Written Written By EIH Researcher And Writer
Rayana Rose Sabu
Madhubani means “forest of honey”, and it is one of the prominent folk art forms in India, originating in the Madhubani region of Mithila in Bihar. The Madhubani art form was initially practised on the plastered mud floors and the walls of cottages. More recently, the paintings are also done on canvas, fabrics and handmade papers. The Kohbar or Puren style of Madhubani art is the most iconic and prominent of these ritual paintings. Kohbar means the ‘bride’s room’ or ‘nuptial chamber’. This magnificent art form began 2500 years ago when King Janak commissioned artists to paint it on the palace walls and the Kohbar Ghar, or bride’s room, to mark Sita and Ram’s wedding. Since then, it has been common to paint the walls of the bride’s chamber with this art, which symbolizes marriage’s solemnization. The paintings’ principal themes are love, prosperity, and fertility. The procedure is quite fascinating, with layers of mud and cow dung used to coat the surface. These layers function as a preservation and strengthening agent and are regarded auspicious as a harbinger of prosperity. The picture is painted on the surface with powdered rice and paint, using objects such as fingers, bamboo twigs, cotton rags, and, more recently, pens. Kohbar art employs vibrant colours such as pink, parrot green, red, copper, blue, sulphate blue, yellow, and dark blue. Double borders and black outlines are used for the artwork. Previously, colours were extracted from natural sources such as plants, charcoal soot, ochre, and so on.
The black colour used for the borders was created by combining soot and cow dung, and the yellow colour was created by mixing turmeric, pollen, or lime with milk prepared from banyan leaves. The green colour was obtained using apple tree leaves, the white colour was made using rice powder, and the orange colour was created using Palaksha flowers.
Madhubani paintings are divided into three types: Brahmin tradition, Kayastha tradition, and Godana tradition. Due to their extensive access to religious books, the Brahmins’ early style features brilliant colours and religious imagery of numerous gods. What distinguishes this style from the other two is the use of icons of Shiva and Parvati, as well as other tantric symbols, such as the painted terracotta pitcher with a lamp in the centre of the artwork, which represents the repetitive invocation of the cosmic mother in her devi form. The distinctive colour palette makes the painting appear tranquil and provides a Bharani (fill-in) approach.
The artworks created by Kayastha women were black in colour and occasionally in scarlet or vermilion. The outlines were made in the kachani technique. This painting style featured fewer tantric symbols and focused more on symbols associated with procreation. Several geometrical motifs were sketched in the backdrop once the primary motif was completed. To define the boundaries of the artwork, distinct lines were used. It’s worth noting that the Gauri puja was drawn in the lower right corner rather than the centre.
The scheduled cast adopted the Godana, or tattooed, aesthetic. The underprivileged women of Mithila’s scheduled tribes couldn’t stay away from the ripples of art and paintings. They lent their touch to the art form by painting their dilapidated thatched mud huts in a blazon of figures such as the sun, moon, trees, trees, animals, and, to a minor degree, gods and goddesses.
The women concentrated most of their artistic efforts on painting the kohbar ghar. According to the women, marriage intends to change a girl (kanya) into an auspicious and productive wife for the husband (suhag), which is why this rite was regarded as crucial for the continuity and prosperity of married life. To begin the kohbar ghar painting, the women marked the centre of the central wall of the bridal chamber with a vermillion dot, which served as the focal point for the entire composition of the art. According to artist Ganga Devi, it is “like the kernel from which the lotus plant grows and progressively proliferates to take over the entire pond,”.
The kohbar, the design’s most prominent feature, takes centre stage. It’s an abstract, complex-looking design that symbolizes a lotus, with the stem, leaves, and roots making an elaborate pattern. The Kohbar represents the bride and the sincere belief that she will be as fruitful as the expanding lotus. The Kohbar is surrounded by numerous sky and pond creatures, such as fishes, symbolizing prosperity. The locally available Maithili fish has immense breeding potential that becomes relevant in marriage. Drawing a pair of fish represents the bride and groom’s compatibility for a great marriage. Snakes, a symbol of divinity, indicate strong love and inspire the couple to make sacrifices for a greater cause. Tortoise advises couples to arm themselves with qualities that allow them to survive in any situation easily. They live a long time, and the artists wish for the couple’s long life by portraying it on the marriage wall. The sun and the moon float above to lend an auspicious presence. The picture frequently contains a dense bamboo grove to the viewer’s right of the kohbar motif. Bamboo grows quickly and continually, just like Maithil women want their marriages to thrive.
The goddess of birthing, Sasthi, is also seen, and the lower portion of the artwork depicts the bride and groom being carried in palanquins and praying to Gauri. The nine planets, or Navagraha, are also shown in the painting to bestow blessings on the newlyweds. The entire room is filled with gorgeous, stunning, proliferating art because, as Jyotindra Jian observes, “emptiness would be tantamount to infecundity,”. The other walls are adorned with pictures of many other deities, such as the four-eyed goddesses or Naina-yogins, who occupy the room’s four corners and will play a significant role in the wedding rites will take place there. The painting also includes conjugal pairs such as Shiva-Parvati and Sita-Ram. The figures are drawn in a specific order, with the head drawn first, then the upper body and arms, the lower body, and finally, the eyes. This ritualized method of drawing is carried out because the gods themselves are summoned in these paintings to bless the union during the marriage ceremony.
To summarize, the art portrays plenty and fecundity, which the ladies attempt to depict via their artistic skill and ceremony. They cherish it and aim to implant it in a bride’s new life so that she might reap the benefits of a good marriage.
Sources
- Biswas, R. (2021, June 28). Bihar’s very own exquisite art form: Kohbar. PopBaani.
- Madhubani. (n.d.). Preserve Culture. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.preserveculture.org/stories-gallery/2019/12/5/madhubani
- Chapter 1 Introduction: Mithila Kohbar Art. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://elibrary.tucl.edu.np/bitstream/123456789/2929/3/Chapter%201.pdf
- Kohbar – Sarmaya. (2019, March 5). Sarmaya.in. https://sarmaya.in/objects/indigenous-tribal-art/khobar/
- Singh, S. K. (2020). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH: LITERATURE, LANGUAGE & SKILLS- Central Motifs in Kohbar Murals (4th ed., Vol. 8) [Review of INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH: LITERATURE, LANGUAGE & SKILLS- Central Motifs in Kohbar Murals]
