The relics of Darbhanga Raj have more to offer than just palaces, temples and ponds.
Darbhanga is home to several archival treasures which wait to be tapped by academics and
researchers.
The Mithila Research Institute has a collection of over thirty thousand ancient Sanskrit
manuscripts. The Raj Library, now part of L N Mithila University, has over one lakh books, journals and newspapers and the collection also includes parts of several personal libraries of a few
British prime ministers like Gladstone and Disraeli.
The Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation has kept alive the traditions of
research and scholarship which was so well nourished by the scions of the Khandavala dynasty.
It is a working window for scholastic research where one can delve into materials as diverse as
manuscripts to films. An insight can be glimpsed by a visit to its website : www.kalyanifoundation.org.
The Chandradhari Museum, the first private museum to be taken over by the government,
show cases almost the entire gamut of Mithila's culture. The Laxmeshwar Museum has a rich
collection of Darbhanga Raj antiques and handicrafts from the region.
These museums exhibit clothes, arms, coins and artifacts donated by the royal family of
Darbhanga.
The Darbhanga Raj was a patron of music and art too. The Mithila School of Painting is a
living embodiment of the local culture and it is symbolized by two distinct styles of Jitwarpur
and Ranti. The former, whose main proponents were the Mahapatra Brahmins, plays with
colours while the latter, dominated by Kama Kayasthas, stands out for its line drawings.
Apart from its rich tradition of Mithila painting, traditional folk drama styles of Mithila are
also very popular in this region. Most prominent among them are 'Nautanki', 'Natua Naach' and
'Sama Chakeva'.
A number of fairs and melas are organised in various parts of the district. The Kartik
Purnima fair, Dussehra fair, Janmashtami fair and Diwali fair are most popular among them.
