Relevant Gods

I intended for part of my lino cuts to be representative of the Hindu gods that influence the modern scene or the event which I am depicting in the rest of the print (scenes inspired by my time there and my primary reportage photographs). I visited quite a few temples, but mostly this idea came to me because religion there weaves its way into everyday life so heavily, in conversation, in homes, shrines in every shop and business. It has such a peaceful hopeful influence yet it is one of the lead reasons for warring and separation within communities. I witnessed a lot of other religions such as Islam and Christianity during my stay there, however I chose to focus on the Hindu faith because of the expanse of Gods/deities, which makes it accessible to use a separate one in each print representing its specific themes.

Kovalam Beach

This is Dhumavati. Dhumavati is holding a winnowing basket riding a crow and adorned with jewellery. This depiction with the inclusion of jewellery and decorations are contrary to her traditional description but I chose to use this early 20th century Rajput painting as inspiration because part of my project is investigating detail through lino, so jewellery and decorations will be best suited for my prints.

I chose to incorporate Dhumavati into my print of a lower cast man walking along Kovalam Beach.  I am not sure if he was an 'untouchable' or just a travelling man, but he didn't look very strong, this may just have been because of his age though. Dhumavati is one of the Mahavidyas; she represents the fearsome aspect of Devi, the Hindu Divine Mother. Dhumavati is associated with things considered inauspicious and unattractive in Hinduism, such as the crow and the Chaturmas period. However she is also often called tender-hearted and described as a great teacher, one who reveals ultimate knowledge of the universe, which is beyond the illusory divisions, like auspicious and inauspicious. Her ugly form teaches the devotee to look beyond the superficial, to look inwards and seek the inner truths of life.

With this combination of  the poor man and the Dhumavati, I hope to give the audience something to think about when judging an 'ugly form' when considering class or cast systems versus the inner truths of life and that really we are all human. The cast system and disability rights (disability used for begging) really disturbed me during my visit. 

Fruit Seller 

This is Indra. Known as King of the Gods, God of the Heaven and God of Weather and War. I chose to incorporate Indra into my lino cut depicting a scene in Kovalam of a fruit seller cutting up a coconut for two customers. I wanted to turn this into a lino cut because I think it is a sweet moment of selflessness, as the two customers hold their umbrella over the fruit seller to protect her from the rain while she cuts their fruit. Indra is the deva of rain and thunderstorms; my visit was during the rainy season so this deva would have been in full force.

He holds a lightening thunderbolt known as vajra and rides on an elephant known as Airavata. Indra is the most important deity worshiped by the Rigvedic tribes.

Egg Man 

This is Brahma, as it says above he is the god who created knowledge and the universe. He created the four Vedas from each of his mouths. I chose to incorporate Brahma into my lino print of a man delivering eggs in the Kovalam paddy fields. This is because Brahma is linked to Hiranyagarbha (the cosmic egg).
Hiranyagarbha, translated as the 'golden womb', 'golden egg' or 'universal germ', is the source of creation of the universe or the manifested cosmos in Hindu philosophy. The Upanishad calls it the Soul of the Universe or Brahman which then broke into two halves which formed the Svarga and the Prthvi. In classical Puranic Hinduism, Hiranyagarbha is the term used in the Vedanta for the 'creator'. Hiranyagarbha is also a name of Brahma, so called because he was born from a golden egg. The egg today being delivered is a source of food; a source of life. It is also the source from which life is born. This influenced my decision making process to pick Brahma to reign over this lino cut. 

Thanumalayan Temple Suchindram, 
Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.

I was stunned by this temple when I visited it. I am not religious but the architecture and details both on the exterior and interior created an amazing sense of history and importance. It felt like such a spiritual holy place. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the temple but I took a few of the scenes outside; Indians traveled days to visit the temple. The lino cut I chose to create from this scene was one of a mother carrying a child eating an ice cream, with the temple in the background.

The Thanumalayan Temple is of importance to both Shaivaite and Vaishnavite sects of Hinduism, as the name Stanumalaya denotes Trimurtis; 'Stanu' means Siva; 'Mal' means Vishnu; and the 'Aya' means Brahma. I chose to combine these three gods into the exterior of the Temple wall, which in real life is all white created in part from sea shells. The coming together of the three gods reflects the coming together of the communities historically, still evident today as you see people travelling from all over to come and worship together; what I witnessed when I was there. 

This is Siva. 'The Auspicious One'. He is the chief deity within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. Siva is regarded as limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. Siva also has many benevolent and fearsome forms. He is a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. He slays demons, and is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and the arts.

It was important, especially as there were a few different gods in this print, that they were all distinguishable. Siva has a third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his musical instrument. 

Vishnu is the Supreme God Svayam Bhagavan of Vaishnavism. Vishnu has four arms and is depicted as a pale blue being, as are his incarnations Rama and Krishna. He holds a padma (lotus flower) in his lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in his lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in his upper left hand and the discus weapon considered to be the most powerful weapon according to Hindu Reilgion Sudarshana Chakra in his upper right hand.

Unlike the depiction of Brahma from earlier, this one only depicts three heads, however it can be assumed that the other head is on the reverse side. Brahma is traditionally depicted with four arms, he holds symbols of knowledge and creation rather than weapons. In one hand he holds the sacred texts of Vedas, in the second he holds a mala (rosary beads) symbolising time, in the third he holds a ladle symbolising means to feed a sacrificial fire, and in the fourth a utensil with water symbolising the means where all creation emanates from.

Kerala Backwaters

I chose to incorporate the god Varuna on his mount makara. The image above was painted in India, Rajasthan,, 1675-1700.
Varuna is the Hindu god of water and the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law of the underwater world. This was the clear Hindu god to incorporate into my print of the backwaters. He would have influence over day to day life there and other areas of India surrounded by water. The worship of gods help people to feel like they have more control and faith in their surroundings, it makes events make sense, for example a flood of a killing by a crocodile. 

Diwali in Kovalam

Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. She is the wife and active energy of Lord Vishnu. Her four hands represent the four goals of human life considered important to the Hindu way of life - dharma (pursuit of ethical, moral life), kama (pursuit of love, emotional fulfillment), artha (pursuit of wealth, means of life) and moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge, liberation). I chose to incorporate Lakshmi into my print depicting Diwali in a small back alley of Kovalam in India. As a boy holds a sparkler in his families small one room clothes shop, Lakshmi appears looking over the scene in the background behind other buildings. The festival of Diwali is celebrated in Lakshmi's honour.

The lotus, which she typically sits on and carries (I depicted both in my lino cut) carries symbolic meanings in Hinduism and other Indian traditions. It symbolically represents reality, consciousness and karma. The lotus blossoms in clean or dirty water which symbolises beauty and purity regardless of good or bad circumstances in which it grows. I like to think that this links to the poverty around India for example the shops in the scenes are very DIY and not the high street shops we would find in Britain, but they are filled with joy and friendly faces, hand made and hand crafted goods and the celebration of Diwali may be in a simple form with parents watching over their child with a sparkler, but it still means just as much, if not more.