Mandana paintings are wall and floor paintings of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Mandana are drawn to protect home and hearth, welcome gods into the house and as a mark of celebrations on festive occasions.

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the st ...

women in the Hadoti area of Rajasthan possess skill for developing designs of perfect symmetry and accuracy. The art is practised on floors and walls, and the practice is often passed from mother to daughter. The art is much more pronounced and attached to Meena community of Hadoti area. The ground is prepared with

cow dung Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure, is the waste product ( faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle ("cows"), bison ("buffalo"), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residu ...

mixed with rati, a local clay, and red ochre. Lime or chalk powder is used for making the motif. Tools employed are a piece of cotton, a tuft of hair, or a rudimentary brush made out of a date stick. The design may show Ganesha, peacocks, women at work, tigers, floral motifs, etc. Such paintings are also called Mandala in most of the parts of Nepal. File:Mandana art work at shilpgram.JPG, Mandana art work from shilpgram , udaipur File:Mandana art work at shilpgram , udaipur.JPG, Mandana art work on the walls of rajasthani mud huts from shilpgram , udaipur In recent times, the practice has become less visible and has been called outdated. Conservation efforts, such as those of Koshalya Devi from Baran, have been engaged in preserving and conserving the traditional white chalk on red background Mandana drawings., Devi has painted over 100 designs in the Mandana style on hardboard using oil paints, and is also engaged in spreading the practice to other countries.

References

{{Reflist Rajasthani culture Indian painting

See also

References