Madhubani Painting—Vibrant Folk Art of Mithila

Transstellar Journals, 2022

Indian art history has given a rich repository of traditional painting in the Indian subcontinent from prehistory to the present day. The style of painting varies from region to region and from time to time. The art sector of Bihar has a living tradition called Madhubani painting which tells about the social structure as well as the cultural identity of Bihar. Madhubani can be described as a craft city where many crafts have originated and nurtured. Today Madhubani painting style has been successful in making a different identity in the whole world by adopting new ideas with time. This paper is based on a comprehensive review of Madhubani painting's journey so far. This art emerged as a tool of women empowerment. It would be right to say that Mithila painting has made an invaluable contribution in empowering women. The history of Mithila painting is 3000 years old and this art came to the world in 1934; this art needs no recognition. This paper focuses on the journey of Madhubani painting, the present scenario, timeline and how village painters express their skills through organic colors and free hand brush drawing. The role of various institutions in promoting and preserving Madhubani painting, Madhubani art on the runway in the present day, cultural globalization of Madhubani painting by Nupur and Manisha Jha, contribute to the role of NGOs in the spread of this art.

2021

Women in the Mithila region of Bihar in north India have painted colorful propitious images on the interior walls of their homes on the occasion of domestic rites since at least the 14th century, it's called Madhubani Art. It is a famous and traditional art form of Bihar. Madhubani art of the Bihar state has been undergoing alteration where its application in the original composition has been diminished owing to social and economic changes now a days. There is need to explore possibilities for the conservation of this art form viz other artistic media for future generations. The reason for using traditional motifs in textiles and products is to keep our designs or motifs alive. The Indian folk arts with painting play important role in creating new designs. Escalating demands of consumers requires modification in the fashion industry with respect to design, color, style and technique. The aim of this project is to preserve the originality of the art form.

This article tries to throw light upon how the elements of Indian civilization, mainly the mythical anecdotes of the Purānas, are portrayed in the Madhubani folk paintings. The endeavour is to contextualise how the folk elements of Madhubani folk art genre construct an ethos of Indian civilization and tries to continue its tradition in the frame of Indian civilization. The folk elements in Madhubani painting and its relation between local myths, the little tradition, and the Hindu mythology, the great tradition, are evident. Hence it can be opined that in this case, the oral tradition has been combined with ritualistic visual expressions to produce a complete art tradition. It bears specific cultural meaning and usually bound by the customs and conventions in form and content, style and pattern, as well as by their holistic folkloric character. The folk artists of the Madhubani tradition have bound themselves within the limits of social and cultural milieu of their own community. Madhubani folk paintings have four distinct styles, each with its different identity along with different art historical background. These four styles are Mithilā painting, Godhna painting, Gobar painting and Tantrā painting. All these styles are intimately interwoven with Indian tradition and civilization. With this background, this article ventures into salient issues-the networks of relationship among the castes, themes and styles of paintings, the emergence of specialised artists from a folk painting tradition, the transformation folk artists' village into the specialists' centre, and the way a traditional community art shifts from its traditional authenticity to more individualistic exercise of contemporary art production. This article also tries to document different internal and external social and cultural factors that act upon this folk art form.

SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH

This article communicates the changing pattern of Mithila folk painting to fine art due to the professionals’ intervention in this realm. Besides, technological use has further altered it and the people who were unable to perform their ritual on the works of art are able to do so now. Consequently, the painting has been enhanced from its limited geography to all over the world where even the diaspora Maithils enjoy their culture with full enthusiasm. This phenomenon has led people both connected to their culture as well as uplifted to high spirituality, aware about their identity and commercializing their cultural artifacts. Thus, this fluctuating tendency of this folk art has empowered the community morally, artistically and economically.

2018

The region of Mithila has become synonymous with the beautiful and vibrant Madhubani paintings which are very much coveted by the connoisseurs of art the world over. The women from Mithila have been making these paintings and it is admirable that they have been able to carve out a space and name for themselves amidst the patriarchal set-up of society. Indeed, there is no other parallel anywhere else in the world of a folk-painting being mastered exclusively by women. The progressive commercialization of this art has resulted in the corrosion of this pristine variety of art in form as well as content. Except a miniscule number of artists, economically the plight of the vast majority of these women painters has remained quite miserable who are forced to sell their artistic pieces for a pittance while a huge profit is earned by the middlemen. The commodification and commercialization of this traditional art form has caused much alarm to the anthropologists, art historians and connoisse...

In the discourse of art, women are always placed in the peripheral. Here, the discussion shows how the Madhubani Art has enunciated a new understanding of women's participation in the field of art in context to India.

IJARW, 2020

Communication is the display of thoughts, feelings, and emotions going from one substance to another and gathers from one substance to another, and uses the signals and images usually received. It is a medium that connects all of us in one family, society, country, and the world. There are various modes of communication that are classified under verbal and non-verbal. "1,000 Words worth an Image" is a famous axiom, focused on passing on ideas and thinking through folk arts, another most effective method. From the beginning, individuals have used traditional art. It can communicate difficult feelings, personal feelings, and political views through images or moral stories in which each figure represents a theoretical idea. The focus of the examination is to grasp the communicative aspects of "Madhubani or the Mithila art". The focus of the examination is to grasp the communicative aspects of "Madhubani or the Mithila art". Observations and interviews were used for the collection of data for the study. This study is an examination of Madhubani painting as a method of communication, where it states that every component of the painting attributes the characteristics of communication.

mshanks.com, 2024

This is Part 1 of a reflection upon the works of Chris Tilley, prompted by his too-early death in March 2024. I want to do justice to the range and depth, the significance of his work in anthropology and archaeology. My reflections are based on memories, close collaboration, and deep reading of all his writing. His work, now finished, deserves close attention because it deals with matters of wide concern and in such a sophisticated way, dedicated to careful considerationrelationships with environment; respect and acknowledgement of diverse voices; developing secure foundations of knowledge, in experience, modes of engagement with the world, representation and report.