Folk Art of Bihar, India

Madhubani, or Mithila, painting is a folk painting of northern India.  It is mostly practiced by women in the villages who have passed this art to their daughters through multiple generations.  They paint pictures of nature and mythology to depict different events like birth, marriage, and cycles of life.  Though this folk art has been practiced for centuries it started to gain national recognition only in the last few decades.  Now, art patrons can find Madhubani artists in several cities of northern India, many of whom are experimenting and adapting the traditional styles to modern ethos and medium.

The area of Mithila lies near the border of India and Nepal and carries a rich pastel of cultural legacy in art and literature.  Its heritage goes back at least 2,500 years and its celebrated figures include the Buddha and Mahavira.  It is also the birthplace of Sita, the central character in Ramayana.  Hence, her life stories are frequently depicted in the local art.

The paintings are traditionally based on mythological, folk themes and pastoral symbols.  The central themes of most paintings are love, valor, devotion and fertility, though the approach may vary.  So it is common to find scenes of courtship and marriages and symbols of fertility and prosperity like fish, parrot, elephant, turtle, sun, moon, bamboo tree, lotus, etc. in prominence. The divine beings are positioned centrally in the frame while their consorts and floral motifs form the background. The human figures are mostly abstract and linear in form.

Even though this art is centuries old, it has preserved its original style and content in its native land of Mithila.  Nowadays synthetic colors are used but traditional artists still make their own colors by extracting them from plants.  The coloring is of two styles – Kachni (hatching) and Bharni (shading.) Kachni uses delicate fine lines to fill the painting and not much color is used.  Bharni (shading) uses solid colors to shade and fill the pictures.  It uses black outlines filled with vibrant colors.  A variety of inventive patterns are made with hatching and stippling.  Even now during birth and marriage ceremonies paintings are made on walls with different symbols like bamboo (lineage,) lotus, and fish.  The designs announce the occasion of the celebration and solicit good fortune and divine blessings.

Madhubani Culture

The "Madhubani" style of paintings derives its name from this region as the style originated here, in the early 17th century. These paintings are made using vegetable dyes, lamp black, and the canvas is usually cloth or paper. These days, several of the well-known "Madhubani" paintings are used as motifs on bags, kurtas (an Indian garment for covering the upper-half of the body), and other materials produced using the hand-block painting technique. With ethnic-chic being in vogue, such products are all the rage, these days, not just with the Indians, but also in the export market.

The people of this district is very religious and follow all religious rituals with pomp and show. The people of all religions and sects practice their rituals in great harmony. The people of this district are love and peace loving. Durgapuja, Mahashivratri, Holi, Ramnavami, Krishnashtmi and Dipawali are a few famous festivals.
In a few village like Sonamati of Babubarhi block, idols of Lord Krishna, Nand baba and other God & Goddess are made with soil & bamboo stick and a fair is organized on the eve of Krishnashtmi. Almost all Hindu villages of this district have a Shivalaya where people go for Jalbhishek every morning.
Muslim of this district also practice their festivals of Id & Muharram with great pomp & show. Hindu of their village and surrounding also share their festivals with joy. In Madhubani Maithils celebrate Chhath Puja which occurs just six days after Diwali with a great enthusiasm.

one more important thing is Saurath Sabha in which Almost every year, during suddha or auspicious days for the settling of marriages, thousands of Maithil Brahmans gather at Sabha Gaachchi in Saurath. The Panjikaras (the person maintaining "Panji" or genealogical record) plays a very important role in fixing of marriage since it is obligatory for every person desirous of marriage to get a certificate called asvajajanapatra (non-relationship) from a panjikara, stating that there is no “blood relationship”, as per the prescribed rules of prohibited degrees of relationship, between the bride and groom. There is a fixed sitting place – dera – for every village in the sabha. The timing and number of days etc. are decided in a general meeting of the scholars and pandits of Mithila in accordance with the traditional astrological almanac– Pachanga.