MADHUBANI PAINTING - A FOLK ART FORM

 

Madhubani painting, also referred to as Mithila Art (as it flourishes in the Mithila region of Bihar), is characterized by line drawings filled in by bright colours and contrasts or patterns. Madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice.

These paintings mostly depict people and their association with nature and scenes and deities from the ancient epics. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings.

Madhubani art has five special styles. They are Bharni, Kachin, Tantrik, Godna, and Khobar. It takes as long as 15-20 days to complete a Madhubani. The larger the size and the more detailed the work, the more exquisite the painting.

Madhubani paintings are a type of folk-art form. The painting of Madhubani is represented by line drawings filled with bright colours and contrasts or patterns. Using natural dyes and pigments, this drawing is done with a number of materials, including fingertips, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks.

Madhubani painting is a very old form of folk art that originated in the Madhubani district of Bihar. It is made from rice paste and natural colours. The colours are derived from flowers like marigold, rose etc. The paintings show human beings, animals, trees, flowers, birds, etc. The paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, handmade paper and canvas.

Henna leaves, marigold, bougainvillea, cow dung, soot and rice powder or lime were eco-friendly materials from which artists extracted colours. Madhubani paintings were done using colours extracted from nature making it an sustainable art form.

(This blogpost is a part of BlogChatter's #BLOGCHATTERA2Z2023)