Though not in the village itself, the region has several young artists who post their artwork on Instagram and run small businesses through social media. Like Swati Jha, a first-year MFA student from Darbhanga. “I have grown up seeing my mother, uncles and grandmother draw Mithila art on the walls, aripan (a kind of rangoli) on the floor and even on paper. Later, I started studying it in graduation but my focus remained on Madhubani paintings,” says Swati, who takes part in exhibitions and pop-ups to sell Madhubani-painted shawls, saris, dupattas, shirts and dresses.
Yet, artists like Dhruvkala Devi, who, at 76, still holds her number-3 Camlin brush in shivering hands to perfect the outline of Goddess Kali’s wide-set eyes, are what hold the village together and keep its traditions alive. “Come on in, you’ve only seen the dalaan. There’s more inside,” she says, gently pulling me through a narrow gallery lined with a large mural that leads into her three-room house, with yet another mural. All in scarlet red, without the interference of any other colour. “We recently ‘wrote’ all of this for my grandson’s wedding,” Dhruvkala tells me. Locally, artists refer to drawing Madhubani motifs as writing. We stand in front of the Kali figure as the gallery ends and we are joined by her daughter-in-law. “She also paints; I have taught her too,” Dhruvkala proudly reveals.
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