Search your Product

Shopping Cart

Your shopping bag is empty

Go to the shop

Back to login

Don’t have an account?Register now

Back to login

Hand-painted Madhubani coaster set from the Prayatna artisan cluster in Noida, arranged to show every painted face

Close view of a Madhubani coaster showing flat colour blocks with fine hand-drawn outlines over them

Madhubani tea coaster angled to show the painted face and its protective glaze

Madhubani Coasters

Curated by Prayatna

Rs. 599

Product Details

Hand-painted Madhubani motifs on a set of drink coasters, each face painted one at a time by artisans in the Prayatna cluster at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The Mithila idiom they work in comes from Bihar, where the same figures once covered wedding-chamber walls. Flat colour goes down first in blocks, and the fine outlines follow only once those blocks have dried, which is why the linework sits on top rather than under it. A glaze protects the painted face for daily use.

Art TypeMadhubani

Dimension32X22X6

Materials & Care

Minor glaze and color variations are natural and add character. Handle with care. Wipe with a soft, damp cloth. Avoid harsh chemicals and prolonged direct sun exposure.

Product Disclosure

SKUPR-MDC-03

Style CodePR-MDC

HSN Code97030000

RegionNoida

StateUttar pradesh

Curated byPrayatna

Each piece is handcrafted, so slight variations in colour, texture and dimension are natural and celebrate its handmade origin.

Where the set earns its place: A coaster set lives on the surfaces you actually use. Put this one on the centre table where evening tea happens, on a study desk beside the laptop, or on a bedside table that takes a glass of water every night. The painted faces read best against plain wood, cane, marble, and dark laminate. On a busy printed tablecloth they compete for attention, so give them a quiet background.

Everyday, not occasional: Hand-painted does not mean ornamental. The whole point of the Mithila idiom is that it belonged on things people touched daily, not behind glass. Use them. Keep the set out where the kettle is.

What to pair them with: Plain white cups, terracotta kulhads, and clear glass all let the painting stay the loudest thing on the table. Patterned crockery does not. When you are serving, set the coasters down first and let the cups follow, which also stops anyone reaching for a bare table surface out of habit. Guests tend to pick these up and turn them over, and that is usually when the conversation about Madhubani starts.

What this set is not: The glazed face is made for cups and glasses. It is not a trivet, so keep hot pans and serving dishes off it.

Care while in use: Wipe with a soft, damp cloth after use, then dry the painted face. Skip harsh chemicals, dishwashers, and long soaks in water. Avoid parking the set in direct afternoon sun for weeks on end, because sustained light dulls painted colour over time. Minor variation in glaze and colour between pieces is normal on hand-painted work.

Madhubani is built in layers, and on a surface this small the order of those layers matters more than anything else.

Stage one, preparing the face: Each blank is smoothed and primed so paint sits on the surface evenly instead of sinking into it. A coaster face is only a few inches across. There is no room to correct a wobble later, so the blanks are checked for grain and unevenness before any colour is committed.

Stage two, scaling the composition down: A wall composition has metres to fill. A coaster has a circle. The central figure, typically a fish, a bird, an elephant, or a mandala arrangement in this idiom, is centred by eye, and the border allowance is marked first so the design does not crowd the rim.

Stage three, colour blocking: This stage defines the piece, and it happens before any linework at all. Flat fields of colour are laid down one shade at a time, each left to dry before the next sits against it, because wet edges bleed and muddy the join. Painters work light to dark. At this point the coaster looks like a plain colour map with no detail on it whatsoever.

Stage four, outlines and fill: Only now does the brush get fine. Outlines are drawn over the dried blocks to pull each figure out, and the ground around it is filled with the hatching, dots, and small repeats that Mithila painters use instead of leaving space empty. This is the slowest stage, and the one that separates a painted coaster from a printed one.

Stage five, glazing: A protective glaze goes over the finished face. Slight variation in that glaze, and in colour between coasters in one set, is expected on work painted by hand rather than run off a press.

Who paints them: The work is done by artisans in the Prayatna cluster at Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a livelihood programme supported by the HCL Foundation. The idiom is Mithila, from the Madhubani region of Bihar, where it moved off village walls onto paper and then onto everyday objects.

What are Madhubani tea coasters?

Madhubani tea coasters are drink coasters hand-painted with motifs from the Mithila folk painting tradition of Bihar. The figures used, usually fish, birds, elephants, and mandala arrangements, come from the same visual vocabulary once painted on village walls. Each face is painted individually rather than printed.

Are these Madhubani coasters hand-painted or printed?

These Madhubani coasters are hand-painted, not printed. The give-away is the layering: flat colour blocks go down first and the outlines are drawn over them afterwards, so the linework sits visibly on top. Printed sets have perfectly uniform faces with no brush edge at all.

Can Madhubani coasters take a hot cup?

Madhubani coasters are made for hot and cold drinkware, which is what the protective glaze on the painted face is for. They are not trivets, so hot pans and serving dishes should go elsewhere. Wipe any spill off the face rather than letting it sit.

How do I clean hand-painted coasters without damaging the art?

Clean hand-painted coasters with a soft, damp cloth and then dry the face straight away. Harsh chemicals, dishwashers, scouring pads, and long soaks all attack the glaze and the paint under it. Nothing abrasive should ever touch the painted side.

Are Madhubani coasters GI-tagged?

Madhubani coasters are not sold as GI-certified products. The Madhubani painting tradition itself holds a Geographical Indication registered in 2007, which covers the painting practice in the Mithila region, and the register is public at ipindia.gov.in/gi. This set is painted in that idiom by artisans working in Noida, so it falls outside the GI scope.

Which state does Madhubani art come from?

Madhubani art comes from the Mithila region, spanning the Madhubani district of Bihar in India and parts of the Nepal Terai. It is named after that district and is also called Mithila painting. The tradition was carried largely by women, painted first on walls and floors and later on paper and objects.

What do the motifs on Madhubani coasters mean?

The motifs on Madhubani coasters carry meaning rather than being decoration alone. Fish stand for fertility and good fortune, elephants for strength and auspicious arrival, peacocks for love and the monsoon, and the sun and lotus for life and renewal. The dense filler patterns around them exist because leaving ground empty is avoided in this idiom.

Why do hand-painted Madhubani coasters cost more than printed ones?

Hand-painted Madhubani coasters cost more because each face is a piece of individual labour, with drying time between every colour layer before the fine outlining can even begin. A printed or transfer-decorated set skips all of that. The price difference is essentially the painter's hours.

Will every coaster in the set look identical?

No coaster in a hand-painted set is identical to the next. Line weight, colour density, and glaze finish shift slightly from piece to piece because each one was painted separately by hand. Uniformity across a set is a sign of machine printing, not of care.

Do Madhubani coasters make a good gift?

Madhubani coasters work well as a gift because they are useful, they carry a story the recipient can repeat, and they suit a housewarming, Diwali, or a corporate hamper equally. They travel flat, which helps for shipping abroad. The craft context is what lifts them above a generic table accessory.

Where can I buy Madhubani coasters online in India?

Madhubani coasters online in India come from a mix of artisan platforms, craft boutiques, and marketplace listings, and the important distinction between them is hand-painted versus printed. Ask who painted the set and where that cluster is based. This set is painted by the Prayatna artisan cluster in Noida.

Be the first to review this product.

Discover the Craft

View All

Madhubani Art

Madhubani painting is a traditional art form from Bihar's Mithila region, created using natural pigments and handmade brushes. It features bold outlines, vibrant colors, intricate depictions of nature and mythology.

View Products