Motifs
The Craft
Every motif is a word
In Madhubani, nothing is painted by accident. Every figure is a word in a visual language more than two thousand years old. When you wear a Tarsh piece, you wear its meaning.
PeacockGrace, love and the arrival of the monsoon.
Fish · MatsyaFertility, abundance and good fortune; often painted in pairs.
LotusPurity rising untouched through the mud; renewal and new beginnings.
The Sun · SuryaThe giver of all life, at the centre of Madhubani's cosmology.
Radha-KrishnaDivine, eternal love made human.
DurgaFierce, compassionate protection, reserved for sacred pieces.
TulsiThe holy basil of every Madhubani courtyard; devotion and home.
Tree of LifeThe bond between earth, people and the divine.