Two years ago, scores of pilgrims from across the country made their way towards Allahabad for the Mahakumbh Mela, an event of mammoth proportions that takes place once in 144 years. The objective of the congregation was to take a ‘holy’ dip as they call it, in the Ganga.
Apart from the devout, the Kumbh also attracted news channels, photographers and casual visitors who were curious to understand this grand phenomenon and record it. One among them was Manjunath V. Kalladevar, an artist hailing from Negalur in Haveri district.
Manjunath, a graduate of University College of Fine Art, Davangere and Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, went to Allahabad with a friend, to experience the fair and take pictures of it. He hardly knew then that his trip to the Kumbh would win him this year’s National Award from the Lalit Kala Academi.
“This was the Mahakumbh and I wanted to experience the monumental scale of the fair. I heard that around six crore people had gathered there. My motivation, however, was not religious but an artistic one. I wanted to take pictures of the Naga Sadhus, who are prominent during the Kumbh mela. At an allotted time, they come out of their akhadas to take the dip in a cordoned off portion of the river. Many pilgrims and visitors throng to see them. But, it is impossible to gain an entry into the area. So, here I was with my camera and bags but could barely make it anywhere near the Naga Sadhus, let alone take a photograph from a distance. Only the press could gain an entry. There was a small 10 by 10 stage set up for press photographers alone,” recounted Manjunath.
“The next morning, I woke up really early and was determined to take the photographs. I asked my friend if he would accompany me but he refused. I went to the river and asked the boatman if he would take me across. He promised to take me until the ‘Triveni Sangam’ which was half way into the river. From that point, I began walking to the other side through the river. Water came up to my neck and I had to keep my camera above my head. When I reached the other side, predictably, an army personnel stopped me. I came up with the quickest lie. I said I had lost my friend who was in the area near the sadhus and that I had to meet him. As luck would have it, the army man just let me go. I think he was just tired of my begging. I pretended as if I was a news photographer,” Manjunath describes in detail. The access he gained into the Kumbh mela that day, transformed his art practice. The resounding chanting, the particularly strong and aggressive stance the sadhus took in the field and the swarming crowds at the fair left an indelible mark in his mind. “In spite of the atmosphere of frenetic chaos, what I experienced was a sense of calm,” said Manjunath.
Toying with the idea of this calm, the chant and the holy dip, he went back to Allahabad and even Varanasi later to take a few more pictures.
He fused these ideas and came up with ‘The Holy Snan,’ a series of art works in which the photo of the sadhu sprinkling water on himself is repeated many times over across the canvas- implying the repetitive aspect of the chant. Both these canvases have unending rows of tiny photographs of sadhus pouring water over their head. He has also reversed half of the photos to make it look like the figures are facing each other.
One among the ‘The holy snan’ series won him the Lalit Kala Academi’s National Award this year. “The challenge was to showcase it uniquely. Hence, I decided to bring in the aspect of the chant and repeat the picture. The chant does not have religious and ritualistic significance alone,” said Manjunath. What is interesting with Manjunath’s photo projects is the fact that he approaches photography from a fine arts perspective.
The award, Manjunath said, has encouraged his art practice. Hailing from a small town, art was not an easy career to pursue for Manjunath. He feels strongly about the predicament that most artists have to face especially in getting their work recognised. Manjunath hopes to showcase his photographs and art works at an exhibition in Bangalore later this year.
