Maithili Painting
For three thousand years, Hindu women of the region once known as Mithila have maintained an unbroken tradition of painting , using techniques and ritual motifs passed down from mother to daughter. The colourful, almost psychedelic images can be viewed as fertility charms, meditation aids or a form of storytelling, but on a deeper level they represent, in the words of one critic, "the manifestation of a collective mind, embodying millennia of traditional knowledge". From an early age Brahman girls practise drawing complex symbols derived from Hindu myths and folk tales, which over the course of generations have been reduced to mandala -like abstractions. By the time she is in her teens, a girl will be presenting simple paintings to her arranged fiance, perhaps using them to wrap gifts; the courtship culminates with the painting of a kohbar , an elaborate fresco on the wall of the bride's bedroom, where the newlyweds will spend their first four nights. Depicting a stylized stalk of bamboo surrounded by lotus leaves (symbols of male and female sexuality), the kohbar is a powerful celebration of life, creation and everything. Other motifs include footprints and fishes (both representing Vishnu), parrots (symbolic of a happy union), Krishna cavorting with his milkmaids, and Surabhi, "the Cow of Plenty, who inflames the desire of those who milk her". Perhaps the most striking aspect of the kohbar is that, almost by definition, it's ephemeral: even the most amazing mural will be washed off within a week or two. Painting is seen as a form of prayer or meditation; once completed, the work has achieved its end. Women of all castes create simpler wall decorations during the autumn festival of Diwali (Tihaar). In the weeks leading up to the festival they apply a new coat of mud mixed with dung and rice chaff to their houses and add relief designs. Just before Lakshmi Puja, the climactic third day of Diwali, many paint images of peacocks, pregnant elephants and other symbols of prosperity to attract a visit from the goddess of wealth. Until Nepali New Year celebrations in April, when the decorations are covered over with a new layer of mud, they're easily viewable in villages around Janakpur. Paintings on paper , which traditionally play only a minor part in the culture, have grown to become the most celebrated form of Maithili art - or Madhubani art, as it's known in India, where a community-development project began turning it into a marketable commodity in the 1960s. More recently, the Janakpur Women's Development Center has helped do the same in Nepal, making Maithili paintings a staple of Kathmandu tourist gift shops. When working on paper, the artist first outlines the intended design in black, then adds a border and embellishes every remaining space with fantastic detail, and finally illuminates it with brilliant, poster-paint colours. Many artists concentrate on traditional religious motifs, but a growing number are depicting people - mainly women and children in domestic scenes, always shown in characteristic doe-eyed profile.
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