MADHUBANI PAINTING

Madhubani art is also called Mithila art. It is a style of painting that is being practised in the Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal. It is one of the areas of Bihar named Madhubani.

Madhubani came from the word “Madhuban '' meaning the forest of honey. Sometimes it also states as the combination of “madhur vaani” sweet voice. Madhubani is an Indian state of Bihar. It comes under Darbhanga division. Mahubani is situated about 35 km from the Nepal border 26 Km from Darbhanga, 180 Km from Patna and 100 Km from Saharsa.

Artists make these paintings with the help of natural colours and shades. They use their fingers to give shapes and grades. There are many other mediums also such as brushes, matchsticks, and nib pens. Paint is made from leaves, flowers, natural pigments and many more natural dyes. It has some kind of geometrical shapes and designs. Madhubani paintings are being used on many occasions like marriage(Kohbar), aerpan, birth, Upnayan(a cultural function for the son of the house), and festivals as well like Durga puja, kali puja, Ekadashi and many more.

These paintings are mainly painted by women but now this ritual has been changed. Now, everyone in the family who is interested and who knows techniques is involved in this painting. They use handmade paper, canvas, walls, floors of the house, clothes and more.

Signs

Madhubani painting usually depicts scenes of nature, occasions like weddings, animals, and deities from the ancient epics. In natural scenarios, it is mostly the sun, moon, tulsi plant of tulsi, banana tree, and many more things that are holy and considered an important element for the environment. These are widely painted on the surface with no gaps in the painting. It is usually filled with flowers, animals, birds or sometimes geometrical shapes and figures. There are many vibrant colours used in such paintings.

Styles

Madhubani painting has mainly five styles:

● Bharni

● Katchni

● Tantrik

● Godna

● Kohbar

Bharni and Tantrik both styles are drawn by Brahmin women of Bihar and Nepal in the Mithila region. Both styles are the depiction of religious themes such as gods and goddesses.

The story of its birth

Madhubani painting has a great history. It was first created at Mithila, the birthplace of Devi Sita, daughter of King Janak and the wife of God Rama. According to the legends, it is stated that King Janak ordered his royal painters to capture all the rituals and moments of the marriage of his daughter Sita. Traditionally, Madhubani paintings are created by women of Mithila in the form of Kohbar(the room of the house where a newly married couple lives) on the occasion of marriage or holy ceremonies of the house. Its origin is Jitwarpur village, Madhubani, district of State Bihar.

Madhubani painting has one more style which is in the form of wall painting. After the identification of such paintings, Madhubani art is being painted on the walls of temples, in ancient times it was painted on the wall of the King's palace.

There are many witnesses of such evidence in the form of ancient Mithila temples and buildings.

There is an ancient Mithila university in Darbhanga, Bihar which has Madhubani Paintings on their wall. Many monuments have Madhubani paintings on the walls and buildings such as Madhubani Railway station, Patna junction, Ram Janaki Temple and many more.

Popularity, Not Enough!

The discovery of Madhubani art in the vision of India has become possible only because of Bhaskar Kulkarni. Bhaskar Kulkarni came to Bihar for the inspection during the worst drought in 1962. When he was wandering here and there he saw these paintings on the wall. Then he thought that such things should come into the limelight through the medium of paper so that more income can be generated. After his initiative, the popularity of Madhubani art has increased in the vision of the Indian Government from time to time and now Madhubani painting is worldwide famous. And now, we have many renowned artists such as Madhubani Painters. Madhubani painting has won thousands of awards including Padmashree. Names that earned recognition from Madhubani art are Sita Devi, Yamuna Devi, Jagdamba Devi, Baua Devi and many more.

After such recognition, the journey for development has been increasing day by day. Many schools and colleges have been opened for Madhubani Painting. Currently, the Bauwa Devi Padmashree awardee is the principal of the school of Mithila Art.

Awardees

● Baua Devi: In 1984, she won the National Award and in 2017, she won Padmashree for Madhubani Painting.

● Dulari Devi: She won the Padmashree for her contribution to Mithila Art.

● Shanti Devi: She is a national award winner who painted Chandrayaan-3 in Bharat Mandapam.

● Godavari Dutta: She won the highest civilian awards in recognition.

These names are not enough. There are many names which are not even recognised but they exist. They have not only won Indian awards but also international awards. Now, there are many international Museums that represent Mithila art such as the Japanese Museum on Mithila Art in Japan.

Being An Artist Is Not Easy!

Winning many awards and winning many hearts is not as easy as it seems. Like this, Madhubani painters also have many challenges.

According to an interview in Craft’s Museum, we saw a Madhubani painter sitting in his stall having no customers. When we asked him he said: “Aaj 14 din ho gye aur dukan humara aise ka aise hi hai koi bikri nhi hui hai!” Means: it's been 14 days but we haven’t sold any pieces yet because customers are not coming. In addition, he said, we have not a single problem related to our food or our residence but we are here far from our family, travelling from Bihar to Delhi but no profit means no meaning. We came here to sell our paintings which costs a lot for us because my whole family is involved in this painting for our livelihood but we can earn only a basic livelihood nothing more than that.

When we asked about average income he said in Maithili: “Parmeshwar ke daya sa jindagi chael rahal chhey!”

This means with the grace of god life goes on.

Coming to Government support he told us that they do not have such specific financial help but with the help of the registration of painters they can participate in governmental exhibitions like Trade fairs, crafts museums and many more.

He said that his father was willing to get a government job for him but he refused a 9-5 job when he came into this profession. Initially, he had no ideas about paints and brushes but with practice and dedication he learnt Madhubani painting and now his sons, daughters and wife all are involved in this work.

This is the story of only one person. Many people have lots of challenges behind the most vibrant colours of this painting. Many painters said that they do not have all rights to their creativity because people steal their designs. Painters have to adopt middlemen to sell their pieces in which they earn minimal prices. Artists do not have access to their creativity because of such things.

Preserve Art But How?

Preservation means that how can save our art and artists. There are many challenges for our artists like challenge for identification, challenge for originality, challenge for their patent and many more. If such kind of challenges will sustain for long then there is a high probability that we will lose our art. So, the question is that how can we work for such challenges?

There are many point of views which can help us to preserve our art and artists. Let’s see these different aspects:

· With the help of buyer

· With the help of government

· With the help of artists

Buyer: Appreciating The Art

As a buyer what will you see first? Your purchasing power! Yes, it is pretty obvious that you will be very concerned about your purchasing power so that you can set your interest and need. Being a consumer or an artist lover we should have to respect such arts adequately. Usually, we eliminate our purchasing power over such art which is very unfair to our artists.

During that visit, we saw that customers were spending their interest on clothes, and accessories but very few were interested in such paintings and art.

Government: Influencing The Art

The role of government is always to influence the people of their area so artists are also a part of such areas. When they do not have any options then they have a single option that is government.

It is very unfair to say that government is not doing anything for them but more should be more appreciated. Government is giving some opportunities to the artists so that they can spread their art but such opportunities should have a wide range. There are many artists who are still unaware of schemes and policies. A proper set of updated information bulletin that should be displayed under the education policy so that everyone is aware to such things.

Artists: Driving to the end

Artists are the one who makes our rituals and traditions alive for a long time that’s why they are driver who drives for our art to the endless path. So being an artist one should be very careful about new trends and demands. Following a ritual is good thing but adding new tastes and faces in that without hampering their originality is a different thing that is very important. So, originality with individuality is very important in preservation of our art.

In conclusion, I can only say that art is our live long identification so to respect and to adapt is our responsibility. We all are responsible to preserve our art and artists.

“Art never dies, artists never cry.”