Bihar is known as the state of various arts and cultures. Paintings dominate over a large number of its traditions. With its depictions of faith and love, the art not only represents the social structure but also the cultural character of the land. Bihar has two famous paintings: Madhubani paintings, also known as Mithila, and Angika paintings, also known as Mansuja.
The walls of Patna’s streets were formerly covered in bills and paan stains, but they were quickly transformed into canvases for the artist. The idea of using Mithila paintings to cover the walls around the city sparked excitement among the city’s artists. The Patna Municipal Corporation assembled a team of students from around Bihar to adorn the city’s streets. The walls were beautifully maintained and well-displayed for the first six months in order to promote rich diversity and tourism.
But now, after a couple of years, it seems like the city is no more ready to show love towards this art. The paintings have been being demolished in all the different ways in various parts of the city. Be it spitting over the walls to piling up garbage near the painting or using the area as a public toilet, the city is upsetting the artist every other day.
To make the city look like an artist’s canvas, the youth took part in a large number of street painting projects, but they had to struggle a lot to get paid, and most of the artists have yet to receive payment from the officials. Ankita, a student of art college Patna says,
“We have worked very hard to make these arts in the town. Even though we got late payment from the officials, our emotion is connected with the painting that we have made. We feel very sad to see our work in this condition. If the government pays and gives us resources to maintain, I and my team would love to do that.”
Contradicting to the everyday scenario, the city turns into a beautiful place as soon as VIP visits are scheduled. The walls get cleaned, the garbage is removed and every other nook and corner shines brighter than anything. The artists of the city want the government to show the same level of respect and care towards the art for 365 days.
Bihar should use this art on a vast scale to promote tourism and become a dominant state in tourism as this place has a lot of potential to be one of them.