Jagdamba Devi
Jagdamba Devi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 February 1901[1] |
| Died | 8 July 1984 (aged 83)[2] |
| Known for | Mithila Painting |
| Awards | Padma Shri (1975) |
Jagdamba Devi (25 February 1901 – 8 July 1984) was an Indian artist and pioneer Madhubani painter.[3][4]. She played a crucial role in transforming Mithila painting, traditionally painted on mud walls, into an internationally recognized art form on paper and canvas.[5][6] She is the first Madhubani painter to receive national recognition for this art form, receiving one of India's highest civilian honours, Padma Shri award, in 1975 from the Government of India.[7][8]
Early and personal life
[edit]Jagdamba Devi was born on 25 February 1901 in Bhajparaul, Darbhanga, Bengal Presidency, British India, into a Maithil Karna Kayastha family.[9][10][11]Her father was died when she was 5 and after a year her mother also passed away. During the early 20th century, school education was limited for girls[12] and their skills and potential were measured by folk arts, including singing and cooking.[13] She didn't go to school and learn the Madhubani art from village kids. She married Bal Krishna Das, a resident of Jitwarpur, at the age of 9.[14] Her married life was awful as her husband died with in a month.[15]
Career
[edit]She began her artistic career by creating Mithila art paintings on clay pots and engaging in sikki crafts. Her major source of income during those days was paintings on mud walls during Maithil Vivah.[10][16] The availability of chemical colours was limited during British raj in Jitbarpur, so she made different natural colours out of the edible gum, goat milk, lampblack, bark of sacred fig, desi gulab and har singaar flower.[17][18]
Bihar was hit by a drought during the 1966-67 season, resulting in widespread food shortage.[19] Then AIHB head and close friend of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Pupul Jayakar commissioned Bombay-based artist Bhaskar Kulkarni[20] to visit Madhubani district and support the local traditional women artists by supplying Basaha Kagaj.[21] This is an experimental scheme, and the motif is to encourage them to paint Madhubani art on portable medium so they can earn money to run their livelihoods.[22]During the visit, Kulkarni reached Jitwarpur and was captivated by the paintings of Jagdamba Devi, depicting Ramayana and Mahabharata scenes, which she had painted on her cottage mud walls.[14]
Kulkarni took her Mithila painting to Delhi for exhibition at the Central Cottage Industries Emporium, where it received praise from art lovers.[23]
Recognition
[edit]She received the National Award from the president of India, V.V. Giri, in 1970.[24] On September 4, 1973, the Government of Bihar honored her with the Daksh Shilpi Samman for her remarkable contributions to the development of Madhubani painting. In 1975, she was the first artist in the Madhubani painting genre to receive the Padma Shri award from the Government of India.[25]
Death
[edit]Devi died on 8 July 1984 at the age of 83.[2]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Jagdamba Devi – Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan". Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ Meister, Michael W. (1988). Making Things in South Asia: The Role of Artist and Craftsman. Department of South Asia Regional Studies. ISBN 978-0-936115-03-0.
- ↑ Dhanraj, Dewani, Nisha; Amulya, Gurtu (2019). Intellectual Property Rights and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge. IGI Global. ISBN 978-1-7998-1837-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Batavia, Sakshi (7 May 2023). "6 Famous Woman Madhubani Painting Artists". AstaGuru. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
- ↑ "6 Famous Woman Madhubani Painting Artists". AstaGuru. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
- ↑ Rai, Sunita; Grover, Dr. Ekta; Fatima, Dr. Nargis (1 January 2022). "A REVIEW ON JOURNEY OF MADHUBANI PAINTING TILL DATE". Transstellar Journals. TJPRC pulication: 61-68.
- ↑ "Padma Awards". padmaawards.gov.in. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
- ↑ Heinz, Carolyn Brown (2023). Bihar Days. Austin Macauley Publishers. ISBN 979-8-88693-815-9.
- 1 2 Thakur, Upendra (1981). Madhubani Painting. Abhinav Publications. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-391-02411-3.
- ↑ India's Mithila Painting. University of Washington Press. 2025. ISBN 978-0-295-75322-5.
- ↑ "Literacy and Education at the Turn of the Century, as seen by Census of India - 1901". India State Stories. 29 March 2026. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
- ↑ Prasad, Suraj; Sen, Anjan (10 December 2021). "Mithila Art: An Analysis of Various Styles and Symbolic Values of Madhubani Painting". International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies. 3: 43–53.
- 1 2 Sinha, Ashok Kumar (6 November 2020). "मधुबनी पेंटिंग की "जगदम्बा"" [Jagdamba of Madhubani Painting]. AALEKHAN (in Hindi). Retrieved 22 August 2026.
- ↑ Simlandy, Sagar; Mandal, Ganesh Kr (7 July 2021). History of India & Abroad. BFC Publications. pp. 207–208. ISBN 978-93-90880-20-1.
- ↑ Nazmunnessa, Mahtab; Tania, Haque; Ishrat, Khan; Mynul, Islam, Md; Binte, Wahid, Ishret (2017). Handbook of Research on Women's Issues and Rights in the Developing World. IGI Global. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-5225-3019-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Szanton, David L.; Bakshi, Malini (2007). Mithila Painting: The Evolution of an Art Form. Ethnic Arts Foundation. ISBN 978-0-615-13595-3.
- ↑ Srivastava, Kamal Shankar (1999). Art of Mithila. Book Faith India. p. 150. ISBN 978-81-7303-117-5.
- ↑ Wadley, Susan S. (18 December 2014). South Asia in the World: An Introduction: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-317-45959-0.
- ↑ Rossi, Barbara (1998). From the Ocean of Painting: India's Popular Paintings, 1589 to the Present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511193-4.
- ↑ Mrazek, Jan; Pitelka, Morgan (3 December 2007). What's the Use of Art?: Asian Visual and Material Culture in Context. University of Hawaii Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8248-3063-2.
- ↑ Indian Horizons. Indian Council for Cultural Relations. 2007.
- ↑ Woman's Art Journal. Woman's Art. 1989. p. 86.
- ↑ Cultures, Institute of Traditional (1970). Bulletin of the Institute of Traditional Cultures, Madras. University of Madras. p. 189.
- ↑ Rawat, Meigha (31 January 2023). My Blue Book of Grammar for Class 5: A Series Based on the Functional Approach. Orange Education Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-95141-99-4.