History's treasure

It is a wonder how stories from our Hindu mythology never seem to get old. Over ages and generations, the righteous conduct of Lord Ram has been held as an example, the devotion of Hanuman is admired and stories of Ganesha still enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

Inspired by these evergreen tales, an ad agency owner and ‘self-taught’ artist Yograj Verma has been recreating them on canvas. Recently, he exhibited these paintings at the India Habitat Centre under the title ‘Engraved by the soul’ and captured the imaginations of many.

Yograj says that these stories are a treasure trove of our history and traditions. Often, our parents and grandparents recount them to us as bed time fables and as we grow up, we forget about them. However, it is important to preserve them to keep alive the knowledge of our ‘being.’

He says, “I was born and brought up in Gujarat. My family was deeply spiritual and I was often regaled with stories from our holy scriptures. I found them extremely interesting and often read up on them thereafter. I would study books and, later on, also search about them on the internet.”

“At the same time, my father was an artist and would often tell me about artists, worldwide, who earned a name by creating magic on the canvas. So my two fascinations – mythological stories and art – came together to make me the artist Yograj Verma.”

This is not Yograj’s first painting exhibition. He has held five such exhibits before – all on figures from the Hindu mythology; and this time, a life-size image of lord Vishnu’s Virat swaroop forms the centrepiece. The Lord is depicted standing with innumerable faces, arms, legs and weapons.

The five elements of life – earth, water, fire, air and ether - are symbolised in a square, circle, triangle, crescent and dot on Vishnu’s body. Yograj’s signature style – a riot of colours – is most striking here with five hues – red, yellow, blue, green and black – employed in the painting.

Then there is the unusual portrayal of Hanuman with five faces – his Panchamukhi Anjaneya form. His five faces signify vigilance and control over the five directions – North, South, East, West and the upward direction called zenith.

A depiction of Vaman – the dwarf incarnation of Lord Vishnu is adorable. The little figure with an oversized head is holding fort over the three worlds – heaven, earth and underworld (paatal). Demon lord Bali is seen paying obeisance at his feet.

Other than these, there are also portrayals of Mahaganpati, the Surya in his radiant glory riding a chariot of seven horses and Prabha Laxmi emerging from samudra manthan. The paintings are a wonder to behold holding immeasurable knowledge in their womb.