I intend to do research on the Indian folk art work forms, their styles, different symbols and varieties as well as the context and social backgrounds. I am going to focus on "MDAHUBANI PAINTINGS", a folk art comes from North India. This research will help me understand the characteristics of the art forms, that will motivate my animation account and aesthetic style.
The storyline of Indian fine art is also the story of one of the oldest and most resilient cultures on earth. Throughout its background, Indian art has mixed local tradition with outside affects, and has advanced plus a civilization, which has been remarkably impressive in all areas. As atlanta divorce attorneys culture, art is a reflection of India's fascinating history right from the start, reflecting religious beliefs, political incidents, and social traditions. Especially in folk arts we find a convincing and beautiful record of decades of Indian culture.
Introduction to Indian Folk Arts
The slightly lesser-known customs of Indian painting will be the so-called "folk" paintings going out with back to a period of time that may be known as "timeless". They are living practices, intrinsically linked with the local historic-cultural settings from which they arise. It comes with an age-old heritage that can be traced back to the beginning of civilization on this subcontinent [1]. It began with cave paintings, with the natural dyes so strong that they can still be seen today on the walls of the caves after ages. The folk and tribal painting come from the remote control rural and tribal regions. Sometimes the performers of the rustic works aren't even educated. They lack the basic means to show up at schools, and because they are gifted with such beautiful mean of manifestation by nature. The many painting forms coming from these regions commenced not just as a painting but also as a religious and social ritual performed daily. It started with painting the walls and floor of mud residences. They hide the fact that this purified the ambience and thrilled the deities. Various spiritual and symbols were therefore seen within the painting.
The term 'folk paintings' here encompasses pictures made in Indian villages by both men and women, for ornamentation with their abodes, portrayals of their gods and because of their various rituals; and, by local professional painters or artisans for use of the neighborhood people. All these paintings were produced in a number of styles and designs. Background, sociology and geography infused the painting of each region with local taste. Their style and quality depended on the materials available in the place in which these were performed, these very factors that helps to identify the region.
Folk art work may be defined as the skill created among groupings which exist within the framework of existing contemporary society, but, for physical and social reasons, are basically segregated from the complex and social reasons, and the advancements of their time. As a result, they produce distinctive styles and items for local needs and preferences.
In folk traditions, art work is nourishment to the daily life of folks. Whether he is a TAMILNADU (an Indian express) [2] potter who creates an enormous terracotta "AIYANAR" (example in Appendix. Pic. 1) or a MADHYA PRADESH (an Indian status) [2] tribal who creates "PITHORA" painting (example in Appendix. Pic. 2), at this time of creation, the poverty-stricken, illiterate folk, becomes a master-crafts-man that can create marvelous plastic and visual forms with an innovative genius paid to him by years. Topography and geography too have control over the medium of artwork. In the case of UTTAR PRADESH (an Indian express) [2], we will get folk paintings on the walls of the properties. Whereas in ASSAM (an Indian condition) [2], one cannot find wall membrane paintings because most of the walls of the home are built with cane or bamboo. The folk and tribal practices, consider all materials available in day-to-day life are worth providing as a medium of appearance. In this regard, artist-writer, HAKU SHAH writes, "Whenever a tribal touches a blade of grass, gourd or bead, fiber, twig, grain, pin, plastic button, conch shell, feather, leaf of flower, he recognizes through it, smells it, hears it, and therein begins the ritual to be with it [3]. " Each part of the country with it's own trees and shrubs and plant life, birds and pets, hills and dales has encouraged Indian folk designers to acquire multiple metaphors, group of symbols and many images to build a wealthy treasure-house of artwork.
The following will be the common stylistic individuals in folk-art:
- Inclination for simple outline and choice of typically representational lines;
- A simplification of colors and amounts so that shading is eliminated;
- Stylization of motifs to generate ornamental elements; and
- Repetition of lines, of complete results, of dots for extensive or rhythmical purposes.
Following is the list of some of the primary folk arts from different parts of India
Madhubani Painting
Folk artwork of Madhubani from the Mithila region [2] of north India. There are different styles developed by different castes of the region. (Examples in Appendix Pic. 16a - 16h)
Thanka Painting
Combining the impressive beauty with spiritual perspective, Tankha is painting entirely dedicated to Buddha and his teachings. These signify how the Buddhists start to see the universe. It is generally in eight layers with the upper most layers or part depicting a deity. The others seven will be the various elements of the world like, fire, globe, space, drinking water and air. Multi-colored and geometrical, they are at times seen as the basis of temple structures. These paintings are done with dedication, amount, and interest and also with the profound religious feeling to do something directly related with the supreme power. (Example in Appendix Pic. 3a, 3b)
Patachitra Painting
Indian artwork Patachitra is a pre-Islamic form of spiritual art. It comes from the eastern Indian condition Orissa [2]. Hindu gods and goddesses and other mythological displays are painted over a leather-like surface manufactured from several layers of old cotton glued along. (Example in Appendix Pic. 4a, 4b)
Kalamkari Painting
Kalamkari Literally signifying 'pen-work', it is the spiritual painting on fabric with blocks and wax avoid, from the temple town of KALAHASTHI in southeast ANDHRA PRADESH [2]. (Example in Appendix Pic. 5a, 5b)
Warli Painting
Warli is a tribal community from MAHARASHTRA, India [2]. They have made a significant contribution to the history of Indian tribal artwork. Done by both men and women, these art works show their dedication to the type and the superpower. (Example in Appendix Pic. 6a, 6b)
Gond Painting
Tribal painting, Gond is a freehand expression of the Gond tribes of MADHYA PRADESH, India [2]. Painted freehand, these two dimensional paintings reveal their perception of life. The 3rd sizing, the depth is definitely lacking in these paintings reflecting the simplicity of the designer. Sometimes these paintings also tell how colorful their creativeness can be. They put colors to the blandest masterpieces of the nature at times. (Example in Appendix Pic. 7a, 7b)
Batik Painting
Batik, wax avoid painting from Western world BENGAL, India [2]. Indicating 'wax-painting' in Javanese, it started in Indonesia and later revived in Western world BENGAL, India. The creativeness of the skilled dyers has trained with a brand new new explanation. The concept of batik is a straightforward one, wax or a likewise resistant substance such as rice paste is utilized to create patterns or motifs on material before it is dyed or coloured for some reason. If the wax is finally prepared to be removed, the untouched cloth beneath it stands out as the original color of the fabric. (Example in Appendix Pic. 8a, 8b)
Miniature Painting
Folk art miniature paintings encouraged by the elegant romantic life-style of the Mughals [4]. These paintings show one point in time at the same time and in tiny details. The love moments, the court displays, various solitary women, family pets, blossoms all were meticulously noticed and reproduced all together. (Example in Appendix Pic. 9a, 9b)
Santhal Art
The Santhal tribe, one of the famous tribes owned by the Bihar condition of India [2], has a typical design of painting, known as Santhal paintings. The systems of the various forms that they paint are seldom or perhaps never in a single shade, these are always striped, dotted or filled up with every other geometrical pattern. They can be done over a handmade paper with poster colors. The topics are chosen from the natural area or just from the happenings with their day-to-day lives. (Example in Appendix Pic. 10a, 10b)
Phad Art
RAJASHTAN, an Indian point out [2], the land of colors is well known for Phad painting, which is performed on cloth. This sort of painting is principally within the BHILWARA region. The primary theme of these paintings is the depiction of local deities and their tales, and legends of erstwhile local rulers. Phad is a kind of scroll painting. These paintings are created while using shiny and subtle colors. (Example in Appendix Pic. 11a, 11b)
Yantra
Tantra fine art or yantra can be used as a musical instrument or medium of give attention to a deity while meditating. It is employed while performing religious ceremonies. It is a graphical representation of geometrical or abstract images such as triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons or circles. (Example in Appendix Pic. 12a, 12b)
Chittara
Chittara, so this means 'picture' can be an manifestation of the town painters of KARNATAKA India [2]. Chittara is done on handmade newspaper. This paper is layered with mud first and then the desired color of the background is directed at it by various colors extracted from the natural things. The color red is procured by milling a particular red stone, the color dark is procured by grinding burnt rice and soaking it in drinking water for few days, mud and rice paste provides white. (Example in Appendix Pic. 13a, 13b)
Introduction to MADHUBANI Paintings
Painting is normally done by folk designers or classical painters in 3 ways: wall-painting (BHITTI-CITRA), canvas-painting (PATA-CHITRA) and floor-painting (ARIPANA). Of these the wall-painting and the floor-painting are incredibly popular in MITHILA region [2]. The Wall-painting or mural paintings, popularly known as MITHILA painting or MADHUBANI painting.
MADHUBANI, literally indicating 'from the forest of honey' is the name of the village from where comes the MADHUBANI paintings. Situated in the interior of northern India, this artwork is the manifestation of creativeness in the day-to-day life of the local people. Done mainly by the females of the family, this skill is undoubtedly an integral part of daily ritual. Primarily all veggie dyes were used for the paintings but today they have access to the variety of poster colors to cater to their needs and to enable them to get more experiments with colors. The estimated date can not be traced back to the actual time that brought MADHUBANI art directly into existence. It really is however hundreds of years old skill that is associated with the normal lives of the villagers. For the reason that region it is believed that every morning hours the worshipped deity comes invisibly to the household to bless the family and also to bring more prosperity. So this art began as a pleasant painting for deities. It began from the access floor and the exterior of the home. Passed from moms to their daughters, the skill of MADHUBANI has constantly been improving in its quality. As this traditions was initialized with an objective of decorating the surface of the house, the walls and the floor always served as the canvas.
Floor-painting (ARIPANA)
The art work of ARIPANA or floor-painting has been passed down from generation to generation. There isn't an individual house in MITHILA in which ceremonies are performed without ARIPANA. The women of MITHILA focus on drawing circular habits of designs with a white liquid paste made of ground rice mixed with normal water. Sometimes vermilion is also applied, besides white, red, renewable, yellow and dark colors. In a variety of ARIPANA designs, they have got the images of gods and goddess painted on different shapes and varieties with multiple colors, reflecting the artist's originality and thoughts. ARIPANA can be an indigenous word, which means "the artwork of pulling embankment or wall membrane. " The word is derived from ALIMPANA or ALEPANA (of Sanskrit origin) and even though grammatically correct, it falsifies the true origin of the word [5].
(Exemplory case of ARIPANA art work in Appendix. Pic. 14a, 14b)
The land and people
North of the river Ganges, in the talk about of BIHAR [2] lays a land called MITHILA, shaded by old mango groves and watered by melt normal water rivers of NEPAL [2] (Indian neighbor country) and the Himalayas. MITHILA has enjoyed a noteworthy part in the political and ethnic life of old India. It really is a land full of the beauty of scenery in sharp distinction to the ugliness of poverty in which its people, most of whom are talented painters, live, who accept their fate, good or bad, and paint for painting sake.
It is said that entirely MITHILA was the home where the enlightened and the discovered might always find a ample patron, tranquility and safe practices, where courts were devoted to learning and culture and where poets and philosophers lived in honor and affluence. Despite the fact that ladies in the villages around MADHUBANI have been exercising their folk art work for centuries, the world at large has come to learn about these women and consider them to be "artists" only within the last forty years. Even now, the majority of their work remains anonymous. The women, the majority of them illiterate, are hesitant to consider themselves specific producers of "artwork" and only a few of them mark the paintings with the own name.
Among the first modern outsiders to report the traditions of MADHUBANI painting were William and Mildred Archer. Mr. Archer was a United kingdom civil servant designated to the area through the colonial age (till 1947). The Archers obtained some drawings in some recoverable format that the ladies painters were utilizing as assists to storage. Works that the Archers collected visited the India Details Office in London (now part of the British Catalogue) where a tiny volume of specialists could analyze them as creative instances of India's folk skill [6].
The women painters in MADHUBANI resided in a closed culture and were unwilling to paint openly. Eventually scheduled to a drought (1966-68) in the surrounding regions of MITHILA that led to severe economic problems women commenced to commercialize their artwork. The All India Handicrafts Mother board [7] encouraged the ladies artists to create their paintings on handmade paper for commercial deal. The federal government of India, the state government of Bihar and the regional build guilds has all come in along to initiate the productions and marketing for these women painters. This rapid change in the form of art and its own presentation has empowered the world to discover a new form of art work with an enviable linkage to the lives of women [8].
The Style of painting
This style of painting belongs to North Bihar. Commensurate with the tradition under which it started, the style is replete with icons of fertility like the lotus plant, the bamboo grove, birds, fish, etc. in union. The art work shifted to sketching newspaper in the 1960s, which brought with it a fresh freedom and creativeness. Newspaper is movable and economically possible too. Statistics from mother nature & mythology are adapted to suit this style. The themes & designs greatly painted will be the worship of Hindu deities such as KRISHNA, RAMA, SIVA, DURGA, LAKSHMI, SARASWATI, Sunlight and Moon, TULSI (basil) flower, court moments, wedding scenes, cultural happenings around them, etc. Floral, animal and bird motifs, geometrical designs are used to fill up all the spaces. There is almost no unfilled space in this style. The skill is handed down the generations, and hence the original designs and habits are widely taken care of. One of the key features of MITHILA paintings is simpleness. All that is required for the musician is a suitable surface, standard paints, and local brushes. Primary sketching is scarcely required in MITHILA paintings because the outlines are developed in one sweep of the brush.
Tools Used
No sophisticated tools are needed in MADHUBANI paintings. Painters remain unacquainted with the modern brush. The original brush is manufactured out of a bamboo-twig by wrapping the twig up with a piece of cloth or by having its end frayed so that the fiber looks like a bundle of hair.
Color Scheme
The artists prepare the colors. Black is obtained by blending soot with cow dung; yellowish from turmeric or pollen or lime and the dairy of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the KUSUM flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the solid wood apple tree; white from rice powder; orange from PALASHA blossoms. The raw materials were mixed with goat's milk and juice from bean plants. Today green, blue, red and orange have been put into these colors. The colors are applied level with no shading. There is generally a double brand attracted for the outlines, with the difference between the lines packed by combination or straight little lines. In the linear painting, no colors are applied. Only the outlines are drawn. Some villages only produce black ink drawings. Other villages use pink, yellowish, blue, red and parrot inexperienced, each paint mixed with the traditional goat's milk.
Impact of Hindu religious beliefs and mythology in Indian folk arts
Hinduism Religion is a definitive influence on Indian Skill. Hindu Paintings having Hindu gods, Hindu goddesses, and the various Hindu pantheons are one of the most prominent symbols of Indian and Hindu Art.
Hindu god/goddess in branding
In India, manufacturers make an effort to have an impact on the psyche of consumer, by branding an item with the brands and images of Hindu deities. They bring the premium image of a God and His virtues and associate them to their product, thus exploiting the mass reputation of well-established imagery of the God to boost product branding. The beauty of the strategy lies in the fact that the companies using God's images do not have to take into account any kind of intellectual property issues like copyright, thus enjoying an enormous credibility simply by virtue of having connected their name to a venerated name. This sort of branding shows the level of popularity of god/goddess images in India and the commercial/legal freedom of these use. Manufacturers use images and labels of Hindu Gods on product product labels and promotion materials to draw in buyer's attention. Even in the us some of the telephone greeting card companies like MCI, which target Indian consumers, print out God's images on its international calling cards or even the phone cards itself is named following a God. In India the largest group of marketers will be the food marketers, followed by marketers of drugs and makeup products, soaps, automobiles, tobacco, home appliances, and petrol products. All of these companies somehow associate their products' virtues with the virtues of your God and try to sell it to the consumer, who can very well relate to the image provided. For example, Indian jewelers use image and name of Goddess LAXMI, who's considered the ruler of all material wealth thoroughly. Perhaps one of the most famous labels among jewelry retailers in India is: "Maha Laxmi Jewelers". (Examples of some Ads and products in Appendix. Pic. 17a - 17j)
Forms and icons in MADHUBANI Paintings
The motifs of the designs include conventionalized flora and fauna, circles in series, spiral or curvilinear devices, series of short lines, foot-points of fragmentary (imaginative) pictures illustrating legends and experiences, providing glimpses of environmental and natural life. As the spiritual paintings include various gods and goddess, the secular and attractive paintings contain various icons of prosperity and fertility such as elephant, horses, fish, lion, parrot, turtle, bamboo, lotus, rose, PURAINA leaves, PANA, creepers, SWASTIKA etc. Besides, we also come across in these paintings aspects of agricultural animal life, which plays an important role in the rural current economic climate of MITHILA. The pet, in simple fact, is a duplicate representation of energy and identity of God. Thus, the topic matter generally comes into two organizations:
(1) Some heavenly varieties.
(2) A series of strictly selected fruit and vegetables and animal varieties.
For different situations, they have got different varieties and symbols attached to these paintings.
Wedding Paintings
At weddings, the next objects - the sun and moon, a bamboo-tree, a circle of lotuses, parrots, turtle and seafood enter into prominence. These paintings pull their themes generally from the PURANAS and epics. One of the most prominent image looming major on the wall surfaces are the bamboo-tree and the engagement ring of lotus, the KAMALAVANA or PURAINA. The focus is on fertility, and the marvelously intricate diagrams of the KAMALAVANA, the PURAINA and the forest of bamboos are, as described by Archer, MANDALAS and diagrams of the generative organs. The lotus group isn't just a lotus but also the mark of the bride's love-making, while the bamboo-tree is a bamboo, it also signifies the phallus. (Although it is sometimes said that the women designers iconize the husband's patrilineage as a stand of bamboo. ) In other words, lotus is a female and bamboo is a guy. Corresponding to Archer, "the latent symbolism extends to its level in the countless paintings where the bamboo-tree is depicted not as aloof and apart but as influenced through the center of any clinging group" [9].
There are also minor symbols of parrots, turtles, fish, sun and the moon. In Indian context, the parrots symbolize the lovebirds plus they feature constantly as images of the bride-to-be and bridegroom in folk music and poetry. Turtles also have a significant place because they affiliate drinking water with all its beneficent ability with relationship, their strange form being diagrammatic of the buffs union and their head and tail appearing from the shell appears like the precise counterparts of the bamboo plunging in the lotus. Then, there are fishes that are emblems of fertility and, finally we have sun and moon who are placed for their life-giving features.
(Exemplory case of marriage art known as KOHBAR in Appendix. Pic. 16a - 16h)
About the MADHUBANI painting Painters: Baua Devi
Baua Devi is one of the most respected artists in the MITHILA community, and certainly the most successful. She lives in JITWARPUR, the village where she was created. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout India as well as the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris and at the MITHILA Museum in Tokamachi, Japan [10]. Also, at the MATRIX show at UC Berkeley Artwork Museum, 1997 [11] included two mural-scale paintings by Baua Devi, one depicting the life span of KRISHNA, the other, a event around a pond in a Mithila town.
The scope of MADHUBANI paintings, its reputation in India and in other areas of the world
MADHUBANI Painting has recently received much attention and attractiveness. There are quite a few websites specialized in MADHUBANI painting. I just would like to add that the credit for bringing recent and large popularity to this art form runs, in large measure, to the Lalit Narayan Mishra. In his capacity as the Minister for Railways in Mrs. Indira Gandhi's cupboard, reproductions of the paintings adorned the coaches of several fast and super-fast trains. [12] Copies of the paintings became a hot-selling item for both indigenous and international travelers. The reproductions could be within plenty, for occasion, one of the hawkers in the bustling neighborhood side market over the JANPATH in New Delhi, India - essential for the foreign tourist! Credit is due also to Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni, erstwhile person in the Indian Handicrafts Federation. He was the first to organize an exhibition of the institution of paintings at New Delhi in 1967 [13]. This helped bring instant international popularity. Folk art work is having a treasure house of symbolic dialect to add as a gift idea to Modern art. "Folk in a way bears the connotation of anonymity, collective wisdom, spontaneity and ease. Together with the development of Anthropology a new awareness has enter into understanding the primitive and folk customs. Anthropology has demonstrated that regionalism in art work is not against internationalism. [14]"
Conclusion
MADHUBANI paintings are popular for their tribal motifs and use of bright earthy colors. I'd like to explore how these unique features of folk fine art could be effectively translated in to the form of Animation.
Based on my research I've these findings about MADHUBANI PAINTINGS characteristics:
-The statistics are recognizable by a face in profile while the rest of the body faces the front.
-The face has one large eyesight and a bumpy sort of nose coming out of the forehead.
-The physique outlines are drawn as a two times brand with diagonal hatching between them.
-The borders are highly decorated - either geometrically or with ornate floral patterns.
-Clothing is highly embellished with geometrical, floral or even animal habits.
-The drawings of animals are easily known for what they can be, but again tend to be very stylized.
-The varieties and symbols in these paintings have their own value and different varieties and symbols are used on different occasions.
-There could be different interpretations of symbols and its own uses.
-These paintings have a limited amount of colors and each color has its meaning. Artists prepare the colors applied.
-The musician uses traditional brushes (made from a bamboo-twig) for attracting.
With time medium has improved. Originally these paintings were done on wall space in villages. Later, the performers successfully transferred their techniques of wall painting to the medium of newspaper. Now the majority of the painters use watercolors and handmade papers. At the same time they maintain the characteristics and style of paintings even though medium has modified. In order to create a fresh source of non-agricultural income, different organizations encourages the artists to produce their traditional paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. In this manner now it also extensively multiply. Even in the more recent work on newspaper, the themes are usually the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and reviews from Hindu mythology. They display their paintings throughout India as well as different parts of the globe. Now with the introduction of digital tools like Macromedia Flash, which can produce the similar kind of drawings using different combinations of pencil and brush strokes. Use of digital tools also makes these drawings faster and more effectively as these paintings has lots of repetitive habits.
So we can say, transferring the techniques of wall membrane painting to the medium of newspaper gained these paintings more reputation and recognition. Same way I strongly feel that when these styles and characteristics of MADHUBANI paintings will be transformed into digital medium, such as animation, it will require the paintings to another level, where these folk art work styles will be utilized by increasingly more digital painters from India and all over the world.
End Notes
[1] Based on the art record timeline the fine art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about another millennium BC. However predicated on the recent results, An archaeological site off India's european coast may be up to 9, 000 yrs. old. The revelation happens 1. 5 years after acoustic images from the sea-bed suggested the presence of built-up structures resembling the ancient Harappan civilization, which dates back around 4, 000 years. < http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/south_asia/1763950. stm>.
[2] Expresses from India. Map of India - Appendix Pic. 15
[3] Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Magazines, 1982.
[4] Roy, The Bratas of Bengal, " The RANGOLI or ARIPANA, KOLAM or MURGGY, as it is known in Bombay (now Mumbai), TAMILNADU and ANDHRA, is a nice decoration of the bottom. "
[5] The Mughals ruled in India from 1526 to 1857. The Mughal period can be called a classical age in north India. With this cultural development, the Indian practices were amalgamated with the Turko-Iranian culture, taken to the country by the Mughals.
[6] Gene R. Thursby, College or university of Florida.
[7] Ministry of Textiles (Govt of India)
[8] Madhubani Painting Workshop Brochure. < http://www. indianfolklore. org/publicevents. htm>.
[9] Archer, W. G. , MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998.
[10] The Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, Japan. .
[The Mithila Museum is housed in a converted schoolhouse in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, situated in Japan's snow country. Here approximately 850 Mithila paintings, more than 300 paintings that the Mithila performers created in Japan, Warli paintings by an aboriginal group in India, and Indian teracotta statues and figurines, are exhibited on the long lasting basis. ]
[11] Baua Devi and the Art of Mithila. .
MATRIX: August 15 through October 26, 1997 at the UC Berkeley Art Museum.
[This is the first USA exhibition of paintings on paper by the Indian designer Baua Devi. The exhibition also includes an array of works by other musicians and artists from the Mithila region of northeastern India. Baua Devi's paintings explore an array of personal and mythological themes or templates. An image, which she has come to look at as her own is the nag kanya, or snake maiden, a creature with the torso and brain of a beautiful woman and the lower body of your snake. The nag kanya resembles the snake goddess Manasa, whose features echo those of the key Hindu god Shiva. The nag kanya also derives from the true snakes that take up the watery region where Baua Devi lives. ]
[12] Railways in North Bihar. .
[13] Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni. .
[14] The Fine art of Folk Custom. .
References
Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, n. d.
Thakur, Upendra, Background of MITHILA. New Delhi: Abhinav Magazines, n. d.
Jain, Jyotindra, Ganga Devi: Custom and Appearance in Mithila Painting. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd. , 1997.
[A fine booklet on a respected artist who used what's sometimes called the Kayastha design of MADHUBANI painting. ]
Vequaud, Yves, The Women Painters of Mithila. London: Thames and Hudson, 1977.
[A book that added to and then mirrored the worldwide popularity of MADHUBANI painting. ]
Osaki, Norio, MADHUBANI Paintings. Kyoto Shoin, 1998.
Shearer, Alistair. The Hindu Eyesight: Forms of the Formless. Thames & Hudson, 1993.
Aldred, Gavin. Indian Firework Art work. Trafalgar Square, 2000
Prakash, K. Authentic Folk Designs from India. New Delhi: Dover Pubns, 1995.
Dawson, Barry. Streets Graphics India. Thames & Hudson, 2001.
Archer, W. G. , MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998.
Anand, Mulk Raj, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Publications Section, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1984.
Online show of MADHUBANI Paintings. .
About an Artist. .
The MAITHILI BRAHMANS: AN INTERNET Ethnography. .
Marketing God: About spiritual content on Indian tv set. .
Indian God in Advertising. .
Mudra Marketing communications: A leading advertising company from India.
Mithila Museaum in Japan. .
