Vidyapati (c. 1352–1448), born in the village of Bisfi in Madhubani, is the towering figure of Maithili letters — honoured as the Maithil Kavi Kokil, the “poet-cuckoo of Mithila”. A scholar in Sanskrit and a courtier to the Oiniwar kings, he wrote treatises on law, ethics and geography; but his fame rests on the Padavali, some five hundred lyric songs of Radha and Krishna in tender, sensuous Maithili.
By writing in the vernacular rather than Sanskrit, Vidyapati did for Maithili what Dante did for Italian. His songs were embraced by the Bengali Vaishnavas and, centuries later, so moved Rabindranath Tagore that the young poet composed his Bhanusingha songs in an imitative “Brajabuli”. Vidyapati’s verses are still sung at Mithila weddings today.