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Lot Essay
Are there not many places on this Earth?
Yet which one of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet which of them is like the river of heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva.
The Ganges, Shiva and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace that leads one to perfect bliss. (K Kh 35. 7-10; as published in, D. Eck, Banares: City of Light, New York, 1998, frontispiece)
The vast Indian landscape is deeply linked to the stories of the gods and heroes of Indian culture. Every place has a story, and every Hindu myth and legend is associated with a place. There is no place in India more inextricably tied to the very basis of Hindu mythology - the understanding of life, death and the cycle of regeneration than Varanasi. Tied to the past, but very much in the present, the constant and continuum that is Varanasi has enthralled travelers and pilgrims for centuries. In 1960, MF Husain and Ram Kumar visited Varanasi. They too were enthralled with the city. The rich landscape filled their psyches and they were inspired to create a series of paintings and prints.
Husain's choice of iconography in Varanasi I; the sun rising above the river Ganges, the priest and the boats, are immediately recognizable. Through this very simple composition, Husain conveys the very complex nature of the Hindu mythology. Both the giver of life and the carrier of the dead, Ganga represents the contradictory forces of life and death. The headless priest, black sun and the earthy colors, brown and green, represent this duality and the bleakness and austerity, which underlines the grave complexity of the cycle of human life. Powerful and deeply esoteric, Husain captures the essence of Varanasi.
Yet which one of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet which of them is like the river of heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva.
The Ganges, Shiva and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace that leads one to perfect bliss. (K Kh 35. 7-10; as published in, D. Eck, Banares: City of Light, New York, 1998, frontispiece)
The vast Indian landscape is deeply linked to the stories of the gods and heroes of Indian culture. Every place has a story, and every Hindu myth and legend is associated with a place. There is no place in India more inextricably tied to the very basis of Hindu mythology - the understanding of life, death and the cycle of regeneration than Varanasi. Tied to the past, but very much in the present, the constant and continuum that is Varanasi has enthralled travelers and pilgrims for centuries. In 1960, MF Husain and Ram Kumar visited Varanasi. They too were enthralled with the city. The rich landscape filled their psyches and they were inspired to create a series of paintings and prints.
Husain's choice of iconography in Varanasi I; the sun rising above the river Ganges, the priest and the boats, are immediately recognizable. Through this very simple composition, Husain conveys the very complex nature of the Hindu mythology. Both the giver of life and the carrier of the dead, Ganga represents the contradictory forces of life and death. The headless priest, black sun and the earthy colors, brown and green, represent this duality and the bleakness and austerity, which underlines the grave complexity of the cycle of human life. Powerful and deeply esoteric, Husain captures the essence of Varanasi.