Madhubani painting – a folk art form

Madhubani painting is a popular folk art form from India. This folk art form is originated in a small town of bihar, India and gained popularity. The subject is often nature, hindu gods and mythological stories. Let u shave a look at some of them.

 Ganesha

The following pic narrates the story of Ganesha and how he got his elephant head.

Dashavataras in madhubani paintaings

Following picture tells about the dashavataras, ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

 Navadurga’s nine forms

Goddess durga’s nine forms are shown in the following madhubani painting.

Ravana and Sita

Ravana threatening Sita in ashok vatika is narrated here. On the tree, hanuman is observing this incident. They are surrounded by demons

 Ardhnarishwar or Ardhnarishvar

Ardhnarishwar represents Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati, in a single form. This is also believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. The Matasya Purana describes how Brahma, pleased with a penance performed by Parvati, rewards her by blessing her with a golden complexion. This renders her more attractive to Shiva, to whom she later merges as one half of his body

Rama and Sita swayamvar

Following is a scene from the Ramayana, depicting swayamvar of Rama and Sita.

 Shri Krishna and Radha

Life of Shri Krishna and Radha is also depicted by Madhubani paintings. Following is an example.

 Mahakali – a form of Shakti

Mahakali is a consort of Lord Shiva and represent Adi Shakti, the primeval force of this universe. Her most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.

Putna vadh

Putna was employed by Kansa to kill the child Krishna. But Shri Krishna killed the demoness.

Lanka Dahan

Hanuman burned lanka when he went to search for Sita. He then went back to Kishkindha.

Following painting depicts the infamous incident of Draupadi Cheerharan. The main protagonists were Duryodhana and Dushashana, who  had to pay dearly for their misconduct. They had to part with their lives. The pic shows the game of dice being played and Pandavas are helpless.