The Nehru Science Centre joined the nation in celebrating the
sesquicentennial birthday of the Mahatma by opening an exhibition - in
collaboration with Department of Posts- of philately and other
memorabilia on the Mahatma, from the rare collections of Mr Kishore
Jhunjhunwala. The exhibition and also the specially designed holographic
display of the Mahatma, was opened by large number of students (boys
and girls) who formed a circular chain holding hands and the chain ended
with a school teacher on one side and the Post Master General of GPO,
Mumbai, Ms Swati Pandey, on the other. When this hand holding circular
chain was completed, a symbolic Charkha started moving automatically -
signalling the opening of the exhibition, to a thunderous applause by
the audience. The message on the sesquicentennial birth day of the
Mahatma was, when India stands united in all its diversity, the movement
of the Gandhian charkha, symbolising nations progress, begins and when
this unity is broken the Charkha stops moving. India stands united in
the vast diversity that exists in the country in terms of language,
religion, caste, food habits and what not, when it comes to
commemorating the nation or its builders, and primary among them is the
Mahatma and what best tribute one could give to the Mahatma but to
highlight the importance of our unity for nations progress.
It
was a pleasant surprise to be invited by Mr Gadanayak ji, DG NGMA to
visit NGMA exhibition at the time of its installation, which I happily
did on the 30th September and learnt about the exhibition from DG NGMA,
Mr Vilas Shinde, Chairperson Advisory Committee NGMA, and others
including Dean JJ SChool of Art who too was present in the commissioning
of the exhibition. The Sesquicentennial Mahatma Gandhi commemorative
exhibition at the NGMA aptly titled, ‘Santati’, captures the very
essence of the Mahatma - extraordinary simplicity yet monumentally
profound and unique in character. The exhibition weaves an outstanding
tapestry of a diverse range of artistic majesty, filled with elegance
and captivating beauty that include paintings of renowned artists like
Nandlal Bose, Gaitonde, Hussain, Ramkinkar Baij among others,
sculptures, art installations, textiles and lastly an amazing
traditional handloom woven sarees - using the Jamdani technique - with
unimaginable replicas of the famed Raja Ravi Verma’s colourful
paintings, woven into the khadi (A symbol of Mahatma) sarees. The
experience to touch and feel this masterpiece of art crafted
painstakingly by the artisans from the traditional families of
Srikakulam, is an experience that will remain etched in my memory for a
very long time.
The Santati exhibition was opened yesterday by
Sadguru, Jaggi Vasudev at the NGMA and I had the honour to be present
for the opening of this unique exhibition. The exhibition begins with a
display of an outstanding range of paintings and sculptures of master
artists all of which are inspired and in memory of the Mahatma Gandhi.
The cavernous high-domed interiors of the NGMA precincts designed along
the lines of London's famed Royal Albert Hall, by Delhi-based
architecture Romy Khosla, has on display in five floors and a dome area,
a range of extraordinary art works in memory of the Mahatma, including
Kulwant Rai Photographs of the Mahatma, from the collections of NGMA,
rare collections of Gandhi memorabilia from Gandhi aficionado Mr Kishore
Juhunjhunwala from across the world, art installations and other works
of art and culture all aesthetically curated and displayed. The dome
area has on display the jamdani khadi sarees which have replicas of the
Raja Ravi Paintings and it is these works which appealed to me the most.
Textiles have fascinated mankind since ancient times and many ancient
civilizations, besides their other achievements, produced incredibly
refined and elaborately designed textiles and India was among the top in
creating its own distinctive style and patterns of textiles an evidence
of which can be seen in the dome area of the exhibition, which displays
a range of khadi sarees woven with the replicas of the Raja Ravi Verma
paintings. The pallu of each of the khadi saris displayed in the
exhibition bears woven replicas of paintings, created painstakingly by
the artisans using what is called the Jamdani technique. The works of
these master craftsmen are an absolute tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who’s
credited with the revival of India’s Khadi industry. Gandhi firmly
believed that the essence of swadeshi consisted in producing enough
cloth to wrap each Indian, which would be possible through spinning and
weaving by the masses. Considering the inextricable linkage of textiles
and khadi with the lives of the Indians, it is no wonder that the
Mahatma used the spinning wheel and khadi, basically a hand spun yarn,
as a symbol to galvanise the nation for a peaceful struggle for our
independence and therefore befittingly NGMA has used this symbolism to
commemorate the Mahatma’s 150th birth centenary.
Jamdani is a
brocaded fabric woven with discontinuous extra weft yarns. This old old
horizontal tapestry technique has been used to create the replica of the
painting of Raja Ravi Verma, on fabric. The outcome creations are an
enchanting fusion of tradition and craftsmanship. The designer, Mr
Gurang Shah, has transformed the total outlook of a khadi sari in terms
of texture, designs, color and finish using jamdani weave, bringing it
at par with international design standards, which I am sure will appeal
to every visitor to the exhibition, who cares to see the intricacies of
the weaving involved in these works. Weaving is an art with its own
unique creativity. It requires skill, precision and rhythm. When one
aims to replicate such intricacies as the Raja Ravi Verma Paintings in
to the design, it requires an overwhelming dexterity and a skill for
delicate weaving. Since the defining aspect of the Sarees on display
are the replicas of the paintings, which are filled with rich motifs,
that are all intricately added by hand, Jamdani is touted as the most
advanced hand weaving technique in the world. Each motif has been
craftily inlaid into the fabric by adding denser threads to fine warp
threads, and this process is so time intensive that for completing one
saree, the master weavers have taken any where between 6 to 12 months
for one work. The displayed sarees are therefore a visual treat which
will take us back in history to exemplify why were the Indian artisans
held in such high esteem world wide and it is also no wonder that this
traditional art of weaving Jamdani has been declared a UNESCO Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. One of the artists involved in
making of these works Mr Annaji Rao, from Srikakulam, is seen in the
photo.
All in all the exhibition Santati is a befitting
sesquicentennial tribute to the Mahatma, which I am sure will appeal to
the visitors. On this occasion it is also important for us to remember
another great leader of India, Late Lal Bahadur Shastri, who shares his
birthday with the Mahatma and it is also a great coincidence that Raja
Ravi Verma the great painter, died on this very day the 2nd of October,
all in all an excellent tribute to the Mahatma on this important day.
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