Mithila Vivah

A wedding invitation told in the Madhubani (Mithila) folk painting of Bihar: bold black double outlines, flat vermilion, turmeric, leaf green and indigo, and every space filled with pattern. For families from Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and anyone who loves this art.

Guests first see an empty hand-drawn frame with the couple's names. On a tap the painting draws itself stroke by stroke, a pair of fish circling a lotus under a sun, with parrots in the corners. The colours flood in one at a time, then the two fish swim apart like doors.

Inside, the celebrations are compartments of one painting (Haldi, the wedding, and Vidaai with Preeti Bhoj), each with its own framed picture. The date and muhurat sit in a kohbar ring of lotus leaves and bamboo, a four-colour countdown follows, then the RSVP and a wedding procession with elephant, doli and musicians.