Godawari Dutta (1930 – 14 August 2024) was an Indian painter, known for her

Madhubani paintings Madhubani art (also known as Mithila art) is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. It is named after the Madhubani district of Bihar, India, which is where it originated. Jitwarpur, Ranti and Rasidpur are the th ...

. She was a recipient of India's fourth highest civilian award, the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

Early life

Godawari Dutta was born in 1930 in Bahadurpur,

Darbhanga district Darbhanga district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar States and territories of India, state in eastern India, and Darbhanga city is the administrative headquarters of this district and 5th largest city of Bihar as well. Darbhanga d ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, India. She was taught to paint by her mother, Subhadra Devi, herself an artist. At 10 years old, Dutta's father died and together with her three siblings she was brought up by her mother. Dutta married in 1947 and gave birth to a son whom she raised alone.

Work and career

Dutta began painting at the age of six, first on walls and then on paper only in 1971. Dutta was well versed in the Kayashta style of

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepa ...

paintings, which favours black and white contrasts, and she used

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

sticks to paint. Reoccurring themes of her art are the portrayal of characters from

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, as well as events of daily life such as marriage or dance. Dutta trained both students and teachers under India's

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) is autonomous organisation under Ministry of Culture of Government of India. Established in May 1979, to support cultural education, with its inceptio ...

. Dutta had frequently visited Germany and Japan, where she would stay at times for up to a year. A set of works that she created during that time were displayed in

Mithila Museum Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepa ...

in Takomachi, Japan, and

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum is a museum of Asian art that opened in Hakata, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1999. The collection of modern and contemporary art comprises some three thousand works from twenty-three countries. See also * Fukuoka Prefectural Museum ...

. In December 1983, Dutta founded Mithila Kala Viaks Samiti, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that aims to fight poverty through education, and to promote the Madhubani style of painting. The organization is engaged in designing and implementing programmes for disadvantaged communities. Dutta also helped rural women to become financially independent, and was a proponent of girls’ education. In 2019, Dutta was awarded the

by President

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

Death

Dutta died on 14 August 2024, at the age of 93.

Awards

* National Award (1980) *

Shilp Guru The Shilp Guru is the highest honour in the Indian handicrafts sector awarded by Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. It is conferred annually upon 10 master craftspersons who have created an exception ...

(2006) *

Padma Shri Award The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

(2019)

References

External links

Documentary
by

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

(in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

)
Interview
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(in Hindi) 1930 births Year of birth uncertain 2024 deaths Indian women painters Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts People from Darbhanga district {{India-painter-stub