Overview for Ritual Art of the Kingdom of Mithila: Traditional Paintings by Janakpur Women in Nepal
Over the millennia, a still vibrant school of painting has been handed down in the female line in what used to be the Ancient Kingdom of Mithila. Janakpur, located in the Terai Region in Southern Nepal, is thought to have been the capital of the kingdom of Mithila from its foundation. The paintings have the purpose of attracting the deity's presence during the celebrations in his or her honour and a blessing on the family members of the house where they are painted.
Alessandra Campoli (Author)
Alessandra Campoli (Rome- Italy, 1976), art historian, is specialist in iconography and iconology and anthropology of art. Since 2005 She has been the director of the Ev-K2-CNR’s project “Aesthetics of the body. Performance and religion in the Himalayas”.On the field of Southern Asian studies she is the author of la Montagna Divina. Iconografia e mito (Vajra Publications- Ev-K2- CNR Publications, kathmandu, 2007) and Chintamani: il gioiello degli dei, in S. Macioce (editor), “Ori nell’ arte” (Logart Press, Rome, 2007).
Bagchee
