The story of the Kalyanasaugandhika from the Mahabharat is set during their 13 year exile in the forests. One day, a beautiful flower with an intoxicating smell wafts on the wind and falls near Draupadi. Fascinated by this flower (called the Kalyanasaugandhika), she asks Bhima to go in that direction and bring back more such flowers. During his travel, Bhima goes through a banana grove where he meets his elder brother Hanuman (the wind god is their common father) and learns a lesson in humility. Bhima then goes on to retrieve the flowers.
When I learned that the Kalyanasaugandhikam was a very popularly depicted story in the Kathakali dance form in Kerala, I realized that this was an excellent opportunity to depict Hanuman himself as the Kathakali performer. The colors are relatively muted when compared with regular Kathakali costumes but they have a charm of their own.
I also discovered that the face paint color in Kathakali is based on the character portrayed.
Shiva and Parvati as the cosmic dancers, their rhythmic movements representing the motion of the entire universe, signifying the union of time, energy, space and consciousness.
Shiva in the form of Nataraja is the patron of Bharatanatyam in India. It was only logical that I extend participation in the dance to his wife Parvati/Shakti. I put Shiva in an advanced Bharatanatyam pose I saw and Parvati in her traditional Kamakshi/Meenakshi pose with a symbolic parrot in her hand. In addition, Parvati is generally depicted with green skin in this form, hence her unique look here.
Stories tell us that Vishnu has a complexion of dark water-filled clouds and reclines atop a thousand headed snake in the Ocean of Milk. In his dream, a lotus grows out of his navel, out of which is born Brahma, who then creates the rest of the universe. (It’s very Inception like). His name comes from a root that means ‘Settling/Pervading’ which gives it the meaning of ‘All pervading or Omnipresent one’. His snake is called Aadhisesha or Ananthasesha, where Sesha means ‘Remainder’, ‘Aadhi’ means beginning and ‘Anantha’ is derived from the root which means ending, hence giving his name the meaning ‘That which exists even when all else ceases to exist’.
I was very inspired by my previous Nataraja drawing to try and represent this in the form of a Bharatanatyam dancer showing the Ananthasayana, except in this case the dancer is a 4 armed Vishnu himself, with one hand representing the snake sheltering him, one hand showing that he is reclining and resting, another hand holding his conch-shell ‘Panchajanya’ which represents the vibration of the universe and the last hand holding his discus ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ which represents either time or divine insight.
In usual depictions of this pose, he also holds a mace ‘Kaumodaki’ representing Justice, and a lotus ‘Padma’ representing the Universe. Since my main focus here was to bring out the Bharatanatyam aspect of the pose and I already had a lotus, I decided to skip them. Also missing in this pose are his consort: Lakshmi and his vehicle: Garuda, both of whom I skipped because I wasn’t sure how to depict them in Bharatanatyam forms (I consider both as characters and not accessories). Perhaps next time?
Something that struck me from a Project Management perspective when I saw this was that while Brahma is creating the Universe, he originates from Vishnu’s dream. Similarly, while it is a Product Manager who provides requirements to the Developers, he has to constantly take inputs from the dream or vision of the Business Stakeholders for his requirements and has to be monitored closely.
The story of Ganga’s descent from the heavens says that Ganga came in answer to Bhagirata’s prayers in order to cleanse his ancestors of their sins and ensure that they all go to heaven. But it was also deemed that she was too fierce and powerful to descend directly upon the earth. And so Shiva volunteers to take the full force of her descent into his matted hair where she spirals through his labyrinthian locks and is released as a steady and more manageable stream. Apsaras are often associated with River Spirits as is the nature of rivers to descend from the sky in the form of rain, reside for a short duration on earth in the form of lakes or rivers and in the end rejoin the ocean or return to the skies.
On a work side, this sort of reminds me of a Scrum Master/Product Manager taking up the responsibility of the entire set of product/delivery requirements, is able to make sense of what’s important/urgent and what’s not and breaks them down into smaller and more manageable pieces of work for the Scrum Team to process.
On the design side, I decided to skew the proportions a bit and make a really huge Ganga descend upon a much smaller Shiva to try and convey the magnitude of the problem he was trying to control. And since these two are the core focus of the piece, I left the background black to avoid any unwanted distractions.
Shiva is often portrayed as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance and the patron deity of the dance form ‘Bharatanatyam’ . There are many metaphysical interpretations to two forms of his dance - the Lasya which is a gentle form of dance associated with the creation of the universe, and the Tandava which is a violent dance associated with the destruction of the universe.
I’ve seen most depictions of Nataraja in the exact same pose of dance. But since he’s supposed to be the Lord of Dance, I felt he ought to have a bit more variety in his repertoire, hence my decision to depict him in a different pose, covered in swirling snakes and tiger-skins and dancing atop a demon.
India having secured a place in the QuarterFinals of the Cricket World Cup 2015 warranted another drawing in their support :-)
Perhaps if they win their QF match, I’ll make a limited edition print of this with the winning match score :-P
Update: India won their QF match against Bangladesh! Added a new version with the match score as promised :-)
Krishna dances atop Kaliya the snake in this story from the Mahabharat.
The snake Kaliya poisons the waters of the Yamuna river, killing all the cows and livestock drinking from it. Krishna decides to teach the snake a lesson and dances a terrible dance atop its hood, literally beating sense into it and gently convincing it to move on to the oceans.
I was looking at some intricate kolam patterns (designs drawn on the entrances of houses with rice powder in many South Indian cultures) and noticed that some of them were made of an entirely continuous line, much like a snake. And then I got a flash of inspiration to try this. In this revised version, a teenage and more flexible Krishna performs a difficult Bharatanatyam pose atop humbly bowing Kaliya who now forms a simple kolam design.
Also for comparison is the original version that I had done two years ago with a baby Krishna and a fairly simple black snake shaped like an S (’s’ for snake, which I thought was very punny).
Ganesha plays for Team India at the Cricket World Cup 2015 :-)
With Team India playing reasonably well so far, this seemed reasonably appropriate. Maybe I’ll draw a new one if they reach the Semis or Finals.
The Last Judgement by Michelangelo adorns the wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. This is a colossal fresco piece that is as grandiose as it is inspiring, featuring the second coming of Jesus Christ and the final judgement of all of humanity, featuring hundreds of characters such as saints and heroes ascending to heaven and souls being ferried by Charon the boatsman and Minos judging them as they entered the Underworld.
This is just the central character of the fresco, illustrated by me for a postcard.
Ever since I saw the Three Musketeers by Disney, featuring Donald, Micky and Goofy as the titular characters, I was imagining Ganesha as a swashbuckling adventuring Musketeer himself.
The characters of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan are uniquely identified by their colors in a variety of popular media with Blue, Green, Yellow and Red respectively.
I decided to keep this design fairly simple, with an off-white shirt and black pants and vest with black boots to match. Topping it off was a bright red plume on his hat (for d'Artagnan), a bright red fleur-de-lis on his vest pocket and a golden mouse relief on his belt buckle. In his sword hand, he brandishes a fine rapier, ready to challenge his enemies to a duel.
After seeing a bunch of pictures of people riding large horses, I figured I could make Karthikeya’s peacock pretty huge while still remaining true to its character. After all, it wasn’t supposed to be a real peacock, it was manifested from half the power of the conquered demon Surapadman (the other half becoming his Rooster banner). I also felt carrying a flag/banner into battle along with a spear would be a bit unwieldy, so I put his feared rooster emblem on a shield, much like the mythical shield ‘Aegis’ that is wielded by the Greek Goddess Athena.
And so here’s my take on what it would be like for a fear inspiring lance bearer to ride a giant magical peacock into battle!
This drawing is based on a story from the Mahabharata that my brother had once told me a long time ago.
A half golden mongoose appears during the final day of the Ashwamedha sacrifice conducted by Yudhisthira of the Pandavas and starts rolling around in the sacrificial offerings. After doing this for a few minutes, the mongoose asks, “Is there no sacrifice here that is worthy of the gods?"
Confused, Yudhisthira asks the mongoose for an explanation.
The mongoose tells them a story of a village going through a terrible famine. There was a poor family with nothing to eat. To find food, the husband would go to fields already harvested, and like pigeons pick left over grains from the harvested field.
One day, after many hours of harsh work, the husband finds a handful of barley grains. He brings the grains home, and his wife cooks it. Just when his son and daughter in law, his wife and he are about to eat their first meal in few days, a guest arrives.
The husband washes the guest’s feet and inquires how he was doing. The guest says he is hungry. The husband gives his guest his share of cooked barley. The guest eats it, but says he is still hungry. The wife hears the guest and offers her share of cooked barley as well, even though she too is starving. The guest eats that too, but said he still feels hungry. The son and daughter-in-law give up their share of cooked barley too.
In the end, the guest finishes his meal, then smiles and re-appears in the form of god Yamadharmaraja. The god gives the family a boon and fills their home with food, saying that it is not the quantity that matters, but quality of care and love despite one’s circumstances.
The mongoose, which was passing by, playfully rolled around on the plate where a few grains of barley remained. The patches of fur wherever the barley touched it turned to gold! Wishing to transform the rest of its fur as well, it travelled from one sacrifice to the next in search of any offering that was worthy.
The mongoose then asks once again if there is any sacrifice available to equal the pieces of barley so that it may become fully golden.
Yudhisthira looked around at his grand sacrifice and realized that none of the offerings were given with the same love as that of the poor man’s family.
He turned to the mongoose to apologize, but the mongoose had vanished.
This was the result of a play on words between my wife and I, a ‘post-event poster’. This was done to commemorate the completion of our second Supper Club in Berlin. My illustrations, her concoction.
Life of Karthikeya
The Life of Karthikeya was one of the earliest mythological drawings I’ve ever done. Now that my Karthikeya design has sort of evolved from that original state, I decided to revisit various incidents from event filled life of the God of War, while adding a few more stories.
Karthikeya is supposed to be the General of the Gods and aspects over the ‘Kurinji’ or hilly terrains of a landscape, which is why there are so many hills in the drawing. He is also supposed to be a patron of poetry.
I decided to make one last refinement to his design. His banner/emblem is a Rooster, which is traditionally on a flag. But I decided to put it on a golden shield, much like the Aegis - the legendary greek shield with the face of Medusa on it. I also made some changes to his tiara, making it more jagged and powerful. Also making his first appearance in my drawings is Agni, the fire god. At the bottom of the post is the original image for comparison.
The story begins with the demons getting a boon from Shiva that they can be killed only by his child, knowing that he is a celibate saint. As the demons go about their tyrannical rule, Shiva decides he’s had enough of their nonsense and decides to do something about it.
Here are the major incidents in the newer piece:
- Shiva creates a divine spark from the blazing fires of his third eye. As Shiva’s son, he is called Guha.
- Agni (the fire god) carries the divine spark but drops it in the Ganga because it’s too hot. Agni also claims part parentage in the child, so as Agni’s son he is called Mahasena.
- Ganga carries it through the secluded Shara forest and drops it there in a lotus. As Ganga’s son, he is called Gangeya. And as the son of the Shara forest, he is called Sharavana.
- The spark manifests as a child, nursed by the Krittika maidens (who form the pleidas constellation). As their son, he is called Karthikeya. He is then claimed by Parvati, who names him Kumara.
- Ganesha and Karthikeya have a contest over who gets to keep the Fruit of Knowledge brought by the sage Narada
- Karthikeya loses the contest and goes off to sulk/gain more wisdom as the poet Avvaiyaar beckons him to return to his parents
- Marrying Valli, the princess of the forest tribes, after protecting her from a wild forest elephant (who was secretly his brother Ganesha in disguise)
- Karthikeya imprisons Brahma for not understanding the mysteries of creation and advises his own father on the secrets of the Universe
- Karthikeya tests the poetry skills of Avvaiyaar
- Karthikeya fights the demonic horde of Surapadman/Simhamukha and Tarakasura. Here he fends off the Krauncha hill which is a demon in disguised, a sort of Rock-topus, if you will.
And some of the minor incidents:
- Bhagirata prays to Shiva to release Ganga from the heavens
- The sage Jahnu swallows the Ganga when she threatens to destroy his hermitage but then releases her through his ear when his anger subsides
A trip to Florence inspired these postcards. Florence was truly a home to the Renaissance Masters. The sheer number of good quality paintings and sculptures are likely to inspire even the most artistically inhibited individuals to take up a brush.
The postcards are of:
- The Florence Cathedral
- Statue of David, by the legendary Michelangelo
- Statue of Leonardo da Vinci, outside the Uffizi Gallery
- Statue of Perseus with the Medusa’s head, outside the Uffizi Gallery
- Painting of the ‘Birth of Venus’ by Botticelli
After being completely blown away by the awesomeness of the Sistine Chapel, I decided I had to give one last tribute to the Renaissance master, Michelangelo.
And so, here they are, captured in postcard form, in my own style/ interpretation. The first is one of his most famous sculptures, of David just before he goes off to battle Goliath, located in Florence. The second, also in Florence, is a statue of Michelangelo outside the Uffizi Gallery. The third is a statue of Michelangelo above the entrance to the Vatican Museum, seated alongside Raphael, another great Renaissance Master.
Ganesha makes Pav Bhaji, a popular Indian street food. A small poster designed for my wife’s second supper club in Berlin and the first for 2015, where she’ll be preparing and serving popular Indian street foods.
Postcards inspired by The Sistine Chapel and St.Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. My wife and I spent hours admiring the imagination, beauty and intricacy of Michelangelo’s brilliant work.
These are merely pale imitations of Michelangelo’s masterpieces as seen by my eyes and put down by my hand, just like the moonlight is a pale reflection of the brilliant light of the Sun.
And so here they are, captured in postcard form in my style/interpretation:
- The Pieta, the famous sculpture of Mary with Jesus, from St Peters Basilica
- A view of the St Peters Square in the Vatican
- Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Snake and the Apple, from the Sistine Chapel
- The birth of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel
- The separation of Land and Sea, from the Sistine Chapel
- The creation of the Sun and the Moon, from the Sistine Chapel
- The separation of Light from Darkness, from the Sistine Chapel
Karthikeya is often represented by the number six, in having been born from six sparks, raised by six maidens, born with six heads and six pairs of arms etc. When doing some research on the reason for this number, I encountered the explanation that Karthikeya leads us through the battle of life by helping us defeat the six demonic vices: desire, anger, greed, passion, pride and jealousy.
I decided to represent these six vices in the form of six demonic snakes that are being overcome by Karthikeya.
Admiral Ganesha
Having Ganesha incarnate as a friendly neighbourhood pirate, it only seemed appropriate to have him also suit up as a powerful Admiral of a vast naval fleet, ever-vigilant and ready for action.
I couldn’t think of an appropriate place for his rat, so I just made it an embossed motif on his belt.
Perhaps I’ll add a large sailing vessel in the background at another time?