Lotus Plant and Birds

Sanjul Mandal’s resplendent painting of a lotus plant with birds is a rare example of what the author Neel Rekha refers to as the Geru (ochre) style of paintings. In her historiographical analysis of Maithil (adjective for Mithila) paintings, Neel Rekha examines Pupul Jayakar’s The Earthen Drum, suggesting that Jayakar attempted to correct some of the colonial paradigms introduced by William Archer and sustained by later writers. In doing so, Rekha implies that Jayakar was wise not to base her categorisation of Mithila’s paintings on the basis of caste. Instead, “the differences in the stylistic techniques and colour were used by her as the determinants in explaining and classifying the various types of paintings prevalent during that period [1980s]. Of special significance is the reference to the Geru style of painting in view of the total extinction of this style in the present times and absences of references in any other literary source.” [1] Rekha lists six different styles developed in Mithila art post commercialisation (some discontinued): Bharni, Kachni, Geru, Gobar, Godana and Tantric. (ibid 22) As Jayakar had begun to do, Rekha characterises them predominantly on the basis of colour, linework and compositional arrangements, so while Bharni refers to densely filled compositions in profuse colours, and Godana adopts a tattoo aesthetic, Gobar and Geru are characterised by the materials (cow dung and red ochre respectively).

Mandal uses mostly geru here, but she highlights the burnt sienna-like red ochre with yellow, teal, and a brilliant magenta. The painting appears simultaneously symmetrical and asymmetrical; the lines are fluid, and the small, interspersed flowers provide a foil to the dominant, broadly painted lotus plant and birds.

Based on clarifications offered to him by Kaushik Kumar Jha in personal correspondence, the art historian John H. Bowles writes that prior to marriage, the artist was known in her community as Sanjul Kumari. In Mithila, it is customary for unmarried girls to be referred to as kumari (literally translating to virgin). After marriage, kumari is replaced by devi (goddess). “Sanjul’s father, Ramdev Mandal, worked as the cook for the American anthropologist Raymond Owens, who was then living in Jitwarpur, and it was Owens who first referred to Sanjul as ‘Sanjul Mandal’ –

the name he ascribed to her paintings later exhibited and published through the Ethnic Arts Foundation. The family belongs to the Dhanuk caste, and Sanjul’s husband’s surname is also Mandal.” [2] According to Kaushik Kumar Jha, who has met the artist, Mandal painted for just a few years during her father’s time as Owens’ cook. As only Owens appeared to be significantly interested in her art, she stopped painting but has recently expressed interest in resuming such work.

See Szanton and Bakshi [3] for another example of her art. Also see Perdriolle (2012: 217) for an unattributed example of her work; both paintings are in the short-lived Geru style.

Aurogeeta Das, June 2024

References:

[1] Neel Rekha, “Maithil Paintings: An Enquiry into its [sic] Historiographical Trajectory (1947-1997)” in Folklore and Folkloristics, 4:2 (Howrah, December 2011), p.8

[2] John H. Bowles, “Trees of the Honey Forest” in India’s Mithila Painting, eds. David L. Szanton and Paula Richman (Seattle: University of Washington Press, forthcoming, 2025), pp.24–25

[3] David Szanton and Malini Bakshi, Mithila Painting: the Evolution of an Art Form (Berkeley: Ethnic Arts Foundation in association with Pink Mango, 2007)

[4] Pupul Jayakar, The Earthen Drum: An introduction to the Ritual Arts of Rural India (New Delhi: National Museum, 1980), p.217