2. 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 is characterized by eye-
catching geometrical patterns. There are paintings for each
occasion and festival such as birth, marriage, Holi, Surya
Shasti, kali puja, Upanayanam, Durga Puja etc.

3. The exact time when Mithila art originated is
not known. According to local mythology, the
origin can be traced to the time of the
Ramayana, when King Janaka ordered his
kingdom to decorate the town for the wedding
of his daughter, Sita, to Lord Rama. The
paintings were originally done on walls coated
with mud and cow dung. The kohbar ghar or the
nuptial chamber was the room in which the
paintings were traditionally done. Originally the

4. Mithila painting, as a domestic ritual activity,
was unknown to the outside world until the
massive Bihar earthquake of 1934 when the
houses and walls tumbled down. Then British
colonial officer in Madhubani District, William
G. Archer, while inspecting the damage
“discovered” the paintings on the newly
exposed interior walls of Mithila homes. He
was struck by reported similarities to the
work of modern Western artists like Miro and

5. The contribution of foreign scholars in promoting the art
form internationally has also been immense. Yves Vequad, a
French novelist and journalist, in the early 1970s wrote a
book on the basis of his research on Mithila painting and
produced a film ‘The Women Painters of Mithila’. The
German anthropologist film-maker and social activist Erika
Moser persuaded the impoverished Dusadh community to
paint as well. The result was the Dusadh captured their oral
history (such as the adventures of Raja Salhesh, and
depictions of their primary deity, Rahu) — typified by bold
compositions and figures based on traditional tattoo patterns
called Goidna locally. This added another distinctive new
style to the region’s flourishing art scene.

6. With financial support of Moser and Raymond
Lee Owens , along with land in Jitbarpur
donated by Anthropologist Erika Moser likes of
Dr. Gauri Mishra spearheaded the setting up of
the Master Craftsmen Association of Mithila in
1977. It endeavors to uphold similar mission of
providing the artists of the region with a regular
source of income through exhibitions, and sales
to collectors and art galleries.

7. Madhubani art has five distinctive styles
- Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Godna and
Gobar. In the 1960s Bharni, Kachni and
Tantrik style were mainly done Brahman
& Kayashth women, who are upper
caste women in India. Their themes
were mainly religious, and they depicted
Gods and Goddesses in their paintings.
People of lower castes and classes

8. Madhubani painting received official recognition in
1970, when the President of India gave an award to
Jagdamba Devi, of Jitbarpur village near Madhubani.
Other painters, Mahasundari Devi (2008), Sita Devi,
Godavari Dutt, Bharti Dayal and Bua Devi were also
given National award. 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.