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