Madhubani Art: Origin
Madhubani Art: Origin
Madhubani Art: Origin
Origin
Madhubani or Mithila art, a rural Indian cultural art form was
developed over 2500 years ago by women from Madhubani district of
Mithila region (of Bihar state), in the Indian sub-continent. It is
mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana that King Janaka, Sita’s
father, asked his painters to create Madhubani paintings for his
daughter’s wedding. Since then, the traditional knowledge was
passed down from generations to generations and the art form was
adorned within the houses of the region. The women of the village
also depicted these paintings on the walls of their homes & is still
practiced in institutions spread across the Mithila region & Bihar.
Salient Features
There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or
marriage, and festivals which are usually characterized within this art,
in the form of geometrical patterns. The fact that these complex
mathematical patterns were used in Madhubani paintings makes
them more intriguing and iconic. If the artists come across empty
spaces even after completing the painting, they usually fill up those
empty spaces with the motifs of flowers, animals, birds, and
geometrical patterns. A double line is usually drawn as the border.
Madhubani paintings mostly depict people and their association with
nature and scenes and deities from the ancient epics. sun, the moon,
and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along with
scenes from social events like weddings.
Madhubani art has several distinctive styles: Bharni (depicting the
pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses), Katchni, (depicting depict
animals, flowers, and other natural aspects), Tantrik (portraying
depict Hindu mythological characters), Godna (signifying natural
creatures such as animals, birds, plants, tree of life, and
flowers), and Kohbar (depicting Hindu wedding ceremonies, and
they are primarily made on the walls of the bride and groom’s
home);
Sustainability Attributes
This art form impacts not only civilizational narration of rituals /
creativity and expression but also stand tall for social and
environmental causes. Since the paintings have been concentrated
to a particular region over a century, they have been accorded the
GI or Geographical Indication status to recognize its regional
history, & identity. In commemoration of the “International Year of
Creative Economy for Sustainable Development”, at the “74th
United Nations General Assembly”, & the pandemic’s effect on
creativity industry, this initiative seeks to support “Rising
Civilizational Artists” towards the quest for promoting & conserving
the civilizational art form & traditional knowledge;
Content
Beginners Course
Detailed Course
~ Explore the nuances of this traditional civilizational art &
work with templates to create folk themes, mythological
stories, people & their association with nature, deities
from ancient epics;
~ Develop unique art works by innovating creativity,
experimenting with civilizational traditional art form of
Madhubani art on canvas, ceramic Mug or coasters;
~ Learn civilizational practices & knowledge on creation of
natural colours, use of traditional tools for painting etc.,
~ Create Fusion of Art Forms , i.e. Mandala & Madhubani
Traditional Art Forms etc.,
~ Develop contemporary art forms imbibing modern
automation & technological developments;