We are all very familiar with Mithila art, commonly known as Madhubani. But do we know that this art has unbelievably survived the passage of time since the days of Ramayana? Spell binding, isn’t it? Mithila art traces its origins to the time when Raja Janaka’s local artists decorated Mithila nagari with elaborate murals and wall paintings (Bhitti Chitra) for the wedding of his daughter Sita to Lord Rama. It is indeed amazing for an art form to have survived through generations since those ancient times. Madhubani is much more than meets the eye – a unique culture which is actually a living tradition!
Mithila painting, Madhubani painting, Mithila folk art are amongst its numerous names. However, the original name is LIKHIYA. Likhiya means the art of writing, the act of writing. This writing tradition of women from Mithila region is actually the ancient knowledge tradition being passed from mothers to daughters; the tool being colour and forms, and not words or alphabets. These folklore story-paintings are a product of their daily socio-cultural engagements, their prayers being integrated with community experiences.
Before this art-form got the status of folk art in 1970, Madhubani art was limited to the homes of Mithila region. It was painted on home-walls during religious ceremonies, fasting ceremonies, mundan-upanayan ceremonies, marriage ceremonies etc. Post 1970, Madhubani surprised art connoisseurs when this art form reached International stage through International art expo in Japan. Today, collections across the world feature fine examples of Madhubani painting. There is a dedicated Mithila museum in Tokamachi, Japan which has 850 Madhubani paintings. And this is the only museum dedicated to this ephemeral art form world across.
The discovery of Madhubani art is also interesting. It would never have been known outside that region, had a coincidence not happened. After a major earthquake in Bihar in 1934, a British surveyor, W.G. Archer, discovered this beautiful art on the broken walls of the houses damaged in the earthquake. He documented this art form and wrote many papers.
Madhubani narratives feature divine forms, stories, flora, fauna. The duality of life/death, man/woman, joy/sorrow etc in the imagery represent a holistic universe. Sita and Rama, Radha and Krishna, Shakti and Shiva, Sun and Moon, Flora and Fauna are depicted beautifully in the art scapes. A 1965 draught in Mithila region opened a possibility for the wall art to move to handmade paper and make it available for sales. It wasn’t easy for women to accept their religious sentiments to be commercialised. Bhaskar Kulkarni played a very important role here to bring out this ancestral tradition to the world.
A fascinating fact is that the Madhubani paintings were done by specific communities and each community had a different style. There are three schools of Mithila paintings. Bharni or coloured paintings, practised by Brahmin women. Kachni or Line paintings, practised by Kayastha women. Goidana paintings practised by Dalit women.
Today, these styles have merged. And the joy of holding the brush/pen and making the same strokes as the days of Sita makes the heart jump to try out a small Madhubani motif. It’s not just a form- but the mind and heart of an ancient tradition, the lore of those mythological heroes and religious deities. Let’s experience the spirituality of Mithila with those fine, dual lines and relive this ancestral, holistic
