Mithila Painting

Untitled (Gajalakshmi with attendants), 1970s

Unique Work

Includes Certificate of Authenticity

₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

This work depicts Gajalakshmi with her attendants. The deity Lakshmi is associated with prosperity, wealth and growth, often placed on a lotus, with her female attendants—and in this instance, elephants—surrounding her. While the depiction of holy deities in Mithila paintings is recurrent, artists have created their own styles, making such works richly individualistic.

Mithila painting, originating in the culturally rich region spanning northern Bihar and
southern Nepal, emerged from a deeply rooted tradition of ritual wall art. Created primarily by women, these paintings marked weddings, festivals, harvests, and sacred occasions, serving not merely as decoration but as expressions of devotion, fertility, and communal identity. In a region renowned for its oral storytelling—where epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata were memorized and recited—these narratives found vivid visual form through intricate linework, symbolic motifs, and stylized figures adorned with ornate details. Although the tradition flourished for centuries, it gained outside attention only after the 1930s Bihar earthquake, when British officer William Archer documented the murals. Yet commercial recognition came much later, during the famine of the 1960s, when cultural advocates such as Pupul Jaykar and Bhaskar Kulkarni encouraged artists to transfer their work from walls to paper, transforming it into a sustainable livelihood. Figures such as Sita Devi, Mahasundari Devi, Baua Devi, and Jagdamba Devi have become synonymous with the art form, as have Nityanand Jha and Bipin Kumar Das among the male artists. Today, Mithila painting remains a vibrant, evolving tradition—where memory, ritual, and artistic expression continue to intertwine.

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I was thirteen when Bhaskar Kulkarni came...He asked, ‘What do you paint? Make one for me.’ I painted three pieces. ‘I want to take them, how much paisa do you want?’ ‘We don’t want money, we paint it for our entertainment.’ He said ‘No...no, some money will have to be taken.’ ‘You paint very well, and your mind is sharp, keep painting.'

Padma Shree Baua Devi, in conversation with Folkartpedia

OTHER ARTWORKS BY Mithila Painting
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Untitled
Mithila Painting
Untitled, 1970s
Natural pigment on paper
₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

Untitled (Two women)
Mithila Painting
Untitled (Two women), 1970s
Natural pigment on paper
₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

Untitled (Shiva with attendants)
Mithila Painting
Untitled (Shiva with attendants), 1970s
Natural pigment on paper
₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

Untitled (Five headed Shiva with Parvati)
Mithila Painting
Untitled (Five headed Shiva with Parvati), 1970s
Natural pigment on paper
₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes

Untitled (Laxmana, Rama, Sita, with Hanuman)
Mithila Painting
Untitled (Laxmana, Rama, Sita, with Hanuman), 1970s
Natural pigment on paper
₹ 63,000

Inclusive of all taxes