Mithila An Introduction

In his Ramayan, Tulsidas gives an elaborate description of how the entire Mithila region of Bihar was decorated for the marriage of Sita with Ram. These decorations consisted chiefly of vivid murals depicting mythologicalpersonages, deities of the Hindu pantheon and the flora and fauna of the region. This art of painting, an established tradition even then, has survived to this day, passed down for centuries from every Maithili (resident of Mithila] mother to her daughter.
Today, these ceremonial decorations - popularly identified as Madhubani paintings, after the town which is a major centre of their export - can be seen on house walls in the districts of Champaran, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Madhubani (more profusely here than elsewhere), Samastipur, parts of the districts of Monghyr, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Purnea, which together form the region of Mithila.