Manjusha art from Bhagalpur: and the festival and the story of Bihula!
Bihula songs on CD
The name Manjusha is associated with an art form, an elaborate story, a goddess and also a festival celebrated in Bhagalpur. Manjushas, the Sanskrit word means a box and Manjushas are indeed are temple shaped boxes, made of bamboo, Jute-Straw and Paper inside which the devotees keep their ceremonial materials. These boxes are however illustrated with paintings that tell a tale. The tale is that of Bihula who saved her husband from the deity’s wrath and a snake-bite and also of Bishahari or Mansa, the snake goddess known for her anger when displeased but also her fierce protectiveness when propitiated. An anthropologist would find it fascinating that a festival should be celebrating a contest between the mortal Bihula and a goddess Manasa[Bishahari] and the other aspect of the tradition – the story forms a bridge between the folk and the classic tradition with claims that Manasa was a daughter of god Shiva himself, though mistreated by Parvati.
Bishahri Puja is a festival celebrated in the area of Bhagalpur but has echoes in Bengal, Assam and even Bangladesh. The Bishahari puja begins with ‘Singh Nakshatra’ in the month of “Bhadra” which is generally around the 16th or 17th of August every year. Around that time of the year, women sing folk songs in Angika narrating the tale of Goddess Bishahari [vish+haree = remover of poison], the purpose being to please her so she keeps people safe from snake bites.
W.G. Archer : A Folklorist!
Manjusha, the form of painting used on the boxes is known to the outside world as ‘snake paintings’ because of a strange colonial association. The person who discovered Manjusha for the western world was W.G. Archer an ICS officer posted in Bihar between 1931- 48. The man fell in love with the art form and took some of these paintings to The India Office Library in London which became part of the Archer Collection.
According to late Smt. Chakravarty Devi, the best known practitioner of Manjusha in this style of paintings, humans are depicted in the form of English letter ‘X’ with limbs drawn with linear and uniform bold lines. Other features include portraying Bishahari along with Snakes. The main characters in the art form are projected sans ear and with big eyes. For decoration, wavy lines are used. Apart from snakes, the other motifs used in the paintings are the sun, the moon, fishes, sandal or bamboo. Unlike Madhubani, Manjushas are painted only in three colors – red, yellow, and green. The faces of the characters in Manjusha are always sideways looking, the eyes and nose are conic – unlike Madhubani painting. Late Chakravarti Devi also admitted ‘Now the demands of Manjusha art has increased in the market but only for the pictures made on paper.’
Manjusha painting I
Though not on the scale of Madhubani paintings, Manjusha too now has an expanding market that will ensure its survival in a different format as just paintings made on paper. Recently, NABARD has taken up the development of the art form through a project being run by the Organization Disha GVM and funded under NABARD’s Rural Innovation Fund called “Manjusha Development Project”. The three year project aims at the development of about 100 master trainers, besides having a battery of poor women linked through Self Help Groups earning a livelihood through Manjusha art. The project will also support product diversification using select motifs of Manjusha art.
Having dwelled on the art form, the deity and the festival, it is time to hear a tale that did not simply inspire the great Bangla poet Jibananada Das but also got made into a Bengali serial in recent times.
The Behula story:
Behula was the daughter-in law of Chand Sadagar of Champaknagar. According to myth, two beautiful “apsara’s of the kingdom of heaven, Usha and Aniruddha were cursed by Gods as per the plan of Goddess Manasa and sent to earth as Behula and Lakshinder- Behula as the only daughter of Say Bene and Lakshinder as the seventh son of Chand sadagar.
Chand saudagar was a great devotee of Shiva and he hated Manasa. But Manasa had to get “Anjali” by Chand sadagar’s right hand- the Bhaktasreshto to get position of Goddess in the heaven. However, Chand sadagar promised to himself that he will never give anjali to Manasa by the hand he uses to give anjali to Lord Shiva. To get an anjali from Chand, Manasa took away his six sons. They died from poisonous snake bites and manasa had absolute power over all snakes.
These deaths infuriated Chand sadagar even more and he vowed to save his last son, lakhinder, in any way possible. Chand found a girl, Behula, whose destiny spoke that she will never be a widow. Chand got his seventh son, Lakshinder married with Behula. Chand also had an iron-palace built without any hole so that not a single snake could enter the house. Bishyakarma made it for the wedding night of Behula-Lakshinder. But due to the request of Manasa, Bishyakarma kept a hole in the palace. The night came and Manasa sent her Kalnagini, the most poisonous snake, to the iron palace. Behula fell asleep due to a spell Manasa cast on her.
After she bit Lakshinder, Lakshinder shouted aloud. Behula woke up and saw kalnagini going out of the room. To get back her husband’s life from the Gods in the heavens, Behula sailed with her husband in a raft towards Heaven. She faced many dangers during her incredibly long and difficult journey in the rivers. After reaching Heaven, she pleased all the Gods with her beautiful and enchanting dancing and got the Gods to promise to give back her husband’s life on the condition that Chand would give anjali to Manasa. Desperate to save his son’s life, finally Chand gave in and gave the anjali by the left hand. Consequentlty Manasa got the position of Goddess in heaven and gave back the life of all the six sons of Chand. Behula is regarded as the epitome of loving and loyal wife in the Bengali culture.
But what is the origin of the Manjusha art form?
Bihula’s boat was decorated by a character called Lahsan Mali, and this art has been confined to the Mali or gardener caste. Like Madhubanis, Manjushas too are pictorial reflections of folklore, poetry, religion and the larger cultural consciousness of the Ang region.
