As a child my grandmother and mother would tell me a lot of mythological stories, which gave me a great understanding of not just Bhakthi (devotion) and Bhava (emotion) but also helped me understand the richness of Indian Culture and traditions. As a result, I became very interested in mythology, spirituality and would often read books that were far beyond my years, participate in discourses and take part in religious competitions. That is how I came across ISKCON when I was 9-10 years old during their annual competitions for children.
ISKCON is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and is usually called the Hare Krishna movement outside India. It is focused on Lord Krishna and the principles and beliefs are slightly different from the common Hinduism ideals. ISKCON is not just a Bhakthi movement in my opinion but also an art movement in its entirety.
When Swami Prabhupada first brought the Krishna tradition in the west, he introduced Kirtan or singing and chanting of the Lord’s name accompanied by various music instruments. This dynamic musical expression was often accompanied my ecstatic dancing and led to flourishing of various traditional dance styles in India and abroad.
Their Temples are great examples of Neo vedic architecture and have a unique style of their own. Their interiors are often covered by beautiful paintings by ISKCON artists depicting Vrindhavan and mathura in vivid colors. I had posted about the design I created inspired by one such painting in my Purva Raga – my country blog hop post
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| Purva Raga |
So When I started work on my Chithira Katha collection, I was reminded of this calendar and thought of making a range of pieces inspired by paintings. Here they are
Raasleela – Durbar
Multi color Looped bead necklace in red, green, blue and yellow. With Krishna durbar chain framed pendant in 32g brass handcut sheet with resin finish and bead danglers. Length excl pendant -24″ , pendant drop – 3″ earrings- simple beaded – Available for sale
Raasleela – Radha entertaining krishna with music.
A necklace of clear glass beads in blue, green, pink. Pendant is 32g brass handcut sheet with chain framed decoupaged image with resin finish . Length excl pendant -23.5″ , pendant drop – 3″ with simple beaded earrings- Available for sale
Rasaleela in technicolor
enamelled kitschy pendant of radha & krishna enjoying a beautiful evening. The necklace has hollow beads stuffed in fabric and tied with matching thread and is further embellished by garnet colored glass beads Length excl pendant -20″ , pendant drop – 2″- Available for sale
Radha Madhav bib necklace
Handformed necklace in 32g copper with a collage of Radhamadhav postcards. The bib have been colored in patina inks, studded with rhinestones and filled with resin. Looped garnet glass beads and golden crystals form the necklace, Total length – 25″
This is the same Radha Madhav necklace done after 1.5 years – even I am amazed at the finish and the number of techniques used in it – Handforming, patina, resin, stonework, beading 🙂 This only goes to show that practice and perseverance can help you achieve anything that you want. Isnt that true? If only my students could understand that!!
So what do you think of these pieces? More importantly how crucial do you think it is to teach kids/younger generation about their culture, traditions and practices? when I meet people who are clueless about their culture, I feel sorry for them, at the same time I am thankful for my upbringing.
I know a lot of people who shy away from Teaching their religious or cultural practices to their children as they fear that it might make them narrow minded. If anything, learning more about my culture is what has made me broadminded. It has taught me that its possible to be spiritual without being religious and it has taught me not to judge people by just their appearance but look at situations from their perspective.
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