Just south of the Kuwa district of Janakpur is an unassuming compound that houses an exceptional group of women with a noteworthy goal. The Women’s Development Center is dedicated to advancing women’s empowerment through the promotion of the 2,800-year-old Mithila artistic tradition. Sometime after the 9th-century in the Videhas Kingdom of Nepal, the distinctive two-dimensional Mithila style of art began to emerge. Originally, the artwork was painted on the mud walls of homes in the Terai region—as it still is in some sections of the Kuwa district—particularly during the Diwali…
