Madhubani art - online puzzles

Madhubani art

Madhubani art (also Mithila art) is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. It is named after the Madhubani district of Bihar, India, which is where it originated. Artists create these paintings using a variety of mediums, including their own fingers, or twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks. The paint is created using natural dyes and pigments. The paintings are characterised by their eye-catching geometrical patterns. There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja.

== Origin and tradition ==Madhubani paintings were first created at Mithila, the birthplace of Hindu goddess Sita. When Sita and her husband Prince Rama were to be married, King Janak, father to Sita, asked for paintings to capture moments of the marriage. Madhubani painting (or Mithila painting) was traditionally created by the women of various communities in the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinents. It originated from Madhubani district of the Mithila region of Bihar. Madhubani is also a major export center of these paintings. This painting as a form of wall art was practiced widely throughout the region; the more recent development of painting on paper and canvas mainly originated among the villages around Madhubani, and it is these latter developments that led to the term "Madhubani art" being used alongside "Mithila Painting."The paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, handmade paper and canvas. Madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice. Madhubani painting has remained confined to a compact geographical area and the skills have been passed on through centuries, the content and the style have largely remained the same. Thus, Madhubani painting has received GI (Geographical Indication) status. Madhubani paintings use two-dimensional imagery, and traditionally colors derived from nature. Traditional pigments used were: vermilion powder mixed with grounded mustard seeds for red, cow dung mixed with lampblack for greenish black, rice paste for white, Pevdi for lemon yellow, turmeric for yellow ochre, Indigo for blue and red clay for indian red. Gum arabic or goat's milk formed the paint's binder, gum arabic used for painting on paper and goat's milk used mainly for wall paintings. Chemical powder pigment from Calcutta also became available in the 1940's.