Murals: The Origins of Mithila painting
The city of Madhubani commissioned a series of murals based on the Ramayana for its memorial building honoring the 14th century national Maithili poet, Vidyapati. Here Dulari Devi (right), whose work I've written about previously, and Abha Das (left) stand in front of one of their panels. Madhubani, Jan. 2012.
Although Mithila artists now paint primarily on paper, they sometimes do get an opportunity to return to the origins of their art and work on a mural. On last month’s visit to Madhubani I was lucky enough to see three such examples. One was in Madhubani itself where Dulari Devi and Abha Das were working on a sophisticated series of panels on the Ramayana story. The second was at a rural women’s cooperative where the artists were busy decorating buildings with beautiful, colorful murals quite different in style from those of the city. And the third, in Simri village, where I watched with wonder and a sense of history as Lalita Devi carefully sketched a parrot on her courtyard wall using only a few crushed green leaves for a paint brush. In this post we'll look at the Ramayan murals in Madhubani. The next post will cover the 'rural' murals and Lalita Devi's wonderful painting demonstration.
The City Mural: Here is a detail from the above Ramayana mural. Although 'detail' is relative here since I estimate this to be about 4 or 5 feet high.
This is a masterpiece of color and design with its myriad decorative detail creating an exciting visual energy in the work. Rama and his brother Lakshmana, one behind the other, are almost identical in stance, dress and ornament. It is the color of their dress and the details of their ornamentation that sets them apart. Dressed in royal finery with caps and well wrought earrings, throat and upper body covered with jeweled necklaces and garlands fashioned from precious stones, decorative bands at wrist and elbows, they are imposing figures. Beautiful long robes cover their shoulders and flow down to the ground while their diagonally striped dhotis and contrasting sashes complete their regal appearance. Even their weapons are finely fashioned with intricately decorated quivers, colorful arrow heads, and bows inlaid with polished gemstones. These are truly the god-like figures they are meant to be.
Dulari Devi has come a long way from the menial labor days she describes in her painted autobiography Following My Paint Brush. She is now an accomplished painter, and in mural painting perhaps without equal in the Mithila area.
Murals in Progress: I was happy to see that some of the Ramayan panels were still being completed while I was in Madhubani for this allowed me to see mural painting in progress. Below are a number of unfinished panels. This scene appears to be the breaking of Shiva’s bow by Rama, with Ravanna, the ten headed demon king, symbolically looking
Look especially at the flowers in the center of the piece. Note the soft shadows of the underdrawings that appear to have been painted over when the artists changed their design.
The mural is elaborate in detail and patterning with almost no space without some decorative element. Rama and Lakshmana are again similarly represented in their royal dress, although here Rama is significantly the larger figure as befits his important status. Notice that when the detail is as filigreed as it is in these sophisticated, what I am calling ‘city’ murals, how important color is in helping the eye make sense of the myriad details and lines. Glance at the group of spectators at the top of the mural. Except for their eyes they all blend into a confused if interesting crossing and hatching of lines. Or look at Lakshmana. Where color has been added, we easily differentiate and enjoy the various items of dress while the rest disappears in a multitude of small lines and white spaces.
Next is a section of a mural in its very early stages
. We can see the mural in progress as we look from left to right. The preliminary outlines are painted in a light color and then later painted over with a stronger black line like that on some of the figures on the right. That is also when the details are added and any black areas filled in.
Below Dulari Devi works on the outside wall of the small Vidyapati memorial building.
One can clearly see her materials of rags and newspaper, her store bought acrylic paints and half a dozen brushes of different size. The Mithila artist Rambharos told me that Dulari does not test her colors on a pallette but prefers to use her hand. A quick dab on the palm to see whether the color is right.
Shiva's Bow in the Ramayana: Through the bars of the window above the mural Dulari is painting, one can see the top of another mural inside the building.
This is the famous incident in the Ramayan story where Sita, future wife of Rama and the adopted daughter of King Janaka, picks up the bow of the god Shiva. It was so heavy that no man could lift it. To Janaka's amazement Sita, while cleaning one day, easily lifted the bow out of her way. It was one more sign to the king that his adopted daughter was no ordinary mortal.
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