Mithila Folk Song

The ClassificationThe most important and common type of lyrical folk songs in Maithili is Tirhuti.It represents the most popular and successful indigenous lyrical expression of Tirhut and is the richest of all classes of Maithili songs.All aspects of love affairs are unfolded therein.They sing of separation as well as of union.The Tirhuti has following classifications:-
(I)Batagamani--It portrays the nayika(heroine) in abhisar, when she goes to meet her lover.It is sung out in a melody.Most of the songs are attributed to have been written by Vidyapati.
(II)Goalari--It depicts the sports and youthful pranks of Krishna in the companies of Gopis of which poet Nandipati is most successful.
(III)Raas--It deals with Krishna'ssportive lilas with Gopis.The most important writer of Ras is Sahebram Das.The influence of Brajabhasa is conspicuously perceptiblein such songs.
(IV)Maana--It represents a sort of dramatic lyric depicting the annoyance of the beloved and the request of the lovers to mend matters .Umapati is the best writer of Maana. Other important songs are Samadauni,Lagani,Chaitabara,Malara,Yoga,Uchiti,
Sohara,Choumasa and devotional songs like Nachari,Maheshvani,Gosaunik geet and Visnupada. (I)Samadauni:-On the occasion of the Navaratri,it is sung to bid adieu to goddess Durga.It is sung to bid farewell to ones own daughter when she goes to her husband's house after marriage.All important functions end with the singing of this song,popularly known as Bidai song.Gananath Jha and Vindhyanath Jha have made important contributions in this field.
(II)Lagani:--It is sung by village women folk in the early hours of morning while grinding grains.The classical type of Lagani embodies 4-5 stanzas.Gananath Jha has used it as a medium of fine poetry.
(III)Chaitabar--It represents a class of foik poetry and conveys emotions of love in the month of Chaitra.(March-April) It is also known as Chaiti.
(IV)Malara--It is a seasonal song,sung generally in the dry and rainy seasons,having a distinct raga.
(V)Yoga--It is sung to bind the bridegroom and thebride,even lover beloved,by divine incantations
(VI)Uchiti--It is sung to convey the courtsey of the host to the distinguished visitor.The Yoga and Uchiti are the two peculiar classes of Maithili songs.These two songs have both literary and folk types.The Yoga songs can be traced back to the days of Vidyapati. Sohara,Barahmasa and Choumasa are the familiar types of all vernacular poetry and are found in almost all the languages of Bihar.
Sohar represents the birth songs. Barahmasa represents the state of separation during the course of twelve months;
Choumasa during the course of four months.These have both literary and folk forms.In Mithila,the ordinary people have to eke out their livlihood with great difficulty and as such long separation from the near and dear ones is a common feature.These songs are the products of such separation and various poets ,now unknown ,composed or contributed to the development of these songs.
Nachari indicates songs representing direct prayer to Siva. Mahesvani is a song about Siva. Nachari and Mahesvani are often confused and kept in common parlance but the difference between the two is real and marked.Nachari refers to the estatic dance of Siva whereas Mahesvani is sung in praise of Siva and is addressed to Manain (Menaka, the mother of Gouri).It represents the life of Siva and more specially his marriage.Vidyapati,Lalkavi,Kanharam Das,Chanda Jha and others have composed some of the best Nacharis and Mahesvanis.
The Gosaunik geet is sung in praise of Shakti and the people have been composing such songs since the days of Vidyapatis.
(Coutesy--Mithila in The Age of Vidyapati by R.K.Choudhary Pp.418-419) Festival of Songs This is the season of festivals in Mithila. After Durga puja this is the festivals of lights - Diwali then Bhratri dwitia, Chitragupta Puja (dawat puja), Godhan (Sukrati), Nav anna, Deo Uthaan and the great legend of Sama Chakeva and Chugla is 'played' by the women and then Chhath, when the sun god is worshipped and is asked to remove all the miseries in life. They remain standing in rivers and ponds, half submerged in water, from the wee hours and wait for Sun to rise, they offer him sweets, sugar cane, beet roots, sweet roots, citrus fruits, banana, milk etc. During this time seasonal folk songs are sung by the women folk of the sweet memory of their father's house i.e. their Naihar, their benevolent and kind brothers who posses all good qualities in the world. This is the time when Sun is worshipped. They observe fast and ask from Sun to fulfill their desire to have son, good health, for their husband, brother and every one in the family & self. Then there is festival of Godhan -the welfare of cattle and those who rear cattle.Some samples of Folk songs :Chhath: J
(1)
Angana mein pokhri khunayal, chathi maiyya aeithin aye
dooara par tamua tanayal, chathi maiyya aeithin aye
anchra sa galia baharab, chathi maiyya aeithin aye
kerva aanab daala bheri tei par piayari oodhayab, chathi maiyya aeithin aye
hathia par kalsa baisayab, tei par diya dharayab, chathi maiyya aeithin aye(2)
Kanchahi baans ker gahabar hey, aahey sobaran lagal kebaar
tahi ma sa nikuli surujmani hey, aahey kon dai ukham dolaoo
aragha ker ber bhel hey.
biheney key pahar ma domin bitiya hey
bitiya dhaniya dauriya ley aau
aragha ker ber bhel hey.
beti piayar supvaa ley aau
purab ranthi thar bhel hey.
bihaney ke pahar me baniayan bitiya hey,
baniayain navka kasailiya lai aau
aragha ker ber bhel hey.
bihaney key pahar mey tohi maalin bitiya ,
maalin satranga haar ley aau:
aragha ker ber bhel hey.
bihaney key pahar mey tohi babhan bhaiyya hey
baabhaan piayari janeuua ley aau
aragha ker ber bhel hey.
Sama Chakeva:
rSAMA SONGS sama songs are very popular among the Young girls of Mithila.It is an interesting festival and it begins on the seventh day of the bright half of Kartik(November) and ends on Kartik Purnima.These songs describe the pathetic story of Sama.Its origin has been traced to the Padma and the
Skanda Puranas.One mischievous Shudra made a false charge of Sama's illicit connection with an ascetic to her father Krishna.Krishna grew furious and cursed her to become a Sama bird.With the help of her brotherSamba she was emancipated on the day of Kartik Purnima.Saptarshi and Vrindaban attested her virtue.Sama's husband was Charuvaktra or Chakeva. The festival is celebrated throughout Mithila with great gusto.Clay toys are made on the occasion and characters are represented by them.The last day is the saddest day when Sama is believed to have left the life of a bird and sent honourably to her husband's home.These songs ridicule the slanderer and praise the brother. This is a very interesting game,where plenty of songs and actions are exhibited. Here are a few songs showing sentiments,emotions and plenty of memories of the chidhood spent at father's house.
(Courtesy-A Survey of Maithili Literature--R.K.Choudhary.)(1)
Koney bhaiyya aanthin aaler jhaler, koney bhaiyya aanthin pator
koney bhaiyya aanthin sankha churi, koney bhaiyya aanthin sindoor
koney bahino pinhthin aaler jhaler koney bahino pinhthin pator
koney bahina pinhthin sankha churi koney biahino pinhthin sindoor
badka bhaiya aanhthin aaler jhaaler majhla bhaiyya aanhthin pator
sainjhla bhaiyya aanhthin sankha churi chhotka bhaiyya aanhthin sindoor
badki bahino pinhthin aaler jhaler manjhli bahino pinhthin pator
sainjhli bahino pinhthin sankha churi chhotki bahino pinhthin sindoor(2)
Gaam key adhikaari tohen majhlaa bhaiyya ho
bhaiyya haath das pokhri khunai deho
champa phul lagai deho hey
phulwa lorhei ta bahini ghami geli hey
aahey gham gelani sir key sindoor naina ker kajar ghamali hey
chhatwa lana doudal ailkhin badka bhiyya hey
baiso bahino eiho judi chhahari ki hamaro key ashish diyo
kathi bajhayab ban tittir hey
aahey kathi bajhayab raja hans chakeva
jaaley bajhayeb bahino tittir hey
aahey raub sa bajhayeb raja hans chakeva
khel karu hey bahino khel karu hey
bhaiyya jhatayal phool bahino haar guthu hey
aahey seho haar pinhthin bhaujo
bahino khel karu hey(3)Chanan birhich tar thath bheli bahino sey falna bahino
taakathi bahino bhai ke batiya
ehi baat aauta bhayya sey falna bhaiyyahey
dekhi lebinh bhari aankhiya
bahinya pasaari janu kanhak hey falna bahino
fatat bahino bhai key chatiya
(4)
Chaur, chaur, chaur
hamra bhaiyya kothi chaur.
chhaur chhaur chhaur
chugla ghar mein chhaur
chugla karey chugli
bilayyia karey meow
chugla key jeebh ham
nonch noonch khaun(5)
Brindaban ma aagi laagey
koi na mijhaavey hey
hamar bhaiyya falna bhaiyaa
daud daud mijhave hey(6)
Sama hey chakeva hey
nahiraa nai bisraiha hey
sasura ma puja pai ha hey
koral khet mei rahi ha hey
jotal khet mei rahi ha hey
rangei rang patiya oochhabhi ha hey
dhepa forhi forhi khai ha hey
os pibi pibi rahi ha heyhamar bhai ka aasis diha hey
aagila saal pher aaiha hey

Mithila's Pride

Mithila's Pride

The Madhubani tradition of art, whose practitioners are women, is on the decline for lack of patronage.





MITHILA, the birthplace of Sita of the Ramayana, lies in the state of Bihar, bounded by the Himalayas in the north and the rivers Kosi, Ganga and Gandak in the east, south and west respectively. Over centuries, the people of Mithila have developed their own tradition of art, popularly known as Madhubani painting, named after a district and a town in the region. What is unique about this tradition - which dates back to the 7th century A.D., and is prevalent even today - is that it is the women who mastered and practised it.





In their earliest form, Madhubani paintings appear as aripana (floor paintings) and kohabar (wall paintings), done by the women of the Brahmin and the Kayastha castes. Painters today do it on paper. An exhibition of such paintings, titled "Mithila Paintings", was held in Kolkata from January 3 to January 12. It was curated by Neel Rekha, an art historian, whose dissertation on the women painters of Mithila titled "Art and Assertion of Identity: Women and Madhubani Paintings" is to be published shortly.

Traditionally, Madhubani paintings were made on the eve of certain rituals and ceremonies, such as pujas, vratas, or weddings. According to Neel Rekha, who has stayed with the painters and traced the roots of the folk art tradition, these paintings may have had their origins in tantric rituals. Mithila has from time immemorial been a seat of the tantric tradition, with strong leanings towards the Saiva and Sakti cults. The tradition found expression in domestic rituals, and that is perhaps why the art form was once restricted to women. But that did not stop the artists from transcending the domain of practical utility in order to create something exquisite from an aesthetic point of view.





Though the tantric connection with Madhubani art is still debated, it is a fact that by the 12th century A.D., the Vamachara school of tantra was popular in the region and that it was women who went through all the rituals. This provided women with an important space and function in society. There are numerous references by the poet Vidyapati (A.D.1350-A.D.1450) to this art form and its tantric connection.

With the introduction of the Panji system in 1326, which laid down the rules for Brahmin and Kayastha women, differences in style appeared based mainly on the caste. Upper-caste women, who had a relatively confined existence, were made to adhere strictly to specific themes and symbols pertaining to the rituals. It is possible that with the lack of variety in themes, their paintings became more stylistic and intricate in their patterns, which led to the development of the bharni and the kachni styles.





Belonging to no orthodox or conventional school of art, these paintings stand out for their raw originality. The women of the region had neither education nor formal training in painting. The art form was handed down from one generation to the next. In the process, there have been changes and embellishments, but the basic style has remained unaltered.

The differences between the works of Brahmin and Kayastha women and women of lower castes are apparent. "The Harijan Madhubani paintings appear simpler and less sophisticated. They are closer to the Geru tradition of painting, with emphasis on volume and depth rather than ornamentation," Rekha told Frontline.





Whereas the Brahmins and the Kayasthas stuck to mythological themes, the Scheduled Caste artists allowed themselves greater freedom of expression by depicting day-to-day life. Jamuna Devi's portrait of a Chamar disposing of the carcass of a cow is a famous example of this. Jamuna Devi herself belonged to the Chamar community.

The Harijan paintings broadly come under two styles - Gobar, or cowdung - painting, and Godana, or tattoo painting. The former is attributed to Chamar artists and the latter to artists of the Dusadh community. "These two communities, unlike other Schedule Castes of the region, took up professional painting. They evolved their own unique Madhubani style of painting," said Rekha. The traditional work of Chamars has been disposing of the carcasses of animals, while Dusadhs have traditionally been agricultural labourers. The artists from these communities incorporated their own mythologies into their works. For example, Salhesa is an important divinity in the Dusadh community. This god of strength and his legends feature prominently in the works of Dusadh artists.




It was W.G. Archer, a British man in the Indian Civil Service, who first brought these paintings to the attention of the outside world, after he chanced upon them among the debris after the great Bihar earthquake in 1934. The result of his subsequent research over a period of 15 years was published in the art journal Marg in 1949. However, it took almost another 20 years and another natural calamity this time in the form of a drought for this art form to come into the mainstream. The prolonged drought, from 1966 to 1968, had crippled the agricultural economy of the region. The government, in its attempts to find alternative sources of income for the affected people through the All India Handicrafts Board, encouraged the women of Madhubani to paint on paper instead of floors and walls, to facilitate the sale of the paintings. So it was that outstanding painters such as Jagdamaba Devi, Sita Devi, Mahasundari Devi, Ookha Devi, Baua Devi and Karpuri Devi were discovered and Mithila folk paintings came to be popularly known as Madhubani paintings. Apart from the government, this art form owes a huge debt to persons such as Pupul Jayakar, Bhaskar Kulkarni, Upendra Marathi and Lalit Narayan Mishra, whose efforts served to popularise it, both in the country and abroad.



A Madhubani painting in the Tantric style. It depicts one of the 10 Mahavidyas with her yantra. The Concept of yantra is a uniquely tantric one.

THE contribution of foreign scholars in promoting the art form internationally has also been immense. Yves Vequad, a French novelist and journalist, was among the first foreigners to visit Mithila, in the early 1970s. His research produced a book and a film, The Women Painters of Mithila. He was soon followed by the German anthropologist and folklorist Erika Moser. Moser and Raymond Lee Owens, an American who conducted research on the rituals and folklore associated with Mithila paintings, set up the Master Craftsmen Association of Mithila in 1977. This association, which is still active, provides the artists of the region with a regular source of income through exhibitions, and sales to collectors and art galleries.



Goddess kali, by Bhagvati Devi, in the Geru style.

Since the 1990s, Japan has shown a keen interest in Madhubani paintings, mainly because of the initiative taken by Tokyo Hasegawa, who set up the Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, where around 850 Madhubani paintings are exhibited on a regular basis.

The paintings by artists of the Scheduled Castes, though they have been in existence for as long as those of the Brahmins and the Kayasthas, entered the area of commercialised art only towards the late 1960s. "The Harijan community's entry into painting on paper was facilitated by Bhaskar Kulkarni, a Handloom Handicrafts Export Corporation officer posted in Madhubani to facilitate the drought relief programme. He discovered Jamuna Devi, who at that point of time used to make mud frescos, and encouraged her to experiment with her style on paper," said Rekha. Jamuna would put a coating of cowdung on handmade paper, giving it the appearance of a wall. On that she would paint using Holi colours, a tradition earlier used exclusively by the Brahmins and the Kayasthas. Her mud paintings exhibited in Japan won her wide appreciation and she became the first Scheduled Caste woman to gain recognition for her Madhubani style.





According to Neel Rekha, an interesting outcome of commercialisation was the emergence of different styles of painting, which can be broadly categorised as Geru, Bharni, Kachni, Tantric, Gobar, and Godana.





The most popular among them are the Bharni and Kachni styles. The former came from Jitwarpur and the latter from Ranti. The Bharni style is identified by the use of vibrant colours and minimal use of lines, while beautiful patterns through the intricate use of lines mark the Kachni style. Most of the early paintings were in the Geru style, which is very close to the folk art tradition. Lack of ornamentation and a very prominent black line were the identifying features of this style.




The artists still stick to the traditional way of making colours from the juices of locally available creepers and flowers; for example, yellow is prepared from turmeric or from chunam (lime) mixed with the white excretion of the banyan tree, black from burnt jowar or kajal, orange from the palasa flower, red from kusum, and green from the bilva leaf or the saim creeper. "There has also been a tradition of Brahmins and Kayasthas using Holi or bazaar colours in the region," said Rekha. For brushes, the artists still use twigs with cotton rags wrapped around their tips. Separate twigs are used for separate colours.





The main purpose of the exhibition was to create an awareness about the art form, which has not, of late, been getting much encouragement from the government or from art enthusiasts in the country. "Many of the old styles of Madhubani paintings have become extinct, as lack of encouragement forced many artists to leave this profession and go back to their old livelihoods. Geru painters such as Bhagvati Devi have stopped painting all together as there were no takers for their art. The exhibition is an attempt to address this problem and present all the existing styles on a single platform," said Rekha.