Madhubani painting, sometimes referred to as Mithila painting emerged and developed in a northern region of Bihar, known as Mithila. Madhuban is a town in Mithila.

Now a part of Bihar, Mithila was one of the first kingdoms established in the eastern India. Located in one of the most fertile parts of India, the regions rich vegetation owes much to the fertile soil and natural irrigation sources, that so impressed ancient travellers that the called it Madhuban or "Forest of Honey".

Mithila has always been a land of poets and versifiers and the most famous was Vidyapati. His vivid style, rich in subtle imagery and illusions, appeals because of its apparent simplicity. For the more sophisticated reader, it can be overwhelming because of the references to an almost surrealist mythology,

Mithila (or Madhubani ) paintings are inspired primarily by customory religiosity. In this genre, the goddess Kali has always enjoyed a significant presence, where she appears as the embodiment of Shakti, the Eternal Energy -- as she does in the religious mindset of the neighbouring Bengali Hindus.

Curiously, only Mithila women create these traditional but very vigorous and distinctive devotional paintings, as has been the practice for generations for about 3000 years. Mithila's matriarchal society apart, it is the age old custom of sending marriage proposals through a particular type of siymbolic picture -- called a khabar -- that seems to be the primary reason why the art form is restricted to primarily women.

There is another tradition that obliges the women to exercise their talents in a different way. As in the case of neighbouring West Bengal, Mithila's women are expected to draw on the ground for certain relegious celebrations. These drawings -- magic circles symbolising the dwellings of gods and goddesses -- are called aripanas. They have been described as psychic representations of the Universe. Whether as a solar disk, a full blown rose or a circle one might draw round oneself, these archetypical images are known in almost every civilisations.

Here are some examples of fine Mithila art.

Three Headed Kali

Five Headed Kali

Kali - the Shakti

Kali Aripana