MadhuShri

About Madhubani Painting

Madhubani painting is also known as Mithila painting,though people sometimes refer these two names as different art style.This painting was originated in the Mithila region of Bihar,India and some parts of Nepal and dates back to at least few thousand years-It is historically associated with King janaka,the father of Sita (Yes our lord Rama's wife).This painting used natural pigmenets and colours extracted from nature.

So we got green from green leaves of course,blue from indigo plants,white from lime, red from hematite and the most important of all of the colours (i mean the most disgusting)..YELLOW!!! Yes yellow was the most disgusting colour to make use and everything. I stilln wonder how artists use to paint using that disgusting yellow colour. In history Indians had a choice to make yellow from turmeric like any other country but NO!! They wanted the yellow to be more pignmented.

These paintings were on mainly Gods and Goddesses,folklore and nature. Traditionally these paintings were done by the women of those regions on the walls of their homes during festivals,ceremonies and any special occasions.The theme often reveolved around the Hindu religion and the most drawn gods were Krishna,Rama,Sita,Ganesha and Durga.(and of course our Ganesha,he brings goodluck to everyone).The paintings were done using twigs,brushes,fingers and even matchsticks.

And after thousands of years now when pens were invented and brushes were made,these paintings were done directly on paper and cloth (which one also calls freehand drawing,if i am not wrong). These paintings look easy to draw and would draw your attention but when you start drawing,you will understand the pain (even a small part contains immense details and patience of the artist).