Santosh Kumar Singh

Maithili Women: Sole Precursor of Mithila Art

Santosh Kumar Singh

Abstract

This article brings out Maithili women‘s assertiveness while creating their folk art. Basically, creating art provides them both space and time to liberate and meditate them away from worldly affairs. This phenomenon proves boon for all the Maithils as it begets tapestry of artistic life; a kind of inherent thread that connects people of all sorts in the geography. For this, religion, ritual and patriarchy of the region play interwoven role to create female centric activities in the realm of works of art. Plus it embarks an ethnic art exclusively heralded by the female folks of Mithila. While doing so, female folks do not only get economic benefit but also empowered themselves spiritually. In the entire world, only Maithili folk art exhibits women as its originator neither only the males perform such tasks to express their cultural

nuances.

Key Words: Maithili Art, Folk Art, Women‘s Assertion, Female Centric Activities

Introduction

Maithili women bring nature and culture at the artistic space to express their own world view. In the course of expression, they take help of nature as surrogate mother and traditionally acclaimed culture as discourse to lead society in the prescribed modality. Moreover, the approved modality is based on Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata where the role of men and women are balanced by the virtues set by mythological characters Ram, Sita, Krishna, Yudhisthir, Arjun, Dropati. More often than not, Maithili society strives for this age old tradition, but changing ethos of time abridges gap between the set modality and the contemporary change in life style.

Discussion/Analysis

In Mithila art, women as progenitor, fill the gap generated in the society. To achieve the end, they exploit agrarian social structure, flora and fauna, co-living beings and their own

feminine sentiments; as symbols and decorative elements to attract the attention of people to give life to their creations. Furthermore, while creating different art forms, women meditate keeping their body pure without eating anything and paying full attention to their deities since their creations become a kind of offering to God. In this way, women pass through rituals for the execution of arts as reverential tribute to their communal deities.

Mithila art is an integral part of the lives of Maithili women along with ritual, ceremonial, and artistic need. Ritual performance of folk art has inspired them to be devotional to both supernatural and patriarchal powers. Rituals determine a particular category of art form in Mithila. According to Walter Benjamin, ―[…] the unique value of the authentic work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original value‖ (200). It is this ritual mode of art that maintains its sublime and cult value. For its unique identity of the ancestors, women devote themselves to express all the delicate nuances of life. The circumstance of devotion ultimately leads them to meditate for artistic creation. Painting is a form of meditation, a prayer to invoke ―the good will of the god whom they are painting‖ (LaDuke 2). Although their initial drawing is so simple and naïve in expression, the overall functions of art possess empowering capacity to lead them towards more successful life. More often than not, it is significant for the whole gender ontology of Maithili women, for it provides an open platform for their belief, value, morality, struggle, in the form of ritual.

Traditionally, Mithila art has ceremonial nature where women have been playing very active role to accomplish all the skills for eligible housewife. Also, they have been celebrating their life despite the fact that their life is devoted to others. As Campoli notes; ―The women remember the sad fate of the revered Princess Sita who emerged only to be swallowed up by the depths of the earth, and still commemorate her wedding day‖ (19). But a single place where women are entirely free to reign themselves is art. Besides, art as ―reflexive – an iconic tradition of women‘s understanding of selfhood in patriarchal society‖ (Brown 717). Politically, women are marginalized even in traditional ritual ―marginal rites are generally performed by women‖ (Jain 169). Devaki Jain further adds that in almost all 90 per cent of rituals ―the artist is a woman but tantric diagram is drawn by Brahmin priests i.e. the instruments of metaphysical influence‖ (171). So far ceremonial significance of Mithila art is considered, without it, all the ritual work of Mithila is incomplete, inauspicious, and obsolete.

Along with ritual and ceremonial importance of Mithila art, it generates evolutionary sentiment further modified with modernization and globalization in the world. Above discussed two media of Mithila art are of primitive type and still practiced at cultural rote. But the third category has evolved with changing ethos of time and has shifted from mud to paper. This shift basically marks the development of new era in the development of Maithili women. Art on paper revolutionized women for industrial development; hence, women empowered themselves through their own cultural art. Economic development thus ―became a part of cultural development, and handicraft production and sale a cultural expression‖ (Jain 205). Of course, the modern techniques of production radically increased to satisfy consumer based society. Undoubtedly, this economic, social and cultural empowerment of women has hampered ritual and ceremonial cult of art as well as evolved them from Mithila art to Mithila painting. Thus, Maithili women shift their role from souvenirs to creator of professionally engaged subjects in the art industry.

Mithila art traditionally got confined in domestic activities where women used to handle all the household works. And even-now women are the sole proprietor of this work which is in the realm of decoration also called beautifying objects. Along with beautification, age old religious beliefs have developed parallel in the society, advocating household activities solely in the domain of women. Although Mithila art reflects mutual harmony between male and female to develop various cultural aspects in general and Mithila art tradition in particular, there is imbalance in daily life; yet, Mithila art balances all aspects of conjugal life as women find free space to paint their emotion, feeling, attitude, belief, value, and desire. ―The ability to earn an income within the given social frame-work has clearly enhanced women‘s status‖ (Jain 186). These acts are gender symbols where both sexes define each other in the decision making process. Hence, under the influence of art ―the walls expand, the roof rises, and home becomes a temple‖ (Ingersoll 5). On top of it, religion fosters via Mithila art portraying feminine quality in its expression through epical events, social institutions, and ritual practices.

Mithila culture is highly religious where Hindu epics are taken as the model of life, society, and customs practiced in daily happenings. Moreover, religion determines the way of Maithili life. In addition, Mithila art uses religion based cultural symbols for communal expression. For instance, Swastik, Ohmkar, Deepshikha, Kamal, Kalash, andSankha symbolize peace,

liberation, longevity, wisdom, initiation, and intellect respectively. Even the great Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata narrate female as the sole cause of major epical events. The same events are depicted in art to sustain unique life on the Earth. As Campoli mentions; ―The Maithili women remember the sad fate of the revered Princess Sita who emerged only to be swallowed up by the depths of the earth, and still commemorate her wedding day‖ (19).

This paradoxical remark equally celebrates Maithili women‘s life through this ancient folk art. It does not mean that men are not represented in it; rather, their struggle, devotion to work, and affinity to family members is eye - catching portrait within Mithila painting. In addition, male struggles for the female cause are largely demonstrated through various designs of art. Consequently, art creates an atmosphere in which the proprieties, the amenities, and the virtues unconsciously grow. ―The rain does not lecture the seed. The light does not make rules for the vine and flower‖ (Ingersoll 6). Hence, Mithila art echoes the symmetrical picture of both the sexes in its resultant products.

Not only through the epical events but also the social institution like marriage, portrays the equal exhibition of both the wheels of conjugal cart. More often than not, the participation of women throughout the ceremony is higher in comparison to men. Women are also more engaged in all performances of marriage ceremony than men despite the equal share of social gathering from both the male and female side. However, ―social status is a compound of caste, wealth and ethnic purity, and the extent of the seclusion of women‖ (Jain 168). Despite the fact that, Mithila art depicts women as active volunteers in Maithili culture. Thus, women transfer art and skills related to it from one generation to another for proper maintenance of all its aspects to regulate culture with uniformity in all the time.

Besides epical and social events, Mithila art also absorbs ritual ceremonies to imprint its delicate feminine quality. Ritual ceremonies once again are the by-products of household activities: it finds itself captured in the hands of women. Besides, ―Maithili women usually draw art on certain ceremonial and ritualistic occasions‖ (Rakesh 71). Since women are the sole authority in conducting domestic rituals, they exploit nature and its mute glory to express and communicate themselves with gods, cohabitants and nature in the social setting where they live. (Fig.4). Moreover, ―art unconsciously evolved from the female folk of the region

and whole cultural life of Mithila is depicted in it‖ (Pandey 190). For Maithili women, nature is a perennial source of inspiration: they depict nature and animals in their arts because nature for them is a surrogate of Feminine divine and animals. So, Rakesh mentions; ―women play a great role in the development of Mithila Art‖ (Maithili Sanskriti 215). Thus, art provides a window into Maithil women's understandings of their society and the sacred, cultural subjectivities, moral frameworks, and projects of self-construction.

Art is the sublime object that reflects inner truth of culture and society. Despite the perfect ideals contemporary Maithili society fails to adopt the art message fully; rather, male dominates female in daily life, for men are sole authority in decision making as well as delegation of power. In this regard, Lipton writes:

The artist is, in psycho- sexual terms, always male, the model female. He makes, surveys, imagines; she poses, reposes, inspires. The symbolic apparatus is male mastery and power versus female passivity and resignation. Other ways to frame this binarism are: man is authority, woman is other; man desires, woman satisfies; man sees, woman is seen. He is active, she is passive; he is visible, she invisible. (82)

Besides, the art depicts power in the hands of Goddess where Goddess performs all the power exercising rites to kill evils of the society. This mismatch of art and practice has somewhere proved as the stopping boulder of continuous development of society. For the equal distribution of power, women should have their own institutions. Therefore, Jain justifies:

Art institutions can improve the position of women and have greater power over their income and give them self-confidence, an understanding of collective strength, and access to power over their earnings as well as their social behavior. (205-6)

But the traditional social and family organization stands as rock in the progressive path of women artists. ―The family structures and the strength of traditional relationships within the structures have raised some doubts about whether the artists can be organized as women‖

(Jain 206). In spite of the traditional convention, art is seen as green signal to foster women as equal participants in the progress of the society.

Mithila art portrays the whole picture of Maithili society. It represents how Maithil people live their life, their social harmony, religious tolerance, gender equality, ecological awareness, unique identity, agricultural life, culture, history and public urge for the sublime beauty of art. Moreover, ―vernacular art bears directly upon geography since it represents both culture and place‖ (Karan and Mather 488). In addition to social, religious and ecological scenario, it vividly captures the daily rituals, activities of both male and female, common aspiration of people along with their faith and belief system. High castes Maithili women portray religious events; however, Dalit women portray the daily life of people. Likewise, women in general portray the restless longing for their husbands. For that reason, sex is not allowed to lose the quality of subtlety and refinement in Mithila art. Hence, ―the recurring subject matter is woman restless with longing for her lover‖ (Karan and Mather 495-6). On the one hand, men go to foreign land for earning. On the other, women suffer their separation.

At last in all the circumstances, it is women who suffer and mostly for the men cause. Occasionally, they free themselves from these bonds while celebrating festivals and drawing art. Women express themselves emotionally, ritually and culturally while making art. Additionally, the festival demonstrates ―the ways Maithil women create a communicative space among themselves that permits articulations of their gendered perspectives on social and sacred worlds‖(Davis 3). Moreover, Maithili society and people have been depicted in an integrated form in Mithila art which easily conveys the whole picture of the community.

On top of it, Maithili women also perform superstitious rituals and portray them in their art too. ―Superstition is also a part of culture‖ (Pravat 85). ―With the help of such nuances, they are able to balance between a cultural imperative for personal innovation and submission to the constraints of traditional style‖ (Roe 42). Besides, it also emits separate visionary notion of adjoined materials. In this way, Mithila art maintains dual existence of same codes used within a system, whole and part having distinguished meaningful existence. Likewise, society gains longevity and communal harmony out of equal participation of all kinds of people.

Social inclusion of all castes and creeds, male and female, children, adult, old, rich and poor, as well as skilled and layman sustains people together for collective organizations. However, poor Dalit is deprived of social, economic and political inclusion in Mithila society. But, ―the spirited work of some Harijan folk painters has displayed a rejection of their inferior social status, and promises a commitment to the revolutionary ideals of their deities‖ (Jain 207). In this way, the art of the Dalit women has compensated all the historical loss suffered before. Now, they challenge the high caste art with their own innovative attempts. The Harijan (low castes) women's art is more earthly than that of the Brahman. ―Secular figures of cows, elephants, goats, and children are depicted in imaginative proportions‖ (Chavda 27). The homogeneity in their art symbolizes the importance of inclusion as the demand of time. Furthermore, ―Dalit artist etches vivid symbols of strength and power using vibrant colors, bold contours and the novel themes producing an electrifying effect‖ (Jain 209). Hence, the changing ethos of time ultimately generates a democratic society like their inclusive art.

However, collective participation of people together in society leads to fix system and maintain discipline among individuals so that it can emulate desired outcome. The disciplinary notions largely adopted from religious epics are constantly used in daily life. And the same lively scenes of day to day activities are drawn in art form to provide permanency of what Maithili society performs on the whole. Caste system has delimited the individual freedom where the act of speaking is political. However, women get deprived of freedom, equality, and power in comparison to their male counterparts. Therefore, Desai mentions; ―we always speak from a specific historical and social location in relation to others, which is mediated by unequal power relations (117). Hence, mutual help is demanding for the social welfare. Therefore, In addition to common participation of each group, it also encourages for equal participation from both the sex: male and female.

But women do all the rituals to balance their life in comparison to men. ―Ritualized activity is the stuff of life for Maithil women generally and high caste Maithil women in particular‖ (qtd. in Davis 30). Baumgarten further reports that this is quite evident in the case of Maithil women (and especially high caste women), "who organize the time and place of their household and everyday lives by paying attention to supernatural beings, deities and forces" (qtd. in Davis 8). Hence, ritual is the only place where women express themselves. Another practical aspect of religious tradition in Mithila art is the frequent portrayal of regular

occurring Maithili festivals. These festivals are the symbols of liberation from struggle for existence: all these festivals provide break from the continuous work. Festival is ―the central part of human culture & behavior‖ (Jha, Aangan 46). Festivals invite ritual occasions where women liberate their feelings in an artistic way. As a whole, this period of break generates enthusiasm among people to restart their work in a fresh way.

However, the Hindu festivals broadly advocate that women are for the men‘s purpose. Therefore, Davis writes; ―directly and indirectly, state-sponsored Hinduism treats Nepali women as legal and social dependents, sexual threats to patriliny, and (spiritually) polluting/polluted entities‖ (4). Traditional social attitude of people reserves women to participate in all the activities of the society. Davis adds; ―Ideally, it entails the social, verbal, and spatial/visual isolation of in-married women from non-household males and from males senior in kinship status to the husbands of those women‖ (4). In this way, festivals remind us that to read male-female relations under patriarchal social formations as a dichotomy between the empowered and the disempowered ignores the porous boundaries between the two in which negotiations and tradeoffs create a symbiotic reliance. The submissive constructed behavior of women since their childhood completely blocks their emotional development.

Due to their paralyzed emotional advancement, women never complain but weep during suffering. Hence, their subjectivities become victim of patriarchal norms. During festivals, it is women who sacrifice and pray for their husbands, brothers and fathers. In fact, the terminations of festivals are devoted to men where women always remain secondary. Therefore, Davis remarks; ―termination of the festival is effected by male intervention, the desires, values, and standpoints of women and girls ultimately remain framed by patrilineality‖ (31). Maithili society is so structured that women have to live between their husband and natal male members to save themselves from possible misfortune in their life. It indexes ―the structural dilemma of married women who are emotionally and practically positioned between allegiances to and dependencies on their natal and married families‖ (Davis 23). Yet, art has solely become the hope for them which can liberate them financially.

The economic independence of women certainly leads them to liberate themselves from traditional mindset. With the help of art, women can express themselves biologically, socially and culturally shaping others and vice versa. In this regard, Baumgarten mentions; ―It is the

faithful attitude and truly consistent practice of the woman protagonist which helps her go through all kinds of torture but to come out in the end either unharmed or altered, refined or rehabilitated‖ (qtd. in Davis 6). Similarly, art in its highest forms increases passion, gives tone and color and zest to life of women for freedom, equality and progress.

Conclusion

Folk art of Mithila creates space and time for the local ladies to express their emotional outlet to balance the patriarchal pressure on them. However, these passages become possible due to frequent occurring festivals when the women get chance to draw on their walls and floors. Religious rituals further help them to consolidate with spiritual symbols that make them meditative with their work of art forgetting the earthly nuances. This passionate phenomena create a kind of aura for them to liberate at least for some time from the worldly imbalances in their life. This activity proves boon for Maithili as women provide them with beautiful arts and has always been pioneer of it.

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