ABSTRACT
Women in the Mithila region of the northern Indian state of Bihar have been painting auspicious images on the inner walls of their courtyards and houses. They use the word likhiya, which means write, to describe what they do as painting a story. The images they use to tell stories often represent their gods and goddesses, or fertility symbols, and some provide social commentary on the women's daily lives. The earliest known Mithila paintings depict gods and goddesses, as well as auspicious symbols attached to weddings and other rituals. In a move that shifted the marketing of Mithila paintings directly to the United States, the American anthropologist Raymond Owens visited the region in the late 1970s.
