From the Jacket: The art of Madhubani is purposive mythology. Not art in the sense of 'significant form' of the West.The paintings are legends to which the folk turn to pray in the daily ritual. The sources of the folk art of Madhubani lie in the dim areas of silence, of the approximation to the heightened moments of creation itself. By a mystical transformation of brush movements hand gestures and emotive involvement, the artist transforms the bodies into spirits: the flowers and birds enliven paintings that dare to reach the depth. Squatting on the cowdung plastered floors of their homes, which are surrounded by mango and banana groves beyond a green pond, women daily paint pictures. They have been doing this ritual color work for generations.