Also known as Mithila Art, Madhubani art is a style of Indian painting characterized by line drawings filled in by bright colours and contrasts or patterns. It is often practiced by people in the region of Nepal and Bihar, India.
Origin
Place: Mithila, India
Time period: 8th or 7th century BCE
Cause: King Janak, ruler of Mithila Kingdom had asked to develop these paintings in order to capture the moments of his daughter Sita's wedding to Prince Rama
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King Janaka greets Dasharatha before Rama's wedding
By unknown author - http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/97343.html?mulR=24240 |
Meaning of Madubani: Sweet Language
Madhu = Sweet
Bani/Vaani = Language
Discovery
In 1934, the city of Bihar experienced a major earthquake and a British officer of the Madhubani area who admired Indian art and culture noticed these unique arts on the damaged walls of Madhubani during his inspection. The officer’s name was William G. Archer and he was the one that introduced this unique art to the people that reside outside Madhubani.
Characteristics of Madhubani art
Before commercialization and industrialization, Mithila art were created using homemade natural colours with pink, blue and yellow as major pigment. Furthermore, sticks and fingers were used as tools by women to decorate their house walls and doors so as to seek God’s blessing for peace and prosperity.
Geometric patterns and bright colors were used to symbolize valor, devotion, love, fertility, peace and prosperity.
Source:
Culture And Heritage - Folk And Tribal Art - Madhubani Painting - Know India: National Portal of IndiaToday, for commercial purposes,
Material: The work is now being done on paper, cloth, canvas etc.
Tools: Cotton wrapped around a bamboo stick forms the brush.
Colours:
- Black colour is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung;
- Yellow from turmeric or pollen or lime and 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;
- Orange from palasha flowers.
Style and Technique:
- Tribal motifs, figures from nature & mythology are adapted to suit their style.
- The themes & designs widely painted are of Hindu deities such as Krishna, Rama, Siva, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sun and Moon, Tulasi plant, court scenes, wedding scenes, social happenings etc.
- The colours are applied flat with no shading and no empty space is left.
- Floral, animal and bird motifs, geometrical designs are used to fill up all the gaps.
- Henna leaves, marigold, bougainvillea, cow dung, soot and rice powder or lime were eco-friendly materials from which artists extracted colours.
Madhubani Art and Modern Era
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School where madhubani is taught, Bihar
Photo by: ePhotocorp
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In the past, women in the villages used to create Madhubani art as a folk art on the walls of their mud house but today it has expanded to clothing and even urban spaces!
- Two prominent artists, Shital Devi Jha and Alka Devi Jha said that it was due to the high demand and love for the style that some foreigners started asking them to make the paintings on cloth and thus they started making madhubani-print sarees and dupattas.
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