Siliguri’s Bihar link

Art forms are becoming the pujas of Siliguri this year and keeping with the spirit, Swastika Yubak Sangha, which is celebrating its golden jubilee puja this year, would be showcasing the traditional art of Madhubani painting at its pandal this year.

Madhubani is a traditional form of folk art of Bihar handed down from one generation to the next. People in the state paint Madhubani art to decorate their walls on special occasions.

"The place where the tradition originated is known as Madhuban and the two syllable word in part means honey and forest," illuminated the artists now deeply engaged in painting the art form at the Swastika puja pandal. The art form chiefly depicts scenes from the two Epics ~ Ramayana and Mahabharata ~ in addition to that of Hindu gods and goddesses with nature as the background.

According to the puja organisers, in the 50th year, they are recreating the replica of a village at Madhubani at their club premises in the Dangipara neighbourhood. To decorate the village with the Madhubani art 26 artisans have been brought over from Midnapore. "A 1000 clay images in mainly the Madhubani art pattern would be used to decorate the pandal," said the puja committee secretary Mr Subhra Dey. The club would be spending a whopping Rs 10 lakh to treat the people of Siliguri with its art form this puja.