Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani painting or Mithila painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state, India and the adjoining parts of Terai in Nepal. Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and are characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns. There are paintings for each occasion and festival such as birth, marriage, holi, surya shasti, kali puja, Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony), and durga puja.

In the present time the main artists include Smt Bharti Dayal 'Ganga devi' Smt Bua Devi, late Smt Jagdamba Devi, late Smt Sita Devi, Smt Mahasundari Devi and others. Madhubani painting got official recognition in 1970 when the President of India gave an award to Mrs Jagdamba Devi of Village Jitbarpur near Madhubani. Beside her, other painters, Mrs Sita Devi ' Mrs Mahasundari Devi Mrs 'godavari dutt, Mrs Bharti dayal and bua devi were also given national awards in this Art field by President of India.Smt Bharti dayal won an award from All India Fine Arts and Crafts for fifty years of art in independent India and the state Award for Kalamkari in Mithila painting and her painting, “Eternal Music” bagged the top award in Millennium Art competition from AIFAC for the year 2001 . Smt Mahasundari Devi was again awarded, this time Padma Shri by the government of India in 2011.What is Unique in Bharti's work is the fact that she centers her art to heritage style and yet manages to create an entirely modern and contemporary work from it. A surge of fantasy in her work makes them appear fresh and Graceful. Her work is Experimental and Authentic. She uses both realism as well as abstractionism in her work with a lot of fantasy mixed into both.Her work has impeccable sense of balance,harmony and grace. We need a whole army of Bharti's to bring back the beauty and glory of Mithila painting.
A collection of some samples of Mithila's domestic arts may be seen in the Chandradhari Museum, Darbhanga. W.G. Archer has also a collection of Mithila paintings and so has Upendra Maharathi, the artist, under whose supervision a collection of Bihar's folk art and craft has been built up at the Bihar Government Institute of Industrial Design, Digha, Patna.Late smt yamuna devi,chano devi,yogmayadevi,anmanadevi and bachhadai devi has also contributed to this Art. Asha Verma, born in Darbhanga, is dedicated to promote Madhubani art through her research work and her Madhubani paiting workshop popularily known as Ashas' creations at Sri Krishna Nagar, Patna.

Darbhanga house, Patna

                                          The Darbhanga House is the palace constructed by the Darbhanga king in the city of Patna. The palace has been donated by the royal family to the Patna University. The university hosts the post graduate courses in the premises of the Darbhanga House.

The Darbhanga House was earlier the NavLakha Palace of the Darbhanga kings. It was built by the Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Bahadur who ruled from 1929 to 1947 when, after independence, the state was merged into the Union of India. The Darbhanga kings were known to promote education in the region. Schools were constructed by the various kings of the Darbhanga family. Apart from this, the Darbhanga kings made several contributions to the different universities like Patna University , Calcutta University, Benaras University and Allahabad University. An evidence of their generous contributions is the Darbhanga House in Patna. 

jalmandir jain temple

Sher. shah suri tomb, Sasaram

Agam kuan, Patna

Agam Kuan, which means "unfathomable well", is said to date back to the period of Maurya emperor, Ashoka. The well is located east of Patna, Bihar state, India. Agam Kuan is 105' deep, circular in plan, with a diameter extending over 20'2". The well is brick-encased in the upper half of its depth (down to 44') and thereafter, secured by a series of wooden rings. The surface structure, which now covers the well and forms its most distinctive feature, has eight arched windows.

Education Through Football(Rural Development)

Education Through Football Saran BIhar -The theme at Mastichak is education through football. This one project addresses issues like education and employment of girls, conservatism, malnutrition amongst girls in Bihar which is one of the backward states in India, premature marriage and motherhood, poverty and of course it may breed footballers who can represent the state and country. Whatever her skills, the girls will be given a career and a job from our side. Contrary to general perception, We do not think that environments like rural Bihar inspire dire cynicism. Actually it requires more understanding and proper intervention.  And We were not at all surprised to find girls, including Muslim girls, playing football. People simply are what they are in these areas (from our experience) and less controlled and conditioned by marketing. In fact, where have we ever seen girls play football in a city like Delhi? we would have joined them if we had! All we see in Delhi is rich girls shopping till they drop and worried about their appearance all the time. That's so dull! The girls in Mastichak are having much more fun. The girls have the inherent desire to do something in their life , but illiteracy and poverty amongst their household prevents them from going ahead. After all conservatism is a by-product of poverty and illiteracy. Our recruitment cycle which we follow is :- Go to the local schools and talk about football, education & a job in the classrooms, then identify the interested girls, go to their houses (especially the poorer ones) and convince the parents on the whole project (more importantly not to marry off the girls before 21), get the kits for the girls, train them in football, after the practice teach them English & computers and motivate them to study hard on a Science background, make them undergo the B Sc (Optometry) course at the hospital  and make them employable for a minimum starting salary of 8000 anywhere in India. 

Naulakha temple

Best Temple of Begusarai...Go there for Peace and Blessings......A really very good mandir to watch,the temple is quite old not less than 100 years...the unique endeavor put by the mistris ( architects)to decorate the ceiling of roof and other parts of temple by small magnificient colorful glass pieces will make you spellbound.if you ever visit the place do not miss the chance to be to this right peaceful place in heart of town....though the ambience of place outside temple may not impress you but i am sure you will be pleased to be in the temple campus.

Ruins of Nalanda University, Bihar.

Information on Nalanda University

Nalanda

Nalanda, where ruins of the great ancient university have been excavated, is situated at a distance of 90 km. in the south east of Patna by road. The ruins extend over a large area and represent only a part of the extensive establishment. There are many versions of what the term Nalanda means. One is that Nalam means Lotus and Da means to give. Both combined together, Nalanda means Giver of Lotus. Since Lotus is supposed to represent knowledge, Nalanda means Giver of Knowledge.

Nalanda was the largest residential centre of learning that the world had ever known. The library was located in a nine storied building. Since the time of Buddha, the bhikkus were always encouraged to study the various arts and sciences. Learning was greatly encouraged as served dual proposes: knowledge and practice. The monks, therefore took to learning so that they might practice it and realise Dhamma perfectly and thereby enrich the masses.

The University of Nalanda was founded in the 5th century by the Gupta emperors. There were thousands of students and teachers. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning. The courses offered at Nalanda included the study of scriptures of Mahayana and Hinayana Schools of Buddhism, Brahminical vedic texts, Philosophy, logic theology, grammer, astronomy, mathematics and medicine. Its importance as a monastic university continued until the end of the 12th century.

golghar, patna,bihar