Godna Madhubani Prints Wall Art

Godna Madhubani Prints — 3 museum-grade prints on the theme. Godna — from the Hindi word for ritual tattoo — is the Madhubani style rooted in Dusadh women's body-art tradition in the Mithila region, distinct from Brahmin Bharni deity panels and Kayastha Kachni line work. Encouraged onto paper in the 1970s by anthropologist Erika Moser-Schmitt, Godna artists in villages like Jitwarpur and Rajnagar translated arm-band, leg-band, and torso tattoo motifs into dense dot-and-dash compositions on cow-dung-washed handmade sheets. Godna — ritual tattoo art — is historically practised by Dalit Dusadh women in the Mithila region, distinct from Brahmin-dominated Bharni and Kohbar wall traditions that centre Hindu epics and wedding chamber symbolism. Motifs derive from skin: arm bands, leg grids, naga protection coils, lotus and floral registers, and nature guardians — transferred to paper and cow-dung-washed ground from the 1970s onward through artists such as Chano Devi and encouragement from anthropologist Erika Moser in villages including Jitwarpur.

Updated 14 Jun 2026