Patna
More than a 100 artists have been painting the walls of a railway station in Bihar for the past five days to give new identity to their art works on the world map.
The artists are painting the walls of a railway junction located in Madhubani, known for eponymous Madhubani painting or Mithila painting. What motivates them is the hope that their hard work will ultimately find place in the Guinness Book of World Records which means recognition of their art globally.
Such is the passion among the artists to turn the station into an “art junction” that quite many artists have stationed there for days, ignoring their exam schedule, abandoning their families and taking food at the station itself. A few artists have even left their newborn babies at home to give their full focus to painting.
“My babies can survive on cow milk, but I won’t get this rare opportunity again to get our art works recognised globally,” said one of the artists Chunni Kumari, who has a two-month-old baby.
A total of 14 themes have been identified to be painted on the wall and each group has been allotted separate themes. The themes include mythological stories such as the wedding of deity Sita, works of deity Krishna, Krishan-Radha love story, rural life of Mithila region, rural sports and folk-art.
The painting is taking shape on a 7,000 square feet area at the railway station — the biggest canvas for the painting. The world record for the largest painting is 4566.1 square feet.
“We will be the happiest when our artwork gets listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. We are trying for this recognition as nowhere have people created artworks over such a large area,” Rakesh Kumar Jha of Craft Vila, an NGO, which is the brainchild behind this project, told media on Friday.
He said in days to come, rail commuters would identify the railway station form its paintings only.
The artists have also got support of the local divisional railway manager R.K. Jain. “When I first visited the station, it was in bad shape, but today the artists have transformed it into an art junction. Now everybody loves to stay here for a while to enjoy the various themes and shades of Madhubani painting. It’s wonderful,” Jain said.
He said he did not provide much help to the artists except for providing them with food, colours and brushes for painting. Impressed by the success, the official now plans similar initiatives with another railway station.
Earlier the artists had painted hundreds of trees and leaves in the same Madhubani districts with various religious stories to prevent villagers from cutting them down and thus saving the environment.
