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The name Madhubani, which means a
‘forest of honey’ represents an opulent rich tradition of paintings that
originated in the Mithila region of Bihar where enthusiastic artists
painted during the auspicious wedding ceremony of Sita and Ram. Since
then, the art of Madhubani has inspired so many across the country and
even the world. This style of painting quintessentially flourished when
women from villages around the town of Madhubani started to make
Madhubani paintings during their free time.
Traditionally this style of painting was done on freshly plastered mud
walls in an attempt to decorate their houses especially during weddings,
festivals, religious events, birth ceremony, sacred thread ceremony and
other similar important events. Today, one will see Madhubani paintings
on all types of canvasses such as cloth and hand-made paper.
Madhubani art has been more like a skill which has been passed on from
generation to generation over centuries; however, what is beautiful is
the fact that the style and the theme of Madhubani paintings have
remained the same over years. Usually, the colors used in Madhubani
paintings are reddish brown, ochre, green and black. The themes of
Madhubani paintings revolved around wedding ceremonies, religious
practices, festivals, royal court scenes and other social events.
Madhubani paintings typically depicted motifs like the sun, the moon,
sacred plants, Hindu Gods and Goddesses like Krishna, Lakshmi, Ram,
Durga, and Saraswati, symbols of procreation, animals, flowers, birds
and artistic geometric designs.
The design of Madhubani is traced using a carbon sheet on the handmade
paper. Later the outlines are done using a typical Madhubani pen which
is dipped in black Indian ink. After the outline, one fills in the
designs with Indian inks that come in various colors. Most people use
green and red in Madhubani. However, you can use other colors as well.
Since Madhubani paintings are so vibrant, vivid and colorful, they can
make for a great wall hanging and home décor. Some of the common
features of Madhubani paintings are a double line border, floral
patterns, big bulging eyes in comparison to the human face and abstract
figures of Gods and Goddesses.
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