"Mithila Art" - a book review by Hemant Das 'Him'

 A complete perspective on Mithila paintings 

( A book-review)

You need not leave space to revel. Madhubani paintings have been considered very dense art form that  leaves no empty space in it's pictures. 

Art is not a prerogative of trained or prodigious people. It is for hoi polloi! It is available to all who are willing to make it and enjoy! One of the noticeably democratic form of art is Madhubani painting. To let it be doable to all it has to forsake proportion calculation, shadow effect, third dimension consideration and colour nuances. Yet it is the sheer the piousness and sanctity of collective  co-habiting minds that express in the phenomenon of exuberant Madhubani paintings and are being transmitted by generations to  generations in  a specified locality.

For it's rich patterns, figurative motifs and play of plainly colours, Madhubani paintings have been darling not only to people of India but also to the connoisseurs from abroad. Ironically, the paintings made primarily by less literate artists living in mud houses have become the hot topic for art buffs sitting in seven-star hotels of global fame. 

What is the secret behind it? It there is matching substance or is it merely ideological puffs of art buffs ?

The recently released book "Mithila Art - a 360 degree review of Madhubani Painting" is a symposium of supreme quality research-based essays that analyses the art in all possible dimensions. The managing editor Prof. Prashant Das  and the trio of editors Binita Mallik, Dr. Minu Agarwal and Dr. Laura Zizka have left no stone unturned to give the total perspective of the Madhubani painting from all angles you can imagine. May it be historical, sociological, psychological, religious, artistry, or commercial, they have delved deep into the subject. So, you are able to appreciate this art from a much higher podium level than you used to before going through this book.  This may also help you open your eyes how to look at other folk arts around the world. 

Publisher's Note and Editor's Note are followed by the forewords provided by Amitabh Kant (CEO, Niti Ayog, GoI), Nina Singh (ADG, CISF) and Chanchal Kumar (Pr Secy to Govt of Bihar). The designations  of these three distinguished persons corresponds to early 2021 when they handed over  their views on the book. 

The book has been divided in nine chapters as the following (-Prashant Das and Laura Zizka)

1. Mithila Art: A survey of what we already know (-Prashant Das and Laura Zizka)

2. A visual survey of Mithila Paintings (-Binita Mallik)

3. The International reception of Mithila paintings in the 1970s A countercultural kairos? (-Helene Fleury)

4.Transforming the bride: Gauri Puja in early 20th century Madhubani Paintings (- Tammy M. Owens)

5.Madhubani Paintings reviewed with modern lenses (-Nathan Lopez)

6. Is the Mithila Painting losing its sanctity because of its excessive access? (- Col. Satish Mallik)

7. Godavari Dutta:"The art came as a ray of hope in the otherwise gloomy life" (-

8. Bimla Dutta: " We drew mythology, you must draw the present"

9. Krishna Kumar Kashyap: "There is no distinction between education and art"

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In Chapter One, Dr. Prashant Das and Dr. Laura Zizka have provided a comprehensive account of Mithila Paintings  I am quoting some excerpts from the same to give you some idea about the content: 

Prof. Prashant Das and Laura Zizka say that the exact historical account of Mithila artists is not well documented. Thakur (1974) provides an authoritative historical documentation. Brahmin and Kayastha castes have dominated the Mithila art community. Kailash Mishra (2003) claims that Sri Tulsi Das (1511-1623AD) mentions vivid Mithila paintings in his epic "Ramacharit Manas".wherein the people of Mithila produced such paintings to celebrate the marriage of Goddess Sita with Lord Ram.

About why Mithila paintings are so special he says "The laypeople, the figurines in Mithila art may come across as too raw, irregular and primitive. The floral and human figures are flat; its elements are somewhat symbolic than realistic, with almost an absent sense of three-dimensionality and proportions. However, for connoisseurs, Mithila art is aesthetic, authentic and pleasant primarily due to its visual discipline and underlying stories. ...Works on celebrated artist Ganga Devi put Mithila art on a par with some Western art forms particularly in terms of graphics."

Stressing on the symbolism as the main characteristic of Mithila paintings he writes "...beyond the realist paintings, mythological and ritually-oriented symbolic art has always been a part of human civilizations cross the globe. As the main purpose of Mithila art is to support rituals, it is characterized by symbolism and is less concerned with the realistic depiction of objects or events."

Profs. Das and Zizka do not stop here. He is trying to find the historical roots and it's transformation in terms of media from a global point of view, "William Geaorge Archer (1907-1979), the British-Indian civil services officer  is credited with the much-discussed discovery of Mithila art. His serendipitous discovery owas during the infamous 1934 earthquake in the region. He later published an authoritative article in 1949. ... According to Chavda, it was on Kulkarni's encouragement that the Jitwarpur artis started translating their wall paintings into paper and cloth. This development must have been marked with the art media changing from natural colours i.e. cowdung, flowers, leaves and turmeric to industrial painting supplies.

Digging into the caste-ramifications of Mithila art he writes, "Literature is split about which caste gets the credit for being the original Mithila painters. According to Jyotindra Jain, the Khobar wall art was "primarily a Kayastha custom.. (and) Brahmans adopted it in recent time. ....Heinz 1996) suggests that the Kayastha version may "appear busy" to the Western eye, a pervasive "horror vacui" where empty spaces are filled with motifs drawn from ponds: birds, fish, leaves, blossoms, ants, worms, snakes, centipedes, turtles and toads." .... The "lower castes" Dusadhs and Chamars joined the bandwagon in the 1980s. ...  Heinz documents that in the early days, paper-based Mithila art was limited to Mahapatra Brahmins- low -ranked Brahmins due to their specialization in funeral - and Kayastha families in their neighborhood.

Das and Zizka quote and say, "Kailash Mishra (2003) is of the view that broadly three types (schools) of Mithila art have been identified which are corelated with caste identities. The Bharni style most popular among Brahmin artists combines the relatively sparse linework with solid-color fillings. Kayastha artists tend to paint using the Kachni style. This style is characterized by rectilinear and curvilinear lines of different widths and colors used to depict gods, rituals and patterns. The thematic is similar to Bharni style. Artists from relatively backward castes (dusadhs in particular) are known for their peculiar Godhni style of Mithila art which is charaterised predominantly by monochromatic skin tattoo patterns. According to Rekha and Devi (2010) the Godhni style which emerged after the 1970s. However the Mithila Museum in Japan does include several Godhni artworks by Dalit artists: Jamuna Devi, Shanti Devi and Uttam Paswan among others. The Godhni style does build caste-equity in Mithila art by depicting themes such as the Dusadh (a Dalit caste) king Raja Salhes which is conspicuously absent in other Mithila art styles."

Das and Zizka name the types of paintings based on medium used, "From the media standpoint, Mithila art can be described under three main types - Aripan (floor patterns), painted walls and painted objects." 

Though Mithila art is predominantly religious still it is secular in the sense that it does not pay special treatment to a particular sect. Prof Prashant Das quotes Heinz (2006) who says that Mithila art refuses to belong to a particular sect of Hinduism, Vaishnav, Shaiv or Tantric. The depiction of Gods and Goddesses are rather secular within the broad boundarises of Hinduism. Ram, Sita, Krishna, Vishnu and Kali, shiv and most recent adaptations have included Buddha and Jesus.

In an effort to test it on psychoanalytic crucible he quotes Prof. Carolyn Brown (1996) who questions the appropriateness of a Freudian explanation provided by Vequad wherein a vertical elecment in Kohbar art is interpreted as phallic. Perhaps Vequad's sexuality-related interpretation of Kohbar was influenced by Archer who in 1949 interpreted lotus as a symbol of female fertility and bamboo as a male genital.

Observing it with a tantric lens Das and Zizka quote Kailash Mishra (2003) and Madhok and Madhok (2005) who also support a Tantric interpretation of Naina-Jogin to protect the married couple from evil.

And then comes the moolah. Das and Zizka have a logic on commercial sluggishness and he mentions that Mithila art's central intent has been utilitarian. To support the rituals during various Hindu religious ceremonies. Despite some disconnected efforts in recent years, the Mithila art form remains economically vulnerable.

Then after Das and Zizka go on to compare Mithila art with some of the other folk arts in the world namely Uzbekistan, Iceland, Spain et. We only attempt to draw parallels in terms of rigor and style to argue that similar to many other parts of the world the rudimentary style of Mithila art is deliberate attempt to depict ritualistic symbolism of which aesthetics is a by-product.

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Let us see what is here in her article more than what have already been mentioned by Prof. Prashant and Prof. Zizka.

Telling about the technique and grammar Binita Mallik enumerates some specific points worthy to note. 

*The empty spaces are filled with identity and significance.

*There are a variety of patterns such as floral patterns lines (in various directions) cross-lines triangles, fish-scales and dots among others.

*Vibrant yet flat colours are used in this art.

*No shading work is done here.

*The eyes are drawn very large with no expressions in the figures.

*Artists try to make them in one sitting stroke so there is little use of an eraser as it makes the art look artificial.

*Some figures do not have any prescribed direction for viewing, they are palindromic from all sides.

*If any kind of design symbolising the Devtas, a head/ crown (moori), a base (paeni) and a mat (aasan) must be drawn.

Which discussing all the three types of Mithila paintings - Kachni, Bharni (filling) and Godna, Binita Mallik says that Mithila paintings are said to be 'written' and this is expressed in their Kachni style. Mithila artists master the unique combination of writing skills and visual design sensibility to make these paintings. This makes the process of detailing much more intricate and time consuming compared to other art styles.

Unlike synthetic colourse used for Mithila paintings nowadays earlier only natural colours were used for it and look at the sources- juice of green leaves for green colour, juice of red flowers or vermillion for red colour, turmeric or yellow flowers for yellow colour, indigo for blue, limestone for white and soot of lamps for black colour.

Talking about Godna she says this style is never used for any festivals or for images of gods. 

Kohbar, Baans, Kamaldah, Kera-Beed, Dashavtaar and Naina Jogin are some of the popular designs in Madhubani paintings. Whenever these designs are made for holy occasion , there should not be any use of black colour . However when they are made as piece of art, black colour may be used.

Bamboo designs are made on sindoor or vermillion packets and on the doors of God's room/ piece of worship. A parrot or peacock is a must in these designs. .About Kamaldah she says, "the lotus represent a female and the bumblebee a a male which is shown to be hovering over the lotus. This resembles the romantic affair between couples.

She has also talked about the paintings of Dashavtaar, Lava Bhujaai, Naina Jogin, Kohbar. Kohbar is mostly made of red and other vivid colours and use of black is avoided. She says Astadal Kamal (eight -petal lotus) shows the importance of the number eight. represents goddess in her eight forms and eight aspects of human life. Also, we have eight energy centres in our body, the day is divided into eight time segments and there are eight parts of Yoga that lead to salvation. Vedas mention eight attribute of God and even human eras are said to be eight in number.

Binita Mallik also gives the detail of paintings related to Bhatridutiya Aripan, Devotthan Ekadashi, Saap and Gurud, Story of Bhurund, and Ardhnaarishwar,. She has also presented an album of some popular other Mithila art forms.

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Helene Fleury has gone esoteric on Mithila paintings She has inspected the paintings from the angle of a hippie kairos and neo-tantric angle. She quotes Vequaud, a key mediator of the hippie kairos of the reception also developed a neo-tantric interpretation of Mithila paintings in line with the hippie craze for oriental esotericism. His Flower Power tantric version of the paintings extolled the body and hedonism presumed to allow approaching a gendered unity expressing Life.

"Mithila paintings can be understood as ritual and art forms derived from ceremonial paintings done by women on walls and floors since 14th century. Transferred on paper in India as early as 1940s to be commodified they underwent notable changes such as recognition of artistic individuality, the emergence of new styles and the thematic diversification beyond religious inspiration." 

Drawing the peaceful looking Mithila painting to the flashpoint of feminist cause Helene Fleury quotes Vequaud who notes "... one can count on fingers of one hand the women who shine through their art. Here Mithila paintings contribute to the "undoing gender" emphasising the impact of feminist  cause. This village utopia serves his quest for alternative prophecies.

Very interestingly, she raises this issue further to the level of utopian counter-society model and quotes Vequad who emphasises a revealing interpretation of the icons of his utopian counter-society. The Maithil women are presented as prophetic figures of legend between holiness and genius From his standpoint," to paint better than the neighbour is to be devout, as it were to become priestess". The artistic success of painters involves the personalisation of means and the depersonalisation of the ends of success namely the creation of objects crystallising values recognised beyond the author. It was traditionally reserved for heroes and saints.

Vequaud, like earlier Orientalists shows the vision of the "communitarian village" as a counter-model challenging the capitalist society but in fact stemming from Western primitive schema. From 1960s to 1980s, art and craft benefitted from the image of "authenticity". While West industrialised standarised productions- even cultural ones - cirticised by Adorno- rural India seemed to preserve 'spiritual' and 'timeless' creations. 

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In his article by Tammi M Owens, she has analysed the contents and of Mithila paintings and their significance in the lives of people who made the paintings.

She says that although four key scholars, William Archer, Yves Vequaud, Carolyn Brown Heinz and Jyotindra jain advanced the arguments that the murals in the kohbarghar are a vital part of the ritual, they chose analyse the vegetal and animal forms rather than the narrative featuring the bridegroom and bride.

These two forms were, according to Archer not only the paintings of the bamboo and lotus but also diagram of sexual organs. 

Tammy alerts the readers where Vequad failed in his analysis. She says that Vequad concentrated on the formal analysis of the kohbar motif calling it "pictorial intercourse" and linking it to the five thousand years of (tantric) rituals. In doing so he failed to recognise that the vegetal forms are part of complex visual and performative program driven by women's popular rituals to imagine the ideal marriage only one part of which is the consummation of union and conception of child.

In Archer's estimation the output of other communities such as Rajput, Sonars, Ahirs and Dusadhs was "fragmentary" (and so not complete). In India served and observed he notes that the Kayastha and Brahmin interiors with their distinct combination of forms resonated with European Modernism with which he was familiar.

Tammy has also presented two case studies of Madhubani paintings.  

Case Study 1 is on Gauri Puja mural in the household of Mohan Lal Das. The author notes that the bride is a picture of demure grace, her veil pulled closes as she grasps the bridegroom's wrist. The vidkari (the primary bridal attendant) follows sheilding the brides's head with leaves from a betel creeper. Above the betel leaves, a prominent peacock hovers over the bride.... The female painters in this household may have designed the mural to present the bride in her transition to becoming a married woman and to highlight her dual nature as both a wife and daughter throughout the wedding ceremony.

Case Study 2 is on The processional mural in the household of Ram Adin Das

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Then comes an article by 31-years old Swiss graphic designer Nathan Lopez who is admittedly treading upon an unchartered terrain for him. But his observations can not be shrugged off so easily. They carry some substance may be partially. 

In his own words Lopez says "... What could result from the confrontation of two very different worlds: the gaze of a young European graphic designer and a more than 2500 year old traditional form of art."

I think it convenient to me to present some excepts from the article of Nathan Lopez:

*The first word that comes to my mind is 'density'. A great density of elements and shapes are connected to one another and no space is left empty making it sometimes even difficult to identify what the scene is about at first glance.

*No proportions are respected. These are invariably two dimensional and human faces represented either frontally or in the profile.

*The lack of logic in the use of colours is easily understandable. Madhubani paintings were initially made of natural colours.

(Note- The author of this blog does not agree with this point. The colour logic is always observed by Mithila painters. Kohbars are in red, Baans are in green. Black is never used for holy rituals. What they actually miss is "nuances of mixed colours" which Lopez also admits is because they earlier used only natural colours having very less number of choices with them.)

*I noticed that they create a certain contradiction with the naive character of the figures but I consider this combination to be precisely what made Madhubani art so recognisable through time. Simple and complex at the same time, naive and elaborate, fine and rough, abstract and figurative as well as traditional and contemporary.

*While the flat plain colours reminded me of Fauvism, the simple geometric shape and two-dimensional figures evoked some examplesof Cubism. Indeed, the movement was strongly influenced by the Oriental and African arts

*I was quite surprised by the balanced composition of Madhubani paintings resulting from the absence of empty spaces and the use of such simple geometric shapes and regular patterns. 

*Hindu traditions are still a recurrent subject but the repertoire now also include contemporary social and political issues. Madhubani art is well known and appreciated by Japaneseart collectors as well. The art form does remind us of Yayoi Kusama;s use of t3extures combining traditional roots wwiith an astounding contemporary style.

*The palette of colour is more limited. 

*Critics have assailed contemporary Madhubani art for having lost its authenticity and transplanting original themes to foreign environments, cultures and beliefs.

A picture of Raja Dashrath with his three queens and four kids. This painting has been made by Shree Smreeti and the theme of it has been elaborated by me (Hemant Das).

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Col. Satish Mallik in his article laments the rampant defacement of widely used Mithila wall paintings at public places mainly made out of government's efforts and have enumerated a number of concrete reasons behind it. The defacement is because of the lack of the awareness of the common public and natural decay which djemands regular upkeep.

In the end, there are three interviews of the renowned Mithila artists which throw light on the plight and struggles of the painters who try to make career in Mithila painting. The three interviews are as follows:

Godavari Dutta by Ravindra Kumar Das

Bimla Dutta by Kumud Kumar Das

Krishna Kumar Kashyap by Govind Chandra Das

This book published by Adarsh Enterprises, Daryaganj, Delhi costs is priced Rs. 1750/-. (also available for around Rs. 1400 or so on Amazon). The hardbound cover and thick smooth pages are really of supreme quality which seems to be resistant to water.  The whole book is full of a large number of Mithila paintings.The artists whose contents have been covered in this book include Godavari Dutta, Bimla Dutta, Krishna Kumar Kashyap, Smriti Shree, Sarita Das, Binita Mallik, Ranju Das, Rajani Thakur, Archana Raj. Shreya Sarda from Design Flyover has designed the whole book. 

All those who love Mithila art would get some sort of fulfillment after having this book in their shelves. 

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'
Send your feedback to - hemantdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com