Monday, 23 November 2015

FUTURE

Until recently, the richness and variety of the folk-art of Bihar was little known, but today the whole world is witnessing its magic. Though madhubani painting is said to have originated since the time of the Ramayana, it has taken a whole 360 degree change in the modern world. With the growing popularity of this art form and also due to commercialization now-a-days most of the artists are trying their hands on other objects say for example, sarees, home décor, etc. However, it should be noted that the main theme or style of madhubani painting has not been changed. Let us now see apart from walls where else we can find madhubani painting.

Wooden/ steel box
Today we can see Madhubani style design painted on wooden/steel boxes and you’ll fall in love with these cute yet beautiful boxes. Common who won’t love a personal wooden box to keep stuffs like jewellery? They are amazing; isn’t it?

Madhubani painting on a steel box



Design on Kettle
Imagine you are organizing a tea party at your home and there you serve tea in these fancy yet traditional tea kettles. You’ll going to love the expressions of your guests.

Madhubani style kettle



Hand crafted pencil holder
Gone are those days when you used to give an ordinary pencil stand as a gift to your friends. Today is the time of hand crafted madhubani style pencil holder thus, making it little personal and special.


Madhubani style pencil holder



Wall paintings
Well, this is the most common yet the most beautiful way to decorate the home and if you are looking something to decorate your house walls then there’s nothing better than this.


madhubani paintings


Flower pots
Bored of watching those same ordinary, brown flower pots? Well then why don’t opt for a madhubani style flowerpot? You can even take out little time and create your own madhubani style flowerpot. I bet your flowers would love it too.



Madhubani painting on flower pot


Madhubani on Fabrics
Now this is the section where madhubani painting have really created a mark. Madhubani paintings on fabric which mainly includes sarees, cushions covers, blanket, shawls, etc are a huge hit. All the girls and ladies out there won’t think twice before buying a madhubani style saree. Even decorating your dull sofa with vibrant madhubani style cushions will leave your living room more colourful and stylish. Apart from sarees madhubani designs are also seen on bags which is gradually becoming a new style statement.

Madhubani painting on saree



Madhubani painting on bag




Madhubani style cushion




Hope after reading my post some of you there might be actually thinking of buying any of the above mentioned things. Well, then what are you waiting for? Go and grab some. Stay tuned to know more about madhubani paintings.




RITUALS
            Rituals and Ceremonies plays a huge role in Indian culture and if you are an Indian then you’ll surely agree with me on this thing, isn’t it? Madhubani paintings are mainly practiced by the rural women, who painted on the walls and floor of their house during social events like marriage, sacred thread ceremony of the Brahmins, childbirth and other religious and ritualistic occasions to enhance its greatness.
            The paintings relate to various rites from birth to death. However special and specific types of paintings are done specially during marriage. During wedding, the paintings of the sun and the moon, a bamboo tree, a circle of lotuses, parrots, turtle and fish come into prominence. The walls of the wedding chamber ( Kohbar ghar) are adorned with symbolic paintings symbolizing fertility and life. The walls of Kohbar ghar are mainly painted with the symbols of lotus, bamboo grove, fish, birds and snakes in union, which largely symbolizes fertility and life. Each image has its own significance- birds (especially parrots) symbolize the love birds, turtle diagrammatize the lovers union and fishes the emblems of fertility and the sun and moon symbolize the life-giving qualities. Thus the role of the Kohbar in Maithili marriage becomes quite important.



            Apart from Kohbar which is only done during marriage, different other types of paintings are done for different other rituals. For festivals like Chhath and Chauth Chand, Tulsi puja, Durga puja etc, a unique type of painting called ‘Aripan’ means alpana is drawn. Among the people of Mithila there is a ritual to draw alpana during auspicious occasions.  It is mainly drawn using Arwa rice or Atap rice and in this painting, no brushes are employed, the drawing is usually done through nimble finger. Different designs are drawn for different occasions-

Swastik- Swastik is a special type of alpana which is drawn during any auspicious festival. However one can mainly see the use of Swastik during the worshipping Lord Ganesha.




Daspata- This is again another type of alpana drawn during the occasion of Bhaiduj. This is mainly drawn at the courtyard of the house and a Chauki is being put in front of the alpana where the brother is made to sit on it and then the ritual is carried.

Astadal-It is being drawn during worshipping Lord Vishnu or Satyanarayan. It is observed on the ekadashi day. Footprints of Lord Vishnu are being drawn at the centre of the alpana which remains surrounded by eight kinds of weapons used by the God.




Sarbatbhadra-This is also special kind of alpana drawn at the place of worshipping Lord Vishnu.


            Thus, it can be concluded by saying that Madhubani paintings have much inner meanings and also that they plays a great role in the rituals and ceremonies of the Mithila people.

Sunday, 22 November 2015

TECHNIQUES AND COLOURS

Indian paintings are classified by art critics partly geographically, but mainly by the terms of its techniques and its usage of colours. So, keeping these two things in mind let us see how Madhubani paintings flourished in this aspect.

Colours-

A world without colours would be so pale, dark and meaningless, isn’t it? Although colourless paintings or black and white paintings are beautiful but there’s a different pleasure in colours right? Colours mean so much to us and if you are an artist then you’ll surely agree me with this.

Natural colours

As I have already discussed that Madhubani paintings mainly derive their inspirations from day-to-day experiences and beliefs and surrounding environment in the same way, for colours also the artists depend on nature. Most of the Madhubani paintings have generally two colours, or only five colours. Colours like green, yellow, red, black, blue, white etc are used. Even till date the artisan of Madhubani paintings use natural colours directly from nature. For example, lamp soot serves as a source for black, while white colour is derived from powered rice, green is made from leaves, blue from the seeds of sikkot and indigo, yellow, a most common colour is derived from turmeric (i.e., haldi), bark of peepal is to be boiled to make a part of saffron colour, red on the other hand is made from kusum flower and red sandal wood. To make the painting last long as well as o take brightness they mixed gum with colour.








Techniques-

Each school of painting is identified by its Kalama (pen), meaning brush. The different styles of paintings are, therefore, referred to as of the Delhi, Deccani or kangra, etc, according to the character of its brush work. Unlike other schools, the Mithila School is unique. Earlier, the Madhubani artists used cotton tipped bamboo sticks and stiff twigs but now modern round brushes are used. The colours in the paintings are applied flat and the figures are rendered with double outlines with the space in between filled with thin crosshatchings or slanting lines.




 As, in my earlier post, I had already mentioned that Madhubani paintings mostly represent celestial deities, animals and human beings but there’s a slight difference in their painting techniques. Say for instance, human figures are mostly drawn abstract and linear while animals are usually naturalistic. Thus, this combination of naturalistic and yet abstract treatment especially of the highly conventionalized human from appears to be a significant feature of this art.

Friday, 20 November 2015

Themes

Each art form has its own particular way of self-expression, and there lies a solid motif, a subject, a theme to express. Just like say for instant a dish is incomplete without a pinch of salt similarly any art work without a theme seems quite incomplete. Thankfully, Madhubani paintings in this respect have variety of themes.
Well talking about themes, Madhubani paintings mainly reflects aesthetic tastes, religious learning, love for natural phenomenon, affection for the feminine beauty, divinity and the panoramic view of the day to day life of the people. Let us get into the depth of each theme.

Nature-
Since from our childhood we had been taught the importance of nature and co-incidentally this is what we see in Madhubani paintings also. Yes indeed, nature forms one of the important themes for the Madhubani painters where animals, plants and environment are delineated with artistic magnificence. Even paintings of animals like turtle, snakes, fishes, birds, religious plants like tulsi, the sun, the moon etc are drawn all having significant meaning.


Madhubani painting on Nature

Mythology-
As we know, the Mithila’s are deeply religious, so paintings on mythological themes depicting God and Goddesses are a common sight. The Brahmin and Kayastha paintings have themes from mainstream Hinduism including the Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti cults. The Dushadhs on the other hand, paints the stories of Raja Sailesh, the hero of their epic, Mahagatha. The influence of goddess Kali has been quite predominant in the tradition of Tantra. Lord Vishnu with his four kinds of weapons (namely – Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Padmaf) is also drawn.
       Even the mythological stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata come into life through Madhubani paintings. The story of Lord Rama and Sita’s wedding has long been used as a motif of Madhubani painting. Even Hindu deity Hanuman who was an ardent devotee of Rama, a character of great strength and devotion forms the subject of Madhubani paintings. Paintings describing various stories of Lord Krishna’s childhood and Krishna Leela are also widely popular.


A Madhubani painting on Krishna leela

Village life-
Apart from the above two themes Madhubani paintings elaborating daily activities of the village life including scenes of villages, farming, collecting water, cattle rearing, females winnowing rice and wheat , women doing their household works etc are also attracting people.



A Madhubani painting depicting females doing daily household work


Contemporary Issues-
Today the artists are aware of the current issues and due to the impact of globalization; artists are now trying to come out of their shells and try out some new topics which includes drug abuse, alcoholism and smoking. Even natural calamities and threats like tsunami and global warming are also painted now-a-days.


A Madhubani painting spreading the message of having girl child


Wednesday, 4 November 2015

STYLE  :

            Hey readers, in my earlier two posts I had discussed about what exactly Madhubani Paintings is and its History. I hope you liked it. So, today’s post is about different variety or style of Madhubani Paintings.
            The style or variety of Madhubani Paintings is as vivid as the colourful Indian culture. However, it’s quite interesting to note that different styles of Madhubani paintings depend on different caste or community. Although it’s unclear regarding which class or community inspired which community of the society, however depending on this factor, the style of Madhubani paintings can be classified into three types-

·         Bharni Style- This style is mainly practiced by the Brahmins. Bharni style of painting employs bold black outlines to clearly define the subject. The enclosed areas are then filled with vibrant colours, just as the name ‘Bharni’ suggests, i.e., filling. This style is totally flat with no attempt of creating any depth or ‘shading’. This style mainly consists of religious motifs of various Gods. Since the Brahmins have easy access to sacred texts, it helped them to portray the mythological and religious motifs with ease.

Bharni style Madhubani painting 

·         Kachni Style- This style of painting is done by Kayasthas. Their style of painting symbolizes ‘fertility’. This style of painting employs only one or two colours, black and vermillion. ‘Kachni’ literally means ‘line’. The artists thus rely on delicate fine lines enlivened with a variety of patterns using hatching and stippling. Some common motifs used by them are lotus plant, sacred symbols, fish, tortoises, parrots and birds.

Kachni style Madhubani painting




·          Godhana Style- This style of painting also known as Tattoo painting is mainly practiced by the Dusadh community. Godhana style consists of small stick like figures geometrically organized in parallel lines, concentric circles or rectangles. Some of the paintings are then filled with colours, other are simply drawn in black common motifs of flora and fauna can be seen in their art. However with time as the social acceptance widened they have now started paintings motifs of Gods. Interestingly their use of vibrant colours is quite similar to that of the Brahmin style of painting.


Godhana style Madhubani painting


           Apart from these three main styles of paintings, there is one more style, i.e., Tantric Style of paintings. Tantric painting is distinguished from other style of Madhubani paintings because the subjects it depicts are based solely on religious texts and characters related to them. Tantric subjects include manifestations of Maha Kali, Maha Durga, Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi, and Maha Ganaeh along with other Tantric symbols.



Tantric style Madhubani painting


           Hope you guys liked it. Stay tuned to know more about Madhubani paintings in my upcoming posts.

Saturday, 3 October 2015

HISTORY:

Hey Readers, I am back again with some interesting and cool stuffs regarding Madhubani Paintings. So, to start with today’s topic is ‘History’. OK! Come on! Now please don’t give such expressions. I know for some of you there history is just next to HELL, a nightmare to be precise, with all those dates haunting you around. Phew!!!! Sounds spooky right? But trust me I won’t bore you.
History as we know mainly consists of dates and records but, in the case of Madhubani Paintings there are no actual records. Different people have different theories. According to one of the local mythology, the origin of Madhubni Paintings can be traced to the time of the Ramayana. It is said that King Janaka of Nepal had ordered his kingdom to decorate the whole kingdom with these beautiful and elaborate wall paintings for the wedding of his beautiful daughter Sita to Lord Rama and thus emerged this new art form. There are even stories which tell that even the ladies of King Janaka’s household used to paint on walls. It is said’ that when Laksmana went to the forest along with Rama and Sita, his consort Urmila painted his image on the wall and worshipped it daily. However, how far these legends are true we have no idea.
While the other theory suggests that the original inspiration for Madhubani art emerged from women’s craving for religiousness and an intense desire to be one with God. With the belief that painting can somehow help them to achieve that desire, women began to paint pictures of Gods and Goddesses with an interpretation so divine that captured the heart of many. 
Madhubani Painting of Lord Krishna and Radha
                                 
Apart from this one can even find similarities between these symbolic representations with the designs of the Harappan potteries and motifs on punch marked coins. Whatever may be the truth, one thing can be truly said that it is a very very ancient art form.
Now, some of you might be thinking that how it is possible that Madhubani art does not have any exact period of its origin and growth, right? So the answer is unlike the Mughal, Kangra or other Rajasthani style paintings, Madhubani Paintings, bears a sole product of the rich imagination of the local ladies reflecting their daily rituals and freshness. Since time immemorial these paintings have been booming upon the walls of mud-huts and floors of houses on ceremonial occasions and vanishing over night after the completion of the ceremony. The best part is the mother teaches the art to her daughter who in turn teaches it to her female offspring. For generations, the skill has been passed on from mother to daughter. No models or specimens are kept, it’s all natural. When only a small child, a girl learns these communal house paintings, and the patterns are early impressed upon her mind. By the time she is ready to marry, she learns them by heart and takes this art form with her to her husband’s house, where she would use her own imagination and perhaps introduce new elements too. With the coming of the next generation the older generation willfully wipes itself out, as a result these paintings always remain fresh and brand new and thus the cycle goes on and on endlessly, just like the ever- flowing water of the Ganga. Therefore, it’s quite difficult to determine the exact period of its origin and growth.
Hope you guys liked it. Stay tuned to more about Madhubani Paintings in my upcoming posts.

Reference:
Internet:

Books:
Madhubani Painting - Upendra Thakur


Saturday, 19 September 2015

INTRODUCTION :
 The 5000 years old Indian culture and art has successive impact on the traditions and modernity of today’s contemporary world. Be it Punjab’s ‘Phulkari’, Gujarat’s ‘Warli’ or Bengal’s ‘Kantha’, the beauty of art has flourished full-fledgedly leaving no region of this divine country untouched.
Art is something that comes from one’s inner soul and this is what forms the actual base of ‘Madhubani Paintings’.  Err… for those who are hearing the term ‘Madhubani Paintings’ for the first time, might take it as a name of some Raja, Maharaja’s beloved wife, but hold your imagination for it has nothing to do with it. It is actually a Bihar’s folk art form, which after lying low for centuries have now taken the world by storm. Be it Expo-70 in Japan or a museum in far-off Montreal, Mithila Paintings are a huge hit. While the West is busy recognizing the power of this art our desi Indians are not far behind and the most eye-catching example is itself our own the Jayanti Janata Express. Apart from this various exhibitions had also been organized in Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata which have been highly appreciated. Not only the West but also several Socialist countries like the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia have taken a fancy for Madhubani Paintings.
As we know without Newton there would have been no ‘Law of Gravity’, in the same way it was all and all due to the creative instinct or rather the perspective curiosity of Mr. William. G. Archer, the British colonial officer of Madhubani district, who after being exposed to these interior walls of home , thought that these paintings had a fair connection or similarities with the works of modern Western artists like Miro and Picasso.  What a co-incidence, isn’t it? Well with an urge to popularize this art form in 1949, W. G. Archer  wrote an article in the Indo- Nepal journal ‘Marg’ and drew attention of the world to these mural paintings of the Brahmana and Kayastha village communities of Mithila and the later styled these paintings as ‘Mithila Paintings’ . Thanks to Mr. W. G. Archer it was all due to his serious efforts that gave us the opportunity to know about this interesting and distinct art form and most importantly gave me the chance to have this topic for my blog. “Thank You Mr. Archer. May your soul rest in peace. “
Some of my readers might be scratching their heads and trying hard to understand why I am frequently using the term ‘Mithila Paintings’ instead of ‘Madhubani Paintings’ , well the answer is , that the most appropriate name of this school of painting would be ‘Mithila Painting’, as suggested by our hero Archer, but the outside world came to know about this paintings from the village s of Ranti,  Jitwarpur in the district of Madhubani ( till recently a part of the district of Darbhanga ), and hence these murals wall paintings have, of late, came to be popularly known as ‘Madhubani Paintings’.

Hmmm… Now I guess you guys got a clear and fair idea of what Madhubani Painting is all about. Stay tuned to know more about Madhubani Paintings in my upcoming posts. 

A Madhubani Painting of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

References:   
Internet:
1. Madhubani art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhubani_art
2. Mithila Paintings: Past, Present and Future - Dr. Kailash K. Mishra
Articles by IGNCA Officials 
Books :
1. Madhubani Painting - Upendra Thakur