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Folk paintings from the Mithila region might have become an internationally recognised cottage industry but they still retain their distinct identity, reports Devesh Anand MADHUBANI
or Mithila paintings of Bihar like Punjab’s phulkari are
essentially folk paintings done by the rural women of Madhubani
district. Located on the foothills of the Himalaya in the North, the
Ganga in the South and surrounded by the Mahananda in the East and the
Gandak in the West, Mithila is spread over 64,750 sq kms of the Indo-Gangetic
alluvial belt. It is one of the most fertile lands and thus came to be
known as Madhubani, the forest of honey.
The ancient kingdom of Mithila is believed to be the birthplace of Sita. Tulsidas in Ramayana has given a vivid description of how the entire Mithila was decorated with murals depicting Hindu deities and the flora and fauna on the occasion of Sita’s marriage. It is believed that King Janaka had asked for paintings to be made for his daughter’s wedding. These fabulous ceremonial murals have since ages been decorating the walls of the houses in districts of Champaran, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Munger, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Purnea, practically the entire part of the state. These paintings evolved out of a 5000-year-old tradition of the art of bitra-chitra or wall painting to mark social occasions like the nupital chamber of the bride and groom. This folk culture has always been monopolised and preserved by women. They have passed their skills especially to girls from one generation to another. Lately, some men have also jumped into this creativity but even today it is essentially monopolised by women. Although these paintings portray several folk idols of Madhubani (Mithila) region the main focus, however, is on Raja Salesh, considered as the chief god of these people. Gods and goddesses like Ram-Sita, Krishna-Radha, Shiva-Parvati, Durga, Kali, Ganesha, Hanuman, Ravana, the Sun, the Moon and nine planets are also depicted in these paintings. These figures are placed centrally and their consorts, mounts and floral motifs are placed in the background. The drought that struck Mithila region from 1966 to 68 led to the globalisation and commercialisation of this folk art, as a means to create a new source of non-agricultural income. The All-India Handicrafts Board, regional craft guilds, the Governments of Bihar and India, encouraged these artists to produce and market their paintings on handmade papers. The paintings which were earlier drawn only on walls, today, however, are also depicted on paper, decorative pots, saris, salwar kameez, dupattas, shoes, T- shirts, shawls, stoles, cushion covers, bed sheets, tapestry, jewellery, hankies and sometimes on wood. The world came to know about this style of painting in the early years of the last century. William and Mildred Archer, British civil servants, posted in the district were the first to document the tradition of Madhubani painting. They obtained some drawings on paper and sent them to the India Records Office in London (now part of the British Library) for specialists to study as creative works of India’s folk art. Traditionally the artists use indigenous vegetable colours and bamboo sticks wrapped in cotton for painting on handmade papers. These papers are treated with cow dung dried and subsequently preserved. They use the juice of the locally available creepers and flowers: henna leaves, flowers of harsinghar and palash, bougainvilleas and the sap of the neem tree, to obtain a range of colours. Colours are made by mixing soot with cow dung for the black; from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves for the yellow; blue from indigo; red from the kusum flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood of apple tree; white from rice powder and orange from palasha flowers. Even now, paints are prepared indigenously. Two kinds of locally made brushes are used. A small bamboo-twig with a slightly frayed end is used for drawing outlines and tiny details. The space is filled with the help of a pihua, made from tying a small piece of cloth to a twig. The outline is drawn in a single flow of the brush without preliminary sketching. Ethnic distinctions are
characteristic of Mithila folk paintings and art. This may be one
reason; why every community still preserves its own tradition. Women
of the Kayastha community do mostly outline paintings, Brahmins fill
in a rough outline on colour and Harijan women superimpose black dots
on the thick brown lines done with cow dung and water. Paintings done
by the Kayastha community have very fine delineated geometrical
patterns, generally in black and white, while the Brahmins incorporate
colours like bright blues, reds and greens. Even the women belonging
to Kamar, Palwar, Korin, Kotval, Maghiya and Dusad communities help in
making such paintings. Now this internationally recognised cottage
industry has progressed over the years. Styles and subjects have also
experienced a constant evolution as with each new artist tradition
gets blended with individual expression. |
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