the Overview of section 1, unit 5 the women painters of ithila
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‘Painting is in our culture - my mother used to paint and I started painting with her. - Shashikala Devi
Since the ancient period of human history, even going as far back as the primeval times, art has been an integral and inalienable aspect of human life, as revealed in the cave paintings belonging to the pre-historic period found in various parts of the world. Painting is an important medium for the expression of creative thoughts, human feelings, emotions and sentiments as well as the secular themes, religious beliefs and variegated mundane subject matters. As such, the study of painting concerning the genre of the folk-art helps us in understanding the deep co-relation between art and the various facets of the respective culture and civilization.
The region of Mithila has become synonymous with the beautiful and vibrant Madhubani paintings which are very much coveted by the connoisseurs of art the world over. Madhubani painting is a predominantly feminine oriented folk-art form of the Mithila region in the northern part of the state of Bihar in India and some adjacent areas of Nepal Terai. Thus, Mithila broadly refers to the geographical areas encompassing the old and undivided districts of Darbhanga (out of which the district of Madhubani was formed upon its bifurcation), Bhagalpur, Purnea and Saharsa in North Bihar and some areas of the Nepal Terai adjoining the border of Bihar. The uniqueness of this art along with a clearly specified geographical area of its practice has led to the Government of India giving it its own Geographical Identification or GI tag. These paintings have been aesthetically appreciated and also received international acclaim.