Keeping Traditions alive through art: Manjusha

In Bhagalpur, Bihar, there is a long-standing art form which traces back to the seventh century. The Manjusha art history is as fascinating as the art itself.

A Manjusha box used in festivals (image source: Wikipedia)

In Sanskrit ‘Manjusha’ means box which usually refers to the ceremonial temple-shaped bamboo jute, straw, and paper boxes used by devotees to hold ritual items needed during Bishahari Puja, an Indian festival worshipping the Snake God.

In the seventh century, the Bhagalpur region was known as Anga Pradesh and it was the hub of significant trade and business. This is when Manjusha art is believed to have started. The traditional tale of Bihula and the five Bisharis or manasputris is frequently depicted in Manjusha paintings. According to local legends, the Bisharis are Shiva and Parvati's adopted daughters. They are closely related to snakes.

Five strands of Lord Shiva's hair are said to have fallen into the Sonada Lake while he was taking a bath one day. These strands grew into five lotuses on the lake's shore. All five lotuses requested Shiva to adopt them as his daughters, but the latter refused because he couldn't see their true form. The five lotuses transformed themselves into five sisters: Jaya Bishahari, Dhothila Bishahari, Padmavathi, Mynah Bishahari, and Maya/Manasa Bishahari. He accepted their request but asked them to take permission from his wife Parvati.

The five sisters then approached Goddess Parvati and requested her to accept them as her daughters, but she refused. The sisters became angry and transformed into snakes and hid among the flowers. When Goddess Parvati went to collect the flowers, one of the snakes bit her and she fainted. Lord Shiva appeared and asked them to revive her and assured them that she would accept them. Jaya restored Goddess Parvati by feeding her Amrit from her amrit kalash (pot). Parvati soon regained her consciousness and awarded them the boon of being able to remove snake poison from people.

In the past, only families from the Kumbhakar and Malakar castes practised this art form. They used to produce ceremonial boxes or manjushas, and paint on them abstract depictions from folklore. In homes, this art form can be seen in the exterior walls, the centre of the prayer hall, and in the newlyweds’ room which is believed to bring good luck to the couple.

Before starting the painting, the artist creates a mound of rice, sets a betel leaf and a betel nut on top of this mound, and prays to the goddesses for their blessings. They believe that a slight movement or falling of the leaf is a signal for them to begin their work.

Initially, an outline is made for the artwork, and then the colours are added. Green, pink, and yellow are the three common colours used in Manjusha paintings. Green is used to outline and create fine features, and then pink and yellow are used to fill in the spaces. In such paintings, borders play a crucial role. Usually, leheriya, sarp ladi, tribhuj, mokha, and belpatra are used as border motifs.

Earlier it was believed that minor flaws added to the art's rawness, so scales and other instruments were rarely used in traditional paintings. However, in contemporary times artists use a variety of tools to make the paintings more symmetrical and detailed. They have started including additional motifs and characters in abstract paintings and artworks in addition to depicting the folklore of Bihula-Bishahari while experimenting with the colours.

Manjusha's paintings feature individual portraits of human figures which are portrayed as an 'X' with elevated limbs. Most of the significant motifs depict some aspect of nature, including snakes, fish scales, champa (plumeria), and Belpatra.

The weapons used by the five Bisharis—each of whom is holding at least one snake—are used to distinguish them in the paintings. For instance, Maya Bishahari holds snakes in both her hands while Mynah Bishahari holds a snake in one hand and a mynah in the other. Jaya Bishahari carries a bow and arrow with an amrit kalash in one hand while Dhotila Bishahari holds a rising sun in one of her hands.

It’s interesting that when ICS officer W.G. Archer and his wife visited the Anga region in the early 1930s, they took note of the artwork on the ceremonial boxes used for the festival of Bishahari Puja. They began studying this form of art and, with the aid of local practitioners, assembled a collection of Manjusha paintings. This was perhaps the first time the story of Bihula was transferred sequentially from boxes and pots to canvas.

The colonial British administration continued to support the art form after the excavation of the Vikramshila monastery in the 1930s and the finding of artefacts that placed the genesis of Bishari Puja as early as the seventh century. The India Office Library in London also hosted a display of canvases painted by Manjusha. The art received international prominence between 1931 and 1945, and as a result, many individuals began studying it.

However, after India attained independence, there was a sharp fall in public interest in Manjusha paintings until the 1980s when the Bihar government intervened to prevent its disappearance, which was on the edge of extinction.

The Jansampark Vibhagh (Department of Information and Public Relations) launched a program in 1984–1985 to promote Manjusha art and raise public awareness.

The few artists who were still using it were rigorously supervised by department officers, and slideshows of their work were created. The villages in the Bhagalpur district were then shown the slideshows, and the locals were informed about the value of Manjusha art for it to be restored.

This campaign inspired other people to volunteer in promoting Manjusha art. Chakravarty Devi and Jyoti Chand Sharma came in first, followed by Manoj Pandit who became the face of Manjusha art in the new millennium. He helped artisans introduce this art form to a wider audience through his experimentation with other materials including silk and other fabrics. He assisted artists in creating Manjusha as a source of income by organising workshops, exhibitions, and training programs; the Ministry of Culture bestowed upon him the title of Manjusha Kala Guru in 2014 in recognition of his efforts.

A community-based non-profit organization called Disha Gramin Vikas Manch (DGVM) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) partnered in 2007 to promote Manjusha art as a means of generating income.

As Manjusha art gained popularity, its motifs have been used to promote government programs like the Chief Minister's bicycle program, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, the Midday Meal Program, etc. with the assistance of the state and/or district administration.

A Manjusha painting (image source: manjushakala.in)