This project proposal discusses Madhubani painting from Bihar, India. Madhubani painting originated in the villages of Madhubani and Darbhanga as paintings done by women on walls and floors to decorate homes for special occasions and religious purposes. It uses natural colors and depicts themes from Hindu epics like Ramayana. Now the art form is a large commercial source and is popular worldwide, with paintings placed on various products. The proposal provides context on the art form's origins and traditions, and commercial growth in recent decades.

1. PROJECT
PROPOSAL
On
Madhubani Painting
DEPARTMENTOF TOURISM
INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
NEW DELHI
2009
SUBMITTED TO:- SUBMITTED
BY:-
Shantanu
Guha
CONTENTS
● INTRODUCTION
● MITHILA PAINTING
● COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
● INDIAN PAINTING

2. INTRODUCTION
This project is here to represent an important treasure of our
Indian culture. Painting has been an part of art. Among various
styles of painting there is one style that was not so popular
before but now a days it is getting popular all over the world is
Madhubani or Mithila painting.
Basically this painting is done in Madhubani and Darbhanga
district of Bihar. Earlier this painting was done by women of
villages to decorate their house on special occasions like
Mundan, Upnayan, Marriages. They use mainly this for
religious purposes as they represent Hindu Gods.
Maithili, is an eastern Indic language, is spoken in Mithila.
Maithili has been previously considered as a dialect of both
Hindi and Bengali. Today Maithili is recognized in 8th schedule
of Indian Official languages.
The most important reference to Mithila is the Hindu epic
Ramayana where Lord Rama,s wife Sita is said to be princess of
Videha born to king Janaka who ruled Mithila. The Mithila
region is rich with culture and traditions. People respect their

3. parents and believe in peaceful life and have a strong belief in
God. They worship Goddess of power named as Durga. Every
family has their own Goddess known as Kuldevi. Some very
popular festivals of there is Mundan, Upnayan, Marriage,
Chaturthi, Duragman, Madhushravani, Kojagra and so on.
MITHILA PAINTING
Tradition states that this style of painting originated at the timeof
the Ramayana, when king Janak commissioned to do paintings
at the time of marriage of his daughter Sita to Ram.
It can be described as a style of painting, rather than a set of
pictures. It employs natural colors, with the popular being deep
red derived fro kusuma flower and so on. One of the basic
characteristics of Madhubani paintings comprises of the vibrant
and bold use of colors. Even traditional geometric patterns,
which are related to, and support the main theme is another
typical aspect that one can find in the paintings.
The theme of these paintings are religious activities as

4. Ramayana, Mahabharta. Vacant spaces between them are filled
by various flowers and plant and creatures especially fishes.
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
Now a days madhubani painting is being a large source of
foreign trade as it is getting popular these days all over the
world. Jitwarpur is a village where it is done at a large scale
where not only women but children are also involved.
Commercialization started in1992 and after that it is growing up
every year. Paintings are placed on greeting cards, sunmica,
dress materials etc.
In various trade fairs these paintings has occupied an important
place for themselves.
INDIAN PAINTING
Earlier the form of painting was Rock painting like you can see
in Ajanta and elora caves.
Various forms of Indian paintings
· Murals
· Miniature paintings
· Eastern Indian paintings
· Western Indian paintings
· Mughal paintings
· Rajput paintings

5. · Maysore paintings
· Tanjore Paintings
· Bengal paintings
· Modern paintings
During the colonial era western culture is making impact on
Indian paintings. Some artists developed a style that used a
western idea of composition, perspective and realism to
illustrate Indian themes. So many artists have inspired
themselves by folk art. Various art gallaries are there to expose
their work.