Darbhanga Madhubani Mithila Painting Tradition

Madhubani painting originated in Darbhanga and Madhubani district's Mithila villages where Maithili Brahmin and Kayastha women painted kohbar (nuptial chamber) walls with auspicious images of lotus flowers, fish pairs, Shiva-Parvati, and the Mahabharata in mineral pigments and natural dyes applied with bamboo splinter brushes and fingers. The tradition gained national recognition in 1934 when Officer William Archer discovered village kohbar paintings after the Bihar earthquake and encouraged their transfer to paper; today Darbhanga's Mithila painters produce on paper and canvas for global collectors. Darbhanga district hosts the Mithila Art Institute that has documented regional painting styles (Brahmin, Kayastha, Chamar, Dusadh) and trained thousands of rural women painters.