Over last few days, we were part of a very unique session of madhubani painting, called Alpana with our amazing Madhubani Artist Mrs.Hema Devi. Alpana refers to colorful motifs, sacred art or painting done with hands and paint which is mainly a paste of rice flour on auspicious occasions in Madhubani district. The word Alpana is derived from the Sanskrit word - Alimpana, which means 'to plaster' or 'to coat with'. Traditionally, it was drawn by the women of the house.
When you learn these Folk & Tribal artform with native artists, you don't just create a painting but also learn a lot about its history, culture and the era when it was widely used. Hema ji told us that there is a different concept of making Alpana in Madhubani district every month. She mentioned she is going to make “Ashtdal Arpan Alpana”. It is supposed to made on Ekadasi tithi of month Kartik after chath puja, which is a very auspicious festival of Bihar dedicated to Sun.
One very interesting story that Hema ji told us about Rahi-Damodar couple which I wanted to mention here. According to the folklore, it is believed that every morning God comes and checks all the alpanas & bless the ones who makes it very beautifully, with luck & prosperity. So this art started as a ritual to welcome God by decorating the courtyard of the house. Each one of the villager made a beautiful Alpana in their courtyard. One couple didn’t know how to make Alpana so they just spread the paste of rice flour here and there in their courtyard. After spreading it they thought that God will not be happy with them after seeing their Alpana, so they hid behind a banana tree. Each and every house had beautiful Alpanas but God went to Rahi-Damodar’s house & blessed them for their dedication! What a beautiful story :)
On our first day of session Hema ji drew border and some part of center motif which was being drawn with nib (More on this at the bottom of this blog :) The movement of her nib was so smooth and flawless that everyone was stunned by it. If we thought first day was amazing, second day blew our mind as she started the detailing of center motif and working her way towards other elements of the painting. I'm sure, all of you who have attended her workshops would vouch for it :)
On third day she taught us how to draw Rahi – Damodar with banana tree. After that she drew a lady with broom, and other things related to kitchen. We learnt that each and every motif has its own importance. These motif are said to be drawn for bringing more prosperity.
On our last day she finished rest of the things, after which it was time for coloring the elements. At last she drew God’s feet is in the center which is surrounded by beautiful petals, decorated by intricate designs.
NOTE : Hema ji uses simple fountain pen nib. If anyone is not able to find nib, a simple solution is - remove plastic part of fountain pen and use it for painting. You need to dip the nib in the colors again and again to make the design. And if you are using nib then you would need to use bottled paints and not the tube ones as you need colors which is bit loose in consistency. It takes bit of practice and it comes well with time :)
