Mithila Painting And Symbolism Of Enclosed Sacred Space: Elements Of The Magical Mandala And Aripana Drawings

Abstract

Art and ritual occupy an important place in the socio-religious life of all primitive communities. An attempt has been made here to explore and uncover the symbolic and layered meaning as well as the context of these astonishing magical drawing of Aripana and Mandala, a vibrant art of Mithila.  These sacred cosmogram of the Hindus in India is an immemorial tradition (Sanātana dharma) of art form in which the sacred vision of the gods and their world are articulated.  These wonderful cosmograms drawn in white, black and sombre red; constitutes the yantra (abstract diagram), the shraddha (death rites) pictorial icons and the vrata mandala a kind of ritual drawing characterized by enclosed sacred space filled with exquisitely rendered figures and objects are not only symbolic but suggestive too. The stylization, the idioms and the themes of Mithila paintings has been handed down from generation to generation and to the Mithila women paintings come as second nature, a cultural heritage. The tradition of wall painting and surface paintings for ritual purposes and adornment of dwellings is believed to have survived from the epic period.   As a symbol of mysterious power, the representation of mandala drawings in the folk art of Mithila, is unique in nature as it combines a comprehension of Sanskrit learning and a vibrant folk tradition. Foremost among the preserved and practiced forms of folk art of Mithila are the aripana or floor-drawings, and the bhitti- chitras or wall-paintings. These are not only decorative colourful images but an outstanding pattern of ancestral usage, astonishing in virtuosity and exalted with the theme of cosmic energy, a vital force for life.  The circles made inside these drawings are known as mandalas.  They belong to two main categories:(I) the mandalas and hieroglyphs of tantra and magical abstractions, and(ii) the vrata mandalas or the liturgical drawings, more commonly known as alepan or aripana in the Mithila tradition. The designs of the vrata or utsava mandalas, known as aripana in Mithila are designed according to different occasion in different shapes like the triangle, circles, squares, hexagon etc. Despite variation in shapes and designs one important aspect worth mentioning as the most essential common feature is the sense of symmetry as a mandatory feature in the aripan drawings. This women-centric tradition also obliges the women of Mithila to exercise their inherited talent and intelligence artistically in the form of visual delight.