Among numerous rich and fine artworks of Mithila, the Needle-craft (embroidery) also known as 'Kasida' holds a prominent position. It is widely practised by women in the houses of Mithilanchal. Needlework is an age-old art whose wide prevalence in Mithila has been attested by Vidyapati in his famous book, ' Kirtilata'. Unlike the Aripana, the Kasida embroidery is popular among various sects and communities, and not just a particular religion. Sadly, the recent works on different Indian embroideries leave the Mithila Kasida embroidery unmentioned.
The art of embroidery has been defined as 'the painting with a needle' and has a distinguished place in the hedonistic civilization of our country. Embroidery, like painting in Mithila, has been liberally a prerogative of women and thus believed to be a feminine craft. Like Aripana, it is created afresh every time, meanwhile, some patterns have to be fixed and can be repeated, for the reason of maintaining the standards of perfection.
The Kasida of Bihar and Mithilanchal closely resemble 'Kasuti' embroidery of Mysore in appearance, having a large variety of geometrical patterns which is quite abundant in folk figures and designs. It is mainly practised by the women of North- Bihar(Mithila) in order to embroider their regular as well as occasional garments for which the household linen is generally embellished. It is however not commercialized and still confined to the personal household use such as; blouses, caps for babies, Gerua or Takia(pillow-covers), bed-covers and Gautakia(bolsters). According to an old custom, prevalent in Mithila- the bride carries different varieties of embroidered clothes called Bhara(along with her other artworks) to her husband's house at the time of her 'Dwiragaman'. This pursuit of art is usually done in leisure, satisfying the womenfolk's inner urge for artistic expression.
In Kasida, there are many varieties that can be categorised on the basis of various stitching patterns, leading to the formation of different styles such as Gachua, Bharita(Bharata) and Taganua.
Gachua has many sub-varieties such as Jhigali, Jhikhu and Techu. This is a chain-stitch design(pattern), where the needle is pulled through the cloth. The blouse worn by village women is generally worked with chain-stitch.
The Bharita or Bharata work is the second variety, which is embroidered on the entire surface. the methodology of this work is complicated and tiresome. The work takes time; thus, the art is acquired with great difficulty. This is similar to Bagh and Phulkari embroidery of Punjab (Bagh form of embroidery where the floral motifs cover the whole surface of bright coloured clothes).
The third variety is known as Taganua, which literally means counting threads. In this form, the village women first sketch designs on clothes with the help of a pencil and then fill them up by counting the stitches.
A study of different variations of Kasida reveals the real character of the embroidery work done in Mithila and elsewhere in Bihar. It is secular in form and decorative in nature, having a geometrical pattern of various shapes and sizes, which probably points towards its early existence during the evolution of embroidery. The Tulsi plant, Jhava plant, Banana plant, Groves, Lotus(Kamala) flower and Sarso flower are some of the prominent floral designs along with many faunal motives like elephant, peacock, fish and humans. Sometimes we come across the designs depicting the combined figure of the man and the beast, i.e., hybrid form(probably representing the Nar-Simha; the incarnation of Lord-Vishnu)and figure of dancing girls, Doli and Kahara and many more. Figures of other Gods and Goddesses and Aripana designs are seen as motifs for Kasida embroidery. Several Maithili folk songs abound in reference to the embroidery art of Mithila. In some of them, women express their desire to wear embroidered clothes as their wedding outfits, along with 'Chunari', which their respective husbands to be would bring for them.
