Colourful dioramas to portray ‘Krishna leelalu’

Hare Krishna Movement to organise three-day expo from August 9

A sculptor giving finishing touches to a diorama in the city on Saturday. Photo: C. V. Subrahmanyam

A total of 145 colourful dioramas will take children through the sequences in Srimad Bhagavatham, portraying the ‘leelas’ of Lord Krishna.

The sculptors have literally breathed life into the mud dioramas and their pain-staking efforts are evident in the seriousness given to intricate details. The idols are being given finishing touches by the sculptors at the workshop near Sankara Matham on Saturday.

“The 10 canto in Srimad Bhagavatham is devoted to ‘Sri Krishna Leelalu’. Our idea is to present the summary of the ‘leelalu’ in sequence to make children understand them in a better and interesting manner,” president of Hare Krishna Movement, Visakhapatnam, Niskhinchina Das, said.

Demigods praying to the Lord to save them from the tyranny of Kamsa, Devaki being punished by Kamsa, after he hears the celestial voice that her son would be the cause of his death, Vasudeva carrying infant Krishna on his head, Krishna slaying the demon Puthana when she tries to feed Him poisoned milk from her breasts, Kaliya Mardana, Krishna saving Draupadi from disgrace, and Sri Krishna with six hands as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are some of the works which were seen at the workshop.

“Lord Krishna could be reached by His devotees through meditation in Satya yuga, through ‘yagna’ in Treta yuga, through worship at temples in Dwapara yuga, and through ‘keertana’ (chanting) in Kaliyuga,” Dr. Das said.

A total of 15 sculptors from West Bengal are working on the idols for the last three months. “We use Ganga clay from Kolkata, hay, rope, and natural colours to make the idols,” said Khokan, the main artiste. “We have invited children from 150 schools in the city for the three-day exhibition which will be held at Viswapriya Function hall on the Beach Road from August 9. An animation show and quiz competition will be held on the sidelines of the expo as part of ‘Janmashtami’ celebrations. Food arrangements have been made for the visiting students, teachers, and the general public during the three days,” said Ram Mohan of Hare Krishna Movement.