Manjusha Art

Manjusha Art is a folk art of Ang region in Bihar. It is also known as Angika painting, snake painting and Manjusha Kala. Manjusha art is characterized by line drawings mainly in three colors – pink, green and yellow. Major motifs of Manjusha art are snakes, Champa flowers, sun, moon, elephants, turtles, fish, mainas (bird), lotus flowers, Kalash (pot), bows and arrows, Shivling and trees. Major characters of Manjusha art are Lord Shiva, Mansa Devi (Bishari), Bihula, Bala, Hanuman and Chandu Saudagar.‘Manjusha’ means box, therefore, it comprises of temple shaped boxes having eight pillars. They are made of bamboo, jute and paper. They also contain paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses and other characters on the outer walls of the box. These boxes are used to keep all the material which is used in Bishahari puja, a festival dedicated to the Snake God that is celebrated in Bhagalpur and nearby regions. The art has been dated back to the 7th century.