𑒧𑒱𑒟𑒱𑒪𑒰

Mithila

Land of Sita · Home of an Ancient Civilisation

An illustrated guide to its land, art, festivals & people.

Explore the Map Begin the Journey

Images: Wikimedia Commons — see credits

· 2026 आजुक पंचांग · Today in Mithila पंचांग देखू…

Explore Mithila

Panchang

The living Maithili almanac — today’s tithi and nakshatra, the year’s festivals and Ekadashi, and the auspicious muhurat for marriage, upanayan, mundan and house-warming.
History

From the Videha kingdom and King Janaka to the Karnat, Oiniwar and Darbhanga dynasties.
Art & Craft

Madhubani painting — Bharni, Katchni, Godna, Kohbar — plus Sikki, Sujani and the artists who carry it.
Language

Maithili, the Tirhuta (Mithilakshar) script, Vidyapati, and the Panji genealogies.
Festivals

Chhath, Sama-Chakeva, Jur Sital, Kojagara and the rhythm of the Maithil year.
Rituals & Customs

Maithil Vivah, Upanayan, Mundan, the Kohbar chamber and the Panji marriage system.
Cuisine

Makhana, thekua, dahi-chura, tarua and the proverb: Maachh, Paan, Makhaan.
Places & Tourism

Janakpur, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Ugratara and the 15-day Mithila Parikrama circuit.
People

From sage Yajnavalkya and Vidyapati to Sharda Sinha, Karpoori Thakur and Manoj Bajpayee.
Living Culture

Maithili cinema, folk music, Salhesh and Gonu Jha tales, and the statehood movement.
Villages

A growing, mappable directory — Bisfi, Jitwarpur, Saurath and beyond.

The art of Mithila

Did you know?

Ahilya Asthan at Ahiyari near Darbhanga marks the spot where, in the Ramayana, Rama is said to have freed the sage's wife Ahalya from her curse of stone.
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The world first noticed Madhubani painting after the 1934 Bihar earthquake, when the British officer William Archer saw the wall-art inside cracked-open Maithil homes.
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Chhath is one of the few festivals on earth that worships the setting sun before the rising one — the first arghya is offered to the dusk sun, the second to dawn.
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Darbhanga got its own airport only in 2020 — and it quickly became one of India's busiest regional airports, ending the Mithila heartland's long isolation by air.
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At independence the Maharaja of Darbhanga, ruling some 4,500 villages, was reckoned among the richest men in India.
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Ancient Videha is often called one of the world's earliest republics — after the last king was deposed, Mithila was governed by an assembly.
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People of Mithila