On the 4th day of 6th month of the Hindu Calendar my little hands use to imitate my mom as she makes an idol of Ganesha (the one with elephant head as you may know him) We celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi. As the tradition follows we create clay idols, create a frenzie around him, and make him our everything for nine days. On the 10th day we take it to the closest river and dissolve ganesha in it. We don’t think about it again until the 4th day of the 6th month of next year. This beautiful Hindu culture is conscious that God is our making and this philosophical perspective gives my work leeway to reimagine god and dissolve god.
The Hymn of Creation holds such an essence of Hindu culture. It positions Gods on this side/on our side in the process of creation, meaning that even god was born after the universe was formed. This hymn is the 129th Hymn of the Rig Veda, known as ‘Nasadiya Sukta. The hymn starts with a question and ends with a question,
‘What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?’
"Whence all creation had its origin
whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
He, who surveys it from the highest heavens
He knows or maybe even he doesn’t know.’
Leaving the perennial inquiries of the beginning of the universe unanswered. The agnostic approach in the hymn about the creator and creation fuels my imagination to recreate the narrative. The work is an allegorical interpretation of the macrocosm's beginning. It holds the complexities of symbolism and iconography of Hinduism. I offer the witnesses to experience the traditions, rituals and devotional practices by inviting them to sit , bend or kneel.
From many stories of creation, Nasadiya Sukta leaves me with wonder about the creator and admiration for Hinduism for allowing me to integrate intellect with faith.
The Hymn of Creation holds such an essence of Hindu culture. It positions Gods on this side/on our side in the process of creation, meaning that even god was born after the universe was formed. This hymn is the 129th Hymn of the Rig Veda, known as ‘Nasadiya Sukta. The hymn starts with a question and ends with a question,
‘What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?’
"Whence all creation had its origin
whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
He, who surveys it from the highest heavens
He knows or maybe even he doesn’t know.’
Leaving the perennial inquiries of the beginning of the universe unanswered. The agnostic approach in the hymn about the creator and creation fuels my imagination to recreate the narrative. The work is an allegorical interpretation of the macrocosm's beginning. It holds the complexities of symbolism and iconography of Hinduism. I offer the witnesses to experience the traditions, rituals and devotional practices by inviting them to sit , bend or kneel.
From many stories of creation, Nasadiya Sukta leaves me with wonder about the creator and admiration for Hinduism for allowing me to integrate intellect with faith.