Aripana of Bihar

India is the country of rich culture and rituals that performed here. Rangoli designing is very important part of it. It is the art of designing patterns on floor of the house using Rice powder, Stone color and other hard color. It is sounded differently in different part of India.

Aripana art form is practiced in the Bihar. It comprises of line drawings, illustrated on the floor of the house usually. Each and every auspicious ceremony in Bihar, be it a puja, a vrata (fast) or a samskara (mundan, vivah, yajnopavita, etc), Aripana patterns are a part of that.

Aripana designs were drawn in order to make the urbane land fertile and fruitful by magical performances initially. Now today it has become a part of various ceremonies and rituals. In Aripana drawing brushes are not used. Instead of these, nimble fingers are used to make the fragile designs. Aripana patterns are drawn with Pittha, powdered rice paste using water. Vermilion (sindur), along with white, red, green, yellow and black colors also can be used for flavors.

The designs or themes used in Aripana fall into the following five main categories:

1. Images of human beings, birds and animals
2. Images of flower (lotus), leaves, trees and fruits
3. Tantrik symbols, like yantras, bindu (dots), etc.
4. Images of Gods and Goddesses
5. Other objects like lamp, swastika, mountain, rivers, etc.