Photos: 14,000 sq ft of Mithila art transforms Bihar’s Madhubani Junction

Under an initiative of the Indian Railways’ "Rail Swacch Mission," 200 local artists, eighty percent of them women, in the Madhubani district in Bihar, volunteered over a period of two months to paint over 14,000 square feet of the Madhubani railway junction's walls in the region's famous Mithila style. Once considered among the dirtiest railway stations in the country, it has now been transformed into one of its cleanest.

Updated on: Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM IST

News

Share via

• 
• 
• 
• 

Copy link

• 

1/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

The entrance of Madhubani railway station decorated with Mithila or Madhubani paintings, in Madhubani district, Bihar. Once considered among the dirtiest railway stations on the Indian Railways network, Madhubani Junction in Bihar now sports a revamped look with Mithila paintings adorning premises walls. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

2/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

Passengers wait for trains in an area decorated with Mithila wall paintings. Gannath Mishra, a senior railway official supervising the project calls it a world record of sorts with a total wall area of over 14,000 sq ft fully painted under various themes using the region’s traditional Mithila painting style. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

3/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

Artist Kalpana Singh demonstrates the Mithila or Madhubani painting style on a silk cloth in Bihar. An initiative under the ‘Rail Swacch Mission,’ about 225 artists, 80% of them women volunteered to spruce up the station over a period of two months, free of cost. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

4/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

Mithila paintings are done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens and matchsticks. Artists use natural dyes and pigments, and depict scenes from daily life in the region of from epic texts in geometric style. Flora, fauna and natural motifs fill up the empty spaces. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

5/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

Indian Railways station master Jagdamba Prasad walks past Mithila wall paintings inside the Madhubani railway station. Madhubani art, traditionally famous for its prevalence on the walls and floors of rustic homes, today boasts of the coveted GI (Geographical Indication) tag and is painted on cloth, canvas and paper. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

6/6

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 10, 2018 10:35 AM

The revamped station has also been drawing more visitors since the art began adorning its walls. At a recent function celebrating the work, Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak, an ambassador of the Swachh Rail Mission, felicitated each of the artists with a Rs 2,000 cash reward. (Prakash Singh / AFP)