same power; Lakshmi and Saraswati are all honoured at
appropriate times. These divine beings are positioned centrally or lineally in
the framework. In the dense background are depicted their consorts, their
respective mounts, fruit bearing trees, clumps of bamboo, floral motifs and
numerous other symbols to which the viewer can relate without mental strain.
Reflecting Nature's Fecundity:-A scale is established to convey vastness by juxtaposing figures of human
beings, animals and birds - with towering forms. The smallest of gaps is then
filled with birds, leaves, flowers or ceremonial objects to show the fecundity
of nature. Viewed as a whole, the harmony reflected in the utilization of
space and in the picturisation, conveys the artist's understanding of peaceful
co-existence of man and bird and beast.
Living in Harmony:-This understanding of the importance of living in harmony was, in the past,
extended even to the practice of preparing colours from plant extract. Three
cardinal rules governed this : no one was to destroy another's garden, no
money was to be spent on the collection of materials, and no colours were to
be made out of edible plants. The artists used the juice of locally available
creepers and flowers : henna leaves, the palash flower, bougainvillaea and the
sap of the neem tree, to obtain a range of colours.
For black,they ingeniously removed the soot collected on the underside of
their earthen cooking vessels and fixed it by using the viscous substance
surrounding the seed of the be I fruit.
The Artist's Tools:-Nowadays, paints are generally bought in the bazaars rather than prepared
indigenously. Colours are available in powdered form, which are then mixed
with goat's milk. For black, the women rely on burnt straw and for white, on
powdered rice diluted with water. The colours are usually deep red, green,
blue, black, light yellow, pink, and lemon. Two kinds of locally made brushes
are used once the paints -e ready. A small bamboo-twig with a slightly frayed
end is sed for outlines and tiny details. The filling in of space is .one with
the aid of a pihua, made from tying a small piece of cloth to a twig. The
outline is drawn in a single flow of the brush without preliminary sketching.
Humble Canvases:-Although to the outside world Maithili paintings are available on paper, the
usual base on which the women paint are the mud-walls of their dwellings.
However, the use of paper (as gift wrapping) as a canvas was known long before
these paintings acquired saleability. It is also used to preserve the more
elaborate or less frequently drawn pictures on a smaller-scale, which then
serve aide-memoires.
Tradition and The Individual:-I- the Mithila murals convey a sense of timelessness, it is t'.ue to the lack
of significant variation in style from p^neration to generation. Though new
schools are born with e ich generation, the similarities in the use of colour,
form aid iconography appear like strong currents of inherited knowledge. Many
Maithili women have received recognition fur being mistresses of their art and
yet it is not a unique n dividual sensibility that speaks through their
artistic creations. Visible in their offerings is an anonymous creative mind
with millennia of traditional knowledge.
Composed By Nagendra Jha
khelubhai@mithilalive.com .
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