Kohbar Paintings ' The Painting of Blessings'

KOHBAR

The Kohbar Ghar or the nuptial chamber is the room in which the painting has traditionally been done in the Maithil culture to bless a newly wed couple.
The central theme of these Kohbar paintings are love and prosperity. The paintings depict an assembly of symbolic images of the lotus plant, the bamboo grove, fishes, birds and snakes, besides those of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. According to the Veda & the puranas, the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati was the most successful of all Gods and Goddesses. So through the painting, blessings are for a successful marital life as that of the above deities.
The other images symbolize prosperity and proliferation of life. The most prominent image looming largest on the walls are the bamboo-tree and the ring of lotus, called 'purain'. The lotus circle is a symbol of the female sex, while the  bamboo-tree represents the male sex. The Sun God and the Moon God shower their blessings on the newly wed, while the proliferation of life would be comparative to the water creatures.
The love birds in the painting would talk about the ever-growing love between the couple.
Fishes which are emblems of fertility.

Through the KOHBAR painting, blessings are for a prosperous life with lovely children, wealth and peace.

Navdurga ~ by Lalita Devi

This is a classic Lalita Devi Painting called Navdurga or nine forms of Goddess Durga. Lalita Devi is a legendary Madhubani/Mithila Painting master artist, who specializes in carving out innovative theme/stories through Mithila painting. She uses a combination of line and color style.She rarely repeats a theme and her paintings are never a calendar theme.