It is a tradition the Siri ‘family’ members have been following for the past three years. It is an exhibition of Ganesha paintings by students of Siri Institute of Painting to coincide with the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Created by artists of different age groups , the works on display at Rainbow Art Gallery in Paryatak Bhavan, Begumpet is a delightful canvas showcasing the elephant God in different forms.
The display includes 40 works of Ganesha and has been done in different media like oil, acrylic, sand painting and knife painting. “I started art late but now I can’t seem to stop,” laughs a participant B. Padmavati, pointing towards her vibrant Ganesha playing a flute with a mouse in focus. “We might dislike a mouse but all creatures are same for the God,” she says. For her, art is like an addiction. “Doctors have asked me to stop art as the chemicals are giving me an allergy, but I cannot stop painting now. At this stage of my life, art has given me a fulfilment and an urge to create something beautiful everyday. I have even started to take violin classes,” she says with a smile.
Another alluring work at the gallery is by 74-year-old Krishna Murthy. A childhood passion, he had to discontinue art due to his work. “I had to halt art for 42 years,” he says. After retirement at 63, he decided to keep himself occupied with art. “I wanted to learn the technical aspects of art and not just be contented with painting it myself,” he observes. Srilatha, a former teacher too revisited her childhood passion to learn art. With a smile on her face, she shows us her striking Ganesha painting.
Yam Prasad, a native of Nepal pays his tribute to Ganesha through bright colours and strokes. With images of sun and moon on top, the painting shows Shiva and Parvathi sitting majestically with Ganesha in the centre and his trunk holding the globe. “Unlike Shiva who is fiery in nature, Parvathi is a calm person hence a moon on her head. Born to such diverse personalities is Ganesha who is the ruler of this universe and takes care of the people,” he says. Also on display are Ganeshas done in Tanjore art. Showing some Ganesha works, Padmavathi says, “These works are by a Siri student who passed away due to some heath problems. Our sir, Swamy garu wanted even his works to be included in the exhibition.”
