Jetsun Milarepa may not be a well known name in this part of the country. Except for a translated biographical work, there aren’t many books about this 11th century spiritual leader of Tibet. ‘Vajrayana,’ an exhibition of paintings by Biju Mekkayil at the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi art gallery here, is a bundle of information on this Buddha Yogi.
Biju is a former Navy man, with an active artistic thumb since childhood.
Interestingly, art is only his passion and not profession.
He likes to do series paintings on a certain topic, like his previous outings that were titled ‘Temptation,’ ‘Cats’ and ‘Monsoon bloom’.
This talented artist, who has no intention of selling any of his works, is a lawyer in the making.
It was his yoga sessions that drew his attention to Milarepa’s life. ‘Vajrayana’ narrates the life story of Milarepa through pictures bordering between realistic and abstract.
The paintings depict how Milarepa, a sorcerer, blames himself for the death of many people and goes in search of his guru, Marpa; how the guru taught him the purpose of life, Milarepa’s own fear of sin; his turning into a ghostly figure due to his aversion to all things worldly including food and clothing; how disciples flocked him and how he had a great role to play in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.
The exhibition that began on March 1 was inaugurated by noted artist Paul Kallanode.
It will conclude on March 5.
