Artist carries on a rich legacy of Madhubani art

A Madhubani artwork

Sharvan Paswan and his family members extract natural colors. DH Photos/ Fakruddin H

The face lights up as Sharvan Paswan talks about how he, his team members along with other 300 Madhubani artists worked non-stop for 45 days to create the biggest Madhubani artwork in the world at the entrance of a railway station in Madhubani in Bihar.

“The Madhubani artwork is spread over an area of 10,000 square feet,” said Sharvan Paswan, who is in Mangaluru as a resource person at a two-day workshop organised by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and Artkanara Trust at Kodialguthu Center for Art and Culture in Ballalbagh.

Sharvan told DH that he hails from one of the families devoted to Madhubani Kohbar painting, paper mache and Godhna (tattoo) artwork for centuries.

The district in the Mithila region of Bihar state, where Madhubani is practised for around 2,000 years, is named after the artwork itself.

Madhubani is also referred to as Mithila artwork. As Mithila is known to be the birthplace of Seetha, wife of Lord Rama, many artworks had references to incidents of Ramayan which encouraged people from all communities to learn the art. The art, drawn on the walls, evolved on paper and cloth using natural colours.

Madhubani designs also deck walls of the house during marriage and other auspicious occasions. Madhubani motifs, known as ‘Kohvar’, are drawn at the marriage halls. Generally, the Paswan community is involved in the Godhna style of Madhubani art, which basically comprises tattoo patterns.

Sharnavn has learnt from his mother Urmila Devi and Padmashri Sita Devi. Sharvan Paswan, his daughter Ujala Kumari and family member Santosh Kumar Paswan teach Madhubani art to interested persons.

Students from foreign countries, like Japan and Russia, come to Madhubani in order to learn the art, he said.

Natural colours

Sharvan family member Santosh Kumar Paswan said earlier that white and red colours were used to create artwork. White colour was obtained from limestone and red colour from bricks. Artists experimented with natural colours obtained from various sources, such as turmeric, leaves of the Shakha Pushpa plant, rose petals and so on.

Sometimes, a natural resin obtained from trees is mixed with these colours to provide a glossy look to artworks. Among the Madhubani artists, there are Padma Shri award winners, national award, Lalitakala Akademi and state award winners and the number crosses 300.

The main source of income for Madhubani artists comes from the sale of artworks. Sharvan Paswan’s joint family in Jitwarpur in Madhubani has 16 members and all of them are involved in Madhubani artwork.

The young generation, including his daughter, are graduates and are continuing the legacy. Almost all children learn Madhubani art from the age of 7.

Sharvan’s artworks are featured at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalya (IGRMS), Mysuru and various other parts of Karnataka.

He was conferred with the Kalidas award in 2005, the Vidyapati award in 2014 and the Lalitkala Akademi Award in 2016.

He has conducted many workshops throughout the country.