These Bihari Women and Girls are saving thousand of trees with Madhubani Painting

Photo by: Prashant Ravi

At a time when air pollution is choking residents of cities like Delhi, women and girls of Madhubani district in Bihar have shown how creativity and tradition can be used for making our air clean. Rampant felling of trees has worsened air quality all across the country. Madhubani district, which is famous for its painting, was also not free of this menace. In a bid to save the environment, women and girls of the district started a unique experiment three years ago. They started making Madhubani paintings on trees and save thousands of trees on a five-kilometre stretch. The result of the experiment has now even surprised the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar.

Rampant felling of trees has worsened air quality all across the country. Madhubani district, which is famous for its painting, was also not free of this menace. In a bid to save the environment, women and girls of the district started a unique experiment three years ago. They started making Madhubani paintings on trees to save thousands of trees on a five-kilometre stretch. The result of the experiment has now even surprised the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar.

Photo by: Prashant Ravi

According to a report in Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, the unique idea first came to Shashthi Nath Jha, secretary of self-help group Gram Vikas Parishad. Jha exhorted women and girls to join the movement in 2013. In the three years, they have made Madhubani painting on roadside trees on a stretch of five kilometre between Rampatti and Rajnagar localities of the district. This has not only drastically reduced felling of trees but also made the entire area look beautiful.

You may wonder as to how painting can prevent felling of trees. Madhubani paintings depict several religious themes. To make the painting on a tree, women and girls first paint the tree trunk with lime. This creates a white base and also kills insects affecting it. Later, they make paintings on religious themes, thus making the entire tree a temple. No one would dare to put an axe on such tree.

The experiment has inspired scores of people to save and worship trees in the area.

Read more about Madhubani Paintings here

Source: FE Online

Quote of the day:“Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things.” 
―Pablo Picasso