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  • Rishita Chakroborty

What Makes Madhubani Painting Designs One of the Best in the World


Madhubani paintings are considered to be one of the most famous traditional paintings in the world. It originates from the Mithila region in Bihar which extends till Nepal. These beautiful paintings have been practiced by women in the particular area for a long time and today, this form of art is their living tradition. It mostly revolves around the themes of religion, love and fertility which portray the sociocultural beliefs of the land and its people.



What does a Madhubani painting actually depicts?

This predominant art of the Mithila region portrays sheer creativity and sentiment of the locals. Similar to other folk arts, Madhubani paintings reflect the psychology and emotions of the very region. You can find how intensely they showcase their moral values, customs and rituals in an interesting way. The best part is, this form of art is mostly created with the help of natural ingredients, like twigs of the plant, brushes, nib-pens, matchsticks and natural dyes. This painting is specially characterized by intense and attractive geometrical patterns. In the male-dominated society, this art form holds a much greater significance since it’s a women-centric art form.

The word Madhubani when broken in English translates to “honey forest”. It originally hails from the villages of Jitwarpur and Rant, adjacent to the city of Madhubani. It’s a popular belief that this beautiful art originated when King Janak, the then ruler of Mithila Kingdom in the 8th and 7th century BCE, asked to create these paintings to capture the moments of his daughter Sita’s wedding to Lord Rama.

This specific art form has been passed on from generation to generation, from the mothers to their daughters. Although, it’s the women, who particularly owns this art form; in the modern day, men are trying their hands on the design too in order to meet the increasing demand. Initially, it was either the plastered walls or the mud walls, which was taken as base for the painting, but with the course of time, paper and clothes has become the preferred base too.


The themes which are observed the most are the celebration and worship of Hindu Gods and Goddess, and episodes from their sacred story. The instances are- episodes from Ramayana, Radha and Krishna, Shiva, Laxmi, Saraswati, animals like Madhubani painting elephant, monkey, glimpses of weddings and other such social gatherings.

The best part is, the colors which are used are created manually without the use of any synthetic. The black color is prepared by blending blight and cow dung, Yellow is prepared from mixing turmeric and banyan leaf milk, blue is obtained from indigo, red color is from Kusum flower, green from the Applewood tree, white is obtained from rice powder, and orange from the Palash flower. You can imagine how humble and earthly this beautiful art form is.



If you’re searching for attractive house painting photos on the internet, you know how eye-catching a Madhubani art would look on your wall. Wallmantra has got an array of beautiful Madhubani paintings which you can choose online and it would be delivered right at your doorstep, safely. The high quality prints make it look like an original handmade painting. Decorate your walls with these rustic portraits and witness a renewed aura.

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