Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani Paintings - pronunciation: madhu bunny - derive their name from the madhubani district in Bihar. The name madhuban itself is supposedly derived from the fact that this area was famous for honey (madhu) and had a big forest with lots of honey bees (madhu=honey, forest=ban). These are folk paintings usually painted by rural women on cloth or walls of their houses. Only natural colors are used in these painitings. Natural colors are those made using flowers, leaves, vegetables etc. For example red color is made using hibuscus (gurhal) or rose flower.

Usually madhubani paintings depict scenes from mythology - Ramayana or the life of Lord Krishna or just paintings of gods and godesses. Scenes from daily rural life are also common. Black is the most used color in these painitngs. Outlines of figures and ornamental designs are made in black. It is common to see madhubani paintings made using only black color. The black is usually made of soot.

There are two important elements of the madhubani - bharni (filled up area) and katchni (cross parallel strokes). Usually madhubani's were made on walls smeared with gobar (cow dung). Some traditional artists have taken this tradition on paper and smear the paper with gobar before drawing.

Sugandha's version of madhubani doesn't stay true to the original, traditional madhubani. However, the bharni and katchni are immeditately recognizable in her painitngs. She uses bright colors and has added elements not used in the original. The line drawing in original madhubani is quite simple unlike what she makes. Also, the medium used is poster colors on ivory sheet. Probably we should think of some new name for these paintings but if you see the real madhubani paintings, the simlarity will immediately strike you. So you could say these are Sugandha's Interpretation of the Madhubani - using modern media and sophisticated technique.