Title: Mithila (Birthplace of Sita) « JHA’S
Headings: Mithila (Birthplace of Sita)
Mithila (Birthplace of Sita)
Content: The traditional work of Chamars has been disposing of the carcasses of animals, while Dusadhs have traditionally been agricultural labourers. The artists from these communities incorporated their own mythologies into their works. For example, Salhesa is an important divinity in the Dusadh community. This god of strength and his legends feature prominently in the works of Dusadh artists. Village Women, by Jamuna Devi, in the Gobar style. It was W.G. Archer, a British man in the Indian Civil Service, who first brought these paintings to the attention of the outside world, after he chanced upon them among the debris after the great Bihar earthquake in 1934. The result of his subsequent research over a period of 15 years was published in the art journal Marg in 1949. However, it took almost another 20 years and another natural calamity this time in the form of a drought for this art form to come into the mainstream. The prolonged drought, from 1966 to 1968, had crippled the agricultural economy of the region. The government, in its attempts to find alternative sources of income for the affected people through the All India Handicrafts Board, encouraged the women of Madhubani to paint on paper instead of floors and walls, to facilitate the sale of the paintings.