Rural, Art & Craft Tours in Bihar :

Bihar is the land of Villages, almost 70 percent of population lives, work and produce things for their live hoods in villages. In Bihar one can get a unique experience to explore the art, Craft, Culture and Heritage. Mithila Painting, Bangle Making, Stone Work, Sujni/Kethari, Sikki Craft, Handloom are some things which is done by generation and pass down their skill to new generation. The handicrafts of Bihar present a synthesis of Utilitarianism, artistic beauty and emotional contents. The functional aspect of the handicraft may be seen in the ancient stones, wooden structures, grass-clothes, lacquer and metal wares.

During your tour to Bihar, you will get chance to buy, see these products. Even we have a set of tour packages which allow you to experience the rural culture of Bihar.

Madhubani/Mithila Painting :

Mithila Painting or Madhubani Painting is an impressive work of art practiced in Mithila region in Bihar. Folklore has it that the Mithila painting originated when King Janak called artist to create paintings at the time of Sita’s marriage. These painting have been done traditionally by almost every woman of Mithilanchal with the skill being passed on from one generation to another. The painting was usually done at the time of religious events and other milestones of life cycle such as birth marriage. Color use for these painting derived from plants and herbs. Mithila painting mostly depicts nature and mythological events and the themes generally revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Kali, Durga etc. A large number of Mithila paintings are today exported to different parts of world. One can see the artist and process of Mithila Painting in Bihar. We at Visit Bihar will arrange a tour to Mithilanchal Region to showcase the live art of Mithila Painting with experienced guide.

Bangle Making and Lacquerware:

Bangles are an inseparable part of Indian Customs and an integral part of make-up kit of Indian women. And the best works of bangle making can be seen in the city of Muzaffarpur. The raw material for bangle works is obtained from the nearby state forest. The artist use light fire to craft the delicate glasses into circular shape. The artists who make these bangles are called “Laheris”. One can see the live making of Lacquerware in Muzaffarpur and nearby places. We at Visit Bihar operate special tour package to show you the process of Bangles making in Bihar.

 Sujni Embroidery:

The Sujni is traditional quilt made in Bihar. For the inner stuffing old clothes are used and threads drawn from the sari border are used for the embroidery. The embroidery is done in running stitch in a scale pattern and depicts village scenes such as bride in palanquin, peacocks dancing, boy flying kite etc. Each work has a narrative element, telling a story about the woman who created it. The craft itself is just running stitches on cotton, but it is incredibly labour-intensive.

Sikki Work :

Sikki is the wild grass which available in abundance in the diara areas of the Ganges and also in the beds of other rivers. A variety of household products are made by women with a natural instinct for pursuing eco – friendly alternatives to synthesize items that are mass produced in factories. Woman use these grass to make baskets, festivals figures and some toys as per their creative. Each product is a personalized expression. The art is centre in the Mithila region of north Bihar. Women use natural texture of the grass along with dyed strands, woven into patterns of geometrical intricacy, which add elegance to this simple craft. We at Visit Bihar, offer you exclusive tour to “Sikki Jeevika Gram Sangathan” located at village Raiyam in Madhubani district of north Bihar. Here you will see the process & techniques of Sikki Work by a group of Sikki Artist.

Tassar Silk :

Nepura is new destination in Bihar for unique rural tourism experience. The families of Nepura retained their age-old traditional art of “Tassar Silk” weaving, which was very popular in Buddhist times. In this village young girls and women rubbing silk yarn on their things to make it a soft thread. These thread are used in making monks dress, monk’s bag. Women of this village are equally making other artistic things for tourist Interest.

Stoneware :

Bihar rich heritage of stone craft is evident from the ancient sculptures of the Mauryan Period, prominent amongst which is the famous Ashokan pillar. The most noted stoneware centre of Bihar is Patharkatti in Gaya district. There are entire villages of craftsmen here, who work with stone, making everything from everyday objects such as mortar and pestles (stone grinder) to statuettes of the Lord Buddha. Most of the objects are created from the blue-black pot stone or green-black soapstone (less expensive).

Carpets Work :

Obra in Bihar has a hoary tradition in carpet weaving dating back to Buddhist and Mauryan era when high class floor coverings used to be woven here. But the pile carpet as we know it took birth only about 300 years ago and flourished because of royal patronage the old designs based on the Indo-Persian style, it is on the decline, and having got isolated. Now a day Gaya-Sasaram is produces a rougher variety in the usual flora and geometrical patterns.

Handlooms of Bihar :

Handloom weavers of Bihar have styled their offerings based on the resources available locally. In Bhagalpur and Katoria on the eastern flanks of the state, the weaver community has developed high level of skills in tussar silk spinning, especially thigh and hand reeling, to give those unique low-twist tussar silk yarns of such texture that these cannot be made anywhere else in the world. Similar conditions helped the wavers in Gaya-Nalanda region to come up with raw silk products. Wavers in Madhubani, taking advantage of the humidity of the nearby Kosi river, honed their cotton spinning skills to such an extent that hand spun-hand woven cotton of Madhubani became as famous as the painting of the region.

Today in Bihar there are several cluster are set to uplift the unique art form of the region, some of these Clusters are :

Sigori Cotton Cluster, Patna

Biharsharif Cluster, Nalanda

Bhauara Cotton Cluster, Madhubani

Manpur Cluster, Gaya

Katoria Cluster, Banka

Hussainabad Cluster, Bhagalpur

Nathnagar Cluster, Bhagalpur

Champanagar Cluster, Bhagalpur

Kharik Cluster, Bhagalpur

Some offered packages are :

1 Night 2 Days : Patna – Muzaffarpur – Patna

2 Nights 3 Days : Patna – Muzaffarpur – Darbhanga – Madhubani – Patna

2 Nights 3 Days : Patna – Nepura – Rajgir – Patna