Culture
of Champaran/Bihar Culture
Culture of Bihar Besides
usual rural handicrafts like hand-painted wall hangings,
wooden stools, miniatures in paper and leaves, stone
pottery, bamboo, leather goods and appliqué work,
Bihar is famous for its Madhubani paintings. These works
of art often adorn city homes and are also exported.
A strict monopoly of women of Mithila, Madhubani artists
work with natural colors on paper and cloth, making
works that narrate mythological and religious events.
Ancient designs in bright colors can still be seen on
the mud walls in the districts of Saharsa, Muzaffarpur,
Vaishali, Darbhanga, Samastipur, and Bhagalpur and of
course Madhubani the trade centre for this unique art.
Since most of the people are Hindu,traditional festivals
like Holi,Saraswati Puja,Durga Puja or Dussehra,Deepwali
and Bhaiya Dooj are all celebrated.But Chaath dedicated
to Sun God is one festival that is unique to the place.The
festival begins on the fourth day of the month of Kartik
Shukhla Paksha(second fortnight of Kartik).This will
correspond to late October to mid November depending
on the year.It is one of the holiest festivals for Biharis
and extends to four days.
Bihar has a very old tradition
of beautiful folk songs sung during important family
occasions such as marriage, birth ceremonies. They are
sung mainly in group settings without the help of too
many musical instruments though dholak and occasionally
tabla and harmonium are used.
Bihar also has a tradition of lively Holi songs known
as Phagua filled with fun rhythms. During the 19th century
when the condition of Bihar worsened under the British
misrule many Biharis had to migrate as apprenticed labourers
to West Indian Islands, Fiji and Mauritius. During this
time many sad plays and songs called Biraha became very
popular in the Bhojpur area. Dramas on that theme continue
to be popular in the theatres of Patna.
Theatre is another form in which the Bihari culture
expresses itself. Some forms of theatre with rich traditions
are Reshma-Chuharmal, Bihula-Bisahari, Bahura-GOrin,
Raja-Salhesh, Sama-Chakeva and Dom-Kach.These originate
in the Anga area of Bihar.
The state has also produced many
Hindi writers like Raja Radhika Raman Singh,Shiva Pujan
Sahay,Divakar Prasad Vidyarthy,Ramdhari Singh Dinkar,Ram
Briksha Benipuri,Phanishwar Nath Renu and Baba Nagarjun.
Bihar is truly colorful state and a great tourist hotspot.
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