The history of Madhubani paintings goes back to the time of Ramayana when King Janak commissioned artists to do paintings at the time of marriage of his daughter, Sita, to Lord Ram. Initially women of upper castes like Brahmans and Kayasthas were using such paintings but later on followed by other castes also. Originally the painting was done on freshly plastered mud wall of huts, but now it is al
so done on cloth, hand-made paper and canvas. Madhubani painting mostly depict nature and Hindu religious figures and the themes generally associated with Hindu deities, Natural objects like sun, moon, and religious plants like tulsi. Besides this scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings are also widely drawn. Madhubani Paintings has two varieties: Bhittichitra and Aripana. Generally Bhittichitra is done on the mud-walls of houses particularly at three places: room of the family god/goddess, room of the newly wedded couple and the drawing room. Also Paintings are done on the outer and inner walls of these rooms on some auspicious occasions like marriage, upnayana and festivities like Dussehra and Deepawali.
