PAINTED PARABLES... BUT WITH A DIFFERENCE

The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat organized a craft bazaar – Sampoorn, at Bangalore from the 19th to the 28th of June, 2009. 23 artists from all over the world, in fact a few from other countries got together and filled the campus with their own creative articles that emitted vibrant hues. From paper bags to waste cloth bags, earrings to toe rings, kurtis to saris and from Tanjore paintings to Madhubani paintings; the bazaar was buzzing with excitement on an early Saturday morning!
A painting, whether modern or surreal, always tells you a small story. However, this story is subject to changes based on one’s thinking and personality. I came across two stalls that had paintings that depicted small yarns from the great Indian mythologies, Ramayana and the Mahabharata – the Madhubani paintings from Bihar and the Patachitra paintings from Orissa.

Mr. Ashok Kumar Das is a folk artist from a small village next to Golgahar in Patna. He learnt the art of Madhubani painting from his grandmother at the age of fifteen and now, it has become his full-time profession.
When I asked him if he could explain to me, the process of making a Madhubani painting, he began by giving me the smallest of details. When you ask an artisan to talk about his artwork, the glow that you see in their eyes is just out of the world. That shows the amount of passion one has towards his/her profession.
The base of the painting is made from hand made paper; from bamboo and cotton. The two materials are stuck together with the help of gum water and left to dry till the wetness is gone. Only cloth however is not used because the colors would fade away after a wash. After this, the outline of the painting is copied on to the prepared board with the help of kajal (kohl) and soot (coal) applied in a nib pen. Some of the paintings are filled with stripes of different directions without any color, but black i.e. kohl. Others, after the outlining, are filled with different other colors. One thing that really impressed me was when he told me that they used only vegetable dye, flower colors and fruit dye. For instance, the peepal tree leaf gives out the color, green. The leaves are treated and left to dry for a few days and the residue is used for filling the gaps in the painting. Due to this method of extraction, the painting does not attract ants and insects. Other common colors extracted from nature are:

· Black : cow dung, kohl, soot
· Yellow : pollen, turmeric, milk of banyan leaves
· White : rice
· Orange : palasha flowers
· Red : kusum flowers
· Blue : indigo flowers
· Green : peepal tree leaves and wood apple tree leaves

The colors are applied with ear buds and in the recent past, paint brushes are also being used. However, artificial colors such as fabric and metallic are not used.
There are 25 to 30 families in Mr. Ashok’s village who do the Madhubani painting. The theme of each painting is derived from great Indian myths, Hindu gods and goddesses, flora and fauna. Some paintings even depict social events such as festivals and weddings. Their main inspiration is Mother Nature. Also, some of the designs are the mural paintings found in the temples of Madhubani.
The art of Madhubani painting is passed on from generation to generation and this artisan’s family has been one of the trademark families for making wonderful paintings in Bihar. However, due to lack of infrastructure, support and finance, the art is now a ‘dying folk art’.
Mr. Ashok received his identity card from the government that enabled him to sell his art in exhibitions and bazaars like Sampoorn. He gets notifications from his respective agents regarding exhibition information and he heads off to any part of the country to display his talent almost all through the year. In about a month and a half he is leaving to New Delhi for an exhibition.
His paintings vary from Rs. 50 to Rs 10,000 based on the intricate detailing done in each painting.
He was delighted to give me an insight about his art and I was more than glad to listen to him talking about his passion for Madhubani painting.

I came across a young man, perhaps my age, who sitting three stalls away from Mr. Ashok’s – Rahul Chinaray. He was from Orissa and was a Patachitra painting artisan.
The base of this painting is made of small palm leaves that are bound together with the help of gum water. After the base is dried, the sketch on the base is done either with needles or with paint brushes. The Patachitra done with needles was called as an engraved painting. The colors used are the vegetable and fruit dye and flower colors; similar to the Madhubani painting. This type of painting can be done on cider wood and tussar silk.
The theme for this painting again is similar to what is used in Madhubani. But there was something extraordinary that I found about this painting. The artist showed me two paintings he had done. Each took about a month and a half to finish. One depicted the whole life of Lord Krishna and the other, Lord Ganesha. The detailing was absolutely stunning. Each line in the painting stood out and I was dumbstruck when he showed it to me. It was absolutely fantastic to see how India actually possesses such young budding artisans who would make it big soon.
There are special schools run by the Orissa government that conduct courses and Patachitra paintings. Once the students finish these courses, they are certified Patachitra artists. Although, Rahul learnt his art at the age of twelve from his grandmother.

When analyzing the two types of folk art, one can easily identify that they are both eco friendly and without doubt, Mother Nature is given the top most priority. However, both these types of paintings are dying arts. It was disheartening to hear from such fine artists that the most recent Madhubani and Patachitra painters do not follow the conventional ways.

A ray of hope is given to artists like Mr. Ashok and Rahul as they get help from the government. They are provided with I-cards that give them a certificate that they are truly artisans.

On interviewing small scale artists who do wonderful pieces of art work, keeping nature at their top most priority and worshipping her it teaches us all a lesson. Mother Nature produces exotic materials that we as humans, who have the ability to think, have no right to misuse or destroy her!