A GLANCE---Madhubani Paintings

          Madhubani painting originated in a small village,  of the Bihar state of India. Initially, the womenfolk of the village drew the paintings on the walls of their home, as an illustration of their thoughts, hopes and dreams. With time, the paintings started becoming a part of festivities and special events, like marriage. Slowly and gradually, the Madhubani painting of India crossed the traditional boundaries and started reaching connoisseurs of art, both at the national as well as the international level.

The traditional base of freshly plastered mud wall of huts has now been replaced by cloth, handmade paper and canvas. Since the paintings have been confined to a limited geographical range, the themes as well as the style are, more or less, the same. Indian Maithili paintings make use of three-dimensional images and the colors that are used are derived mainly from plants. The themes on which these paintings are based include nature and mythological events. The first reference to the Maithili painting of Bihar dates back to the time of Ramayana, when King Janaka ordered the paintings to be created for his daughter, Sita's, wedding.

Themes of Maithili Paintings
Themes of the Maithili painting of Bihar revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi, Shiva, Durga and Saraswati. The natural themes that are used include the Sun, the Moon and the religious plants like tulsi. One can also find paintings based on scenes from the royal courts and social events, like weddings. If any empty space is left after painting the main theme, it is filled up with the motifs of flowers, animals and birds or geometric designs.

Making Madhubani Paintings
The brush used for Madhubani paintings of Bihar was made of cotton, wrapped around a bamboo stick. The artists prepare the colors that are used for the paintings. Black color is made by adding soot to cow dung; yellow from combining turmeric (or pollen or lime) with the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the kusam flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder and orange from palasha flowers. There is no shading in the application of colors. A double line is drawn for outlines and the gap is filled with either cross or straight tiny lines. The linear Maithili paintings do not even require application of colors; only the outlines are drawn.

Diffrent celebrations in mithila in Paintings

Madhubani painting comes from the Indian villages of Madhubani and Mithila in Bihar. These paintings are done on various mediums such as cloth, hand made paper and canvas. The main themes of Madhubani paintings contain images of Hindu deities such as Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Also you will be able to find beautiful Madhubani paintings of sun, moon and tulsi or the sacred basil plant revered very much by the Hindus.

Scenes of royal courts and social events such as celebration of wedding are also beautifully depicted in Madhubani paintings.The main categories in Madhubani paintings are:

• Traditional
• Monochrome
• Tattoo
• Contemporary
• Animals and Birds

Technique

The art of Madhubani painting requires skill and implies a certain technique. This technique requires simple raw materials that are easily located in villages such as bamboo sticks and cotton.
Firstly the cotton is wrapped around a bamboo stick to serve as a brush. Then the brush is dipped in colors and applied on to the fabric. No shading technique is used. The outline is done with double lines. The gaps between the two lines are filled with cross or straight lines. Colors are not used in linear paintings.

Vegetable colors are used making use of natural resources. For eg

• Black – By blending soot and cow dung
• Yellow - From turmeric, pollen, lime, milk of banyan leaves,
• Blue -Indigo
• Red - Kusam flower juice or red sandalwood
• Green - wood apple tree leaves
• White - Rice powder
• Orange - Palasha flowers

Madhubani paintings are pretty and well recognized by their distinct style of painting. Colorful and vivid in their description and get, the Madhubani art form is well appreciated by one and all. Madhubani paintings add a dash of vibrancy in the room and enhance its appeal when used as home décor item.
Madhubani painting is an expression of day-to-day experiences and beliefs. Madhubani painting is a traditional art symbolism, simplicity and beauty. In the Madhubani painting, the treatment of color is beautifully done. The themes of daily activities, nature, flora and fauna and Hindu Gods are the most prominent.

Madhubani paintings are characterized by the vibrant and bold use of colors and traditional geometric patterns that supports the main theme. Some of the main attributes of all the Madhubani paintings double line border, ornate floral patterns, abstract-like figures of deities and bulging eyes and a jolting nose of the faces of the figures.

The Madhubani painting is a traditional folk art form which has succeeded in creating a place for itself in the internationally and is recognized world wide.

Sources: CraftsinIndia.com

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Colors and setting in Mithila painting.

Central theme of Madhubani Paintings.

Origins of Mithila Paintings

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Mithila in Nepal also

Janakpur is the birthplace of Sita, the Hindu goddess and wife of Lord Rama. It is also the capital of ancient Mithila kingdom and is the home of the unique Mithila artifacts in Nepal. Janakpur, also called Janakpur Dham, is about 135 kilometers from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The main attraction of the city is its Janaki Temple. The Temple is dedicated to Goddess Sita who was married to Rama and was the central character of the Hindu epic, Ramayana. This temple was built in 1911 and is in many aspects reminiscent of Islamic architecture. Another landmark of Janakpur are the numerous sacred ponds for ritual baths that are scattered all over the city. The 2 most important ones are close to the Janaki temple and are known as Dhanush Sagar and Ganga Sagar. Nearby is another temple that is called 'Sita-Ram vivah mandir'. The temple is said to be built at the place where Lord Rama was married to Sita. Marriage anniversary of Ram and Sita is observed every year here through a festival that is also observed throughout Nepal. The place is very popular among the Hindus all over the world.

Information about Mithila Area:


This region is heavily influenced from the Mithila region of Bihar, a state in the eastern part of India. The place offers an excellent opportunity for visitors to learn about Mithila culture and its people. The city is famous for Mithila artifacts such as Mithila paintings and potteries. Most of these paintings have, the life history of Lord Buddha as their subject. A good Mithila painting is a must buy.

Ritual practices in mithila painting

Mithila is an historic seat of Indian civilization where ancient ritual practices have survived for centuries. Maithili men have long been known as priests and scholars. At the same time, women have long been specialists on the floor- and wall-painting associated with a vast array of ritual practices. Thus when performing the samskaras, the rites of passage or initiation across the life cycle, Maithil Brahmin, Mahapatra, and Kayastha women use their fingers dipped in pithar, rice paste, to draw elaborate geometric and floral diagrams known as aripan, on mud- and cowdung-plastered floors. Each of the several dozen rituals has its own distinctive aripan.

Marriages involve numerous ceremonies and rites over a several year period, and are consummated on the fourth day of the second wedding in an internal nuptial chamber, the khobar-ghar. This room is decorated with wall paintings of protective gods and goddesses, and a kohbar – an elaborated lotus pond, an icon of fertility, fecundity, and prosperity. Wall paintings are also traditional near the gosain-ghar, the shrine of the family deity situated in a corner of kitchen. On the sacred day of Durgashtami, the eighth day of the festival honoring the goddess Durga, both walls flanking the kitchen door are richly painted with images of Durga astride her lion. During marriages and festivals the outer walls of houses of many different castes are also frequently embellished with protective and decorative motifs as well as mythological figures and scenes.

Source:Mithilapainting.org

Painting collection at Museum.

You can see A collection of Mihila Paintings at the Bihar govt  Institute of industrialDesign digha Patna and at in museum  Darbhanga. President of India gave an award to Mrs Jagdamba Devi of Village Jitbarpur near Madhubani. Beside her, two other painters, Mrs Sita Devi and Mrs Mahasundari Devi were also given national awards in this field.In 2011, Shri Mahasundari Devi was again awarded, this time Padma Shri by the government of India.

A collection of some samples of Mithila's domestic arts may be seen in the Chandradhari Museum, Darbhanga. W.G. Archer has also a collection of Mithila paintings and so has Upendra Maharathi, the artist, under whose supervision a collection of Bihar's folk art and craft has been built up at the Bihar Government Institute of Industrial Design, Digha, Patna.

Traditionally, painting was one of the skills that was passed down from generation to generation in the families of the Mithila Region, mainly by women. The painting was usually done on walls during festivals, religious events, and other milestones of the life-cycle such as birth, Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony), and marriage.it is one of the best craft work

Madhubani art

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Madhubani Paintings-Technique and colors

Madhubani painting comes from the Indian villages of Madhubani and Mithila in Bihar. These paintings are done on various mediums such as cloth, hand made paper and canvas. The main themes of Madhubani paintings contain images of Hindu deities such as Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Also you will be able to find beautiful Madhubani paintings of sun, moon and tulsi or the sacred basil plant revered very much by the Hindus.

Scenes of royal courts and social events such as celebration of wedding are also beautifully depicted in Madhubani paintings.The main categories in Madhubani paintings are:

• Traditional
• Monochrome
• Tattoo
• Contemporary
• Animals and Birds

Technique

The art of Madhubani painting requires skill and implies a certain technique. This technique requires simple raw materials that are easily located in villages such as bamboo sticks and cotton.
Firstly the cotton is wrapped around a bamboo stick to serve as a brush. Then the brush is dipped in colors and applied on to the fabric. No shading technique is used. The outline is done with double lines. The gaps between the two lines are filled with cross or straight lines. Colors are not used in linear paintings.

Vegetable colors are used making use of natural resources. For eg

• Black – By blending soot and cow dung
• Yellow - From turmeric, pollen, lime, milk of banyan leaves,
• Blue -Indigo
• Red - Kusam flower juice or red sandalwood
• Green - wood apple tree leaves
• White - Rice powder
• Orange - Palasha flowers

Madhubani paintings are pretty and well recognized by their distinct style of painting. Colorful and vivid in their description and get, the Madhubani art form is well appreciated by one and all. Madhubani paintings add a dash of vibrancy in the room and enhance its appeal when used as home décor item.
Madhubani painting is an expression of day-to-day experiences and beliefs. Madhubani painting is a traditional art symbolism, simplicity and beauty. In the Madhubani painting, the treatment of color is beautifully done. The themes of daily activities, nature, flora and fauna and Hindu Gods are the most prominent.

Madhubani paintings are characterized by the vibrant and bold use of colors and traditional geometric patterns that supports the main theme. Some of the main attributes of all the Madhubani paintings double line border, ornate floral patterns, abstract-like figures of deities and bulging eyes and a jolting nose of the faces of the figures.

The Madhubani painting is a traditional folk art form which has succeeded in creating a place for itself in the internationally and is recognized world wide.

Sources: CraftsinIndia.com

Mithila Painting-- some useful informations

Madhubani paintings, (also referred to as Mithila Art as it flourishes in the Mithila region of Bihar), are characterized by line drawings based on mythological themes, in bright colours and decorative borders. They are so called because they originated in and around a large agricultural town in Bihar, Madhubani or 'Forest of Honey'.
Originally, Madhubani Paintings were executed on freshly plastered mud walls, on religious occasions or weddings. Each painting was a prayer and an accompaniment to meditation. Well executed paintings were believed to be inhabited by the deities depicted in them. The colors used in these paintings were made from Natural Dyes. Today, Madhubani Paintings are made on silk, Handmade paper, cloth, canvas etc for commercial purposes. The use of chemical dyes and paints have resulted in brighter multicolored paintings.

Madhubani art came to the notice of the rest of the country in the 1960s. Bihar had been hit by a terrible drought and the government decided to promote Madhubani Paintings to create an alternative non agricultural source of earning. The All-India Handicrafts Board encouraged the artists
Madhubani paintings are mostly made by Hindu village women who traditionally passed on this skill from mother to daughter.

There is a caste hierarchy involved in the making of Madhubani paintings. The Brahmins, people of the highest caste, depict images of Gods and Goddesses and use all kinds of bright colours such as red, yellow, blue and lemon. The second in the hierarchy are the Kayasthas, who paint religious themes and motifs, but use only red and black colors. The lowest caste, the Dusadhs, paint religious themes but use more of the Gondhna or Tattoo art and usually depicts flora and fauna in repetitive motifs.

Even today, most of the Madhubani artists' work remains anonymous. Few women like to mark their paintings with their names, and are quite reluctant to consider themselves individual producers of "works of art".