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.