Folk and Regional Arts of Bihar
Bihar's own traditions carry a large share of the marks, and they are the easiest to score because the details are specific: region, ritual use, palette and artist names.
Madhubani (Mithila) painting
From the Mithila region - Madhubani, Darbhanga and Sitamarhi districts. Traditionally painted by women on mud walls and floors for weddings, and on paper and cloth after the 1930s drought-relief scheme. Styles: Bharni (filled with colour), Kachni (line only, with hatching), Tantrik, Godna (tattoo-derived) and Kohbar (the marriage chamber). Features: double outlines, no empty space, fish, bamboo, lotus, snake and parrot motifs; natural dyes from turmeric, indigo, kajal and leaves. It holds a Geographical Indication tag (2007). Padma Shri awardees include Sita Devi, Ganga Devi, Jagdamba Devi, Mahasundari Devi and Baua Devi.
Manjusha art (Anga)
From Bhagalpur, ritual art of the Bishahari puja telling the Bihula–Bishahari legend; painted on a box called a manjusha in pink, green and yellow with black outlines, and dominated by snake motifs.
Patna Kalam
An eighteenth- to nineteenth-century Patna miniature school, secular and observational: traders, festivals, birds, plain backgrounds, no gold. Painters include Sewak Ram, Hulas Lal and Fakir Chand.
Worked example
"A Mithila painting shows only black line work, with parallel hatching filling the forms and no flat colour." Which style? Answer: Kachni. Reasoning: kachni means line work, so the fill is hatching. If the forms were solid-filled, it would be Bharni.
Traps
- Treating Madhubani as a single style.
- Confusing Manjusha with Madhubani - Manjusha is Anga, Bhagalpur, box-shaped and snake-centred.
- Describing Patna Kalam as court portraiture; its subject is ordinary life.