designs in black, red, yellow, or green colors. This is mainly done by the people of Ranti village.
Geru Style: This style is mainly practiced by the Harijans (lower class) of society. They wash the paper with cow dung, and paintings use earth colors. Their work lacks ornamentation and is distinguishable by a prominent black line. This style did not find many takers, and it is no longer in vogue.
Godhna Style: This art form was also practiced by the Harijans, particularly those from the Dusadh caste(traditionally agricultural laborers). These symbolic paintings are in black and use a few colors, primarily black and white. This started as tattoo art, but it is now being done on paper and canvas, which features the tribal art language of concentric circles, miniature animals (the elephant is widely depicted), and birds. The paper or canvas is covered with cow dung (gobar) solution, and after it is completely dry, the outline is created with brush and colors, filled with spaces and vertical lines.
Use of Natural Colors and Dyes
Some artists also use natural colors (Lamp soot or burnt jowar or kajal for black, white from powdered rice, Red from rose or kusum, brown from the peepal tree’s bark, yellow from turmeric or Chuna (lime) mixed with the white excretion of the banyan tree, orange from the palace flower, mauve from Jamun. In contrast, the green color is made from silver leaves or the saim creeper leaves of various plants leaves.
There are also indications that these artists’ work included themes from their mythologies (e.g., Salhesa, which signifies strength was depicted in some work). Bhaskar Kulkarni, who was from Handloom Handicrafts Export Corporation, is credited with initiating Harijan artists’ transition from wall to paper. He also brought them into the limelight Jamun Devi, by encouraging her to paint on paper, which she displayed in Japan, and she got her due recognition as one of the first scheduled caste Madhubani artists.
Comparison with other Style of Painting: With Manjusha, Warli
Madhubani’s themes are mythological, and their colors are bright, whereas Warli’s Paintings are very different. They have no mythological themes and are painted on mud, charcoal, and cow-based surfaces using Natural Dyes in white with a series of dots in red and yellow.
We can also compare Madhubani with Manjusha paintings. Manjusha was practiced in the Anga (modern Bhagalpur and my hometown) and is themed around the folklore of Bihula-Vishari, where human beings are depicted in the form of the letter ‘X’ with limbs drawn in linear and uniform bold lines. Key characters in Manjusha paintings are projected with prominent ears and big eyes. Manjusha painters use wavy lines to decorate their work.
While ‘Madhubani’ paintings are characterized by the bright and bold use of colors like black, yellow, blue, green, red, white, and orange, Manjusha artists use only three colors: red, yellow, and green on a black background.
Themes: Most of the Madhubani paintings are based on myth (scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata), everyday life, flora and fauna, village life, marriages (Doli Kahar, Ram Sita Vivah, Ardhnareshwar, etc). The locals also make paintings based on the stories of Lord Shailesh and Amla Devi. Of late, some contemporary themes depict some of the social issues of the present times)
Special Characteristics
Paintings is two dimensional, flat, characters have sharp pointed, bulged out eyes and jolting nose emerging out of the forehead designed by intricate fine lines. They are geometric designs in nature or with ornate floral patterns on it with the use of bold natural and artificial colours. Line, symbols, and patterns support the main theme which is abstract-like figures, of deities or human.
Global Recognition
It has achieved recognition and is undoubtedly one of the most researched art forms. Several sources credit W.G. Archer, a British official Madhubani, with bringing Madhubani on the global map. He was visiting Mithila in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 1934. During the survey, he stumbled upon several Mithila paintings he and his wife documented in some of his writings.
Credit for making Madhubani known internationally goes to several foreign scholars. Some key personalities who made immense contributions toward making Madhubani globally recognized include Yves Vequad, a French novelist and journalist, who wrote a book based on his research on Mithila painting and produced a film ‘The Women Painters of Mithila.’ Erika Moser, a German anthropologist filmmaker, was also instrumental in promoting this art form. Some reports also credit Moser, Raymond Lee Owens, and Dr. Gauri Mishra for setting up the Master Craftsmen Association of Mithila in 1977.
Viji Srinivasan of the Ford Foundation is also credited with developing the Mithila cluster. Interestingly, Japan has shown great interest in Madhubani paintings. This has been possible largely due to Tokyo Hasegawa’s efforts. He established the Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, and there is a regular exhibition of Madhubani paintings.
The Assistant Registrar of Geographical Indications’ 2007 grant of G.I. to the Madhubani painting also played a vital role.
Some global Art websites, such as Novica (a National Geographic partner site), Etsy.com, and fineartamerica.com, are specialized sites that help traditional artists reach global buyers directly. The fact that they have agreed to host the paintings on the site itself recognizes the art form. According to reports, most of the buyers of Madhubani art online are from outside India.
In addition, e-commerce companies like Amazon, eBay, and some Indian sites like Flipkart and Snapdeal are also encouraging artists to sell directly to buyers, not only domestically but also internationally.
Excerpts from my book A Handbook of Madhubani Paintings commissioned by the National Resource Centre for Cluster Development (NRCD) National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (ni-msme), Hyderabad under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India