Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget Day Madhubani-painted saree was gifted by this Padma Shri awardee

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had met the Madhubani artist during a credit outreach programme at the Mithila Art Institute in Bihar. (Image credit: ANI)

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday wore a kasavu saree with intricate Madhubani artwork painted on it to present her eighth Union Budget. The white saree with a gold border was a gift from Padma Shri awardee Dulari Devi. The centuries-old art form had originated from the Madhubani district of Bihar and is characterised by line drawings filled in with bright colours and contrasts or patterns.

The artist, Dulari Devi, was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021. She had met Sitharaman during a credit outreach programme at the Mithila Art Institute in Madhubani, news agency ANI reported. There, the women had discussed the significance of the art form. During that interaction, Dulari Devi had presented the saree as a sample of her artwork to the finance minister requesting her to wear it on Budget Day.

Sitharaman honoured the celebrated artist's request during Union Budget 2025.

More about the self-taught Madhubani artist

Dulari Devi comes from a fisherman community. She developed a passion for painting, especially the Madhubani art form while working for an accomplished Madhubani painter Karpoori Devi, ANI reported. Despite facing multiple hardships--being abandoned by her husband at 16, losing her child, and working as a domestic helper for 16 years--she never gave up.

Her paintings also spread awareness of important social issues like child marriage, AIDS, and female foeticide. Dulari Devi has created 10,000 paintings and displayed them in over 50 exhibitions across the country. She has also trained more than 1,000 students through organisations like the Mithila Art Institute and Seva Mithila Sansthan, ensuring that the traditional art form thrives in future generations.