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Contemporary Durgas


Durga Vahini, reportedly a women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is objecting to the art exhibition going on at Delhi Art Gallery.  The current Durgas think that the paintings on display in the Gallery demean women.

Below is one of the paintings/sculptures exhibited at the gallery.



And below is one of the sculptures from Khajuraho temple.



When are the Durgas going to demolish the Khajuraho temple, the sculptures in Ajanta and Ellora caves, and many other works of art belonging to the country's past which is usually glorified in our history books?


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  1. AmitAagFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:32 PM

    Lovely art!
    Nice post!
    Relevant question!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Easwar ArumugamFebruary 5, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    Nice artistic work. i agree with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:13 PM

      When politics enters, art acquires many meanings which are not dreamt of by the artist!

      Delete
  3. Vishal RathodFebruary 5, 2013 at 3:00 PM

    A good thought with a meaningful question . Thanks for sharing .

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sunil DeepakFebruary 5, 2013 at 5:57 PM

    I hope that these Indian talibans don't take it one day as their life's mission to destroy heritage of Khujaraho and Konark because "it is against Indian culture"!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:15 PM

      This is exactly what I fear too, Sunil ji. Perhaps, our country is getting a bit too religionised!

      Delete
  5. mandakolathurFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:08 PM

    You do not need to go to exotic places to see erotic art in temples, Matheikal. You send the Durga Vahinis to Kanchipuram, that holy town not too far from Chennai and I will shock them. It should be the same in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Srirangam ... no temple artist was devoid of human urges to showcase his, what we call pornographic talents!

    I may be wrong, but the first photograph, I remember to have read or seen in an article about historic sculpture, recently found somewhere in Kerala.

    RE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:19 PM

      Yes, I too have seen such works of art in many temples.

      I'm really not a connoisseur of painting and sculpture. Sometimes I too wonder where lies the difference between art and pornography.

      What I find more detestable is when the so-called guardians of culture and religion choose to attack some and leave the others...

      The present art exhibition of the nude and the naked in the Delhi gallery has paintings and sculptures from olden periods too and from other places as well. Even Ravi Verma's paintings are there. So the present one must be the same as the one you're referring to. I took it from the website of the Delhi Art Gallery. I don't visit art exhibitions, in fact.

      Delete
  6. Deepak KripalFebruary 5, 2013 at 7:51 PM

    Very relevant question.. i don't know the answer.. but i don't like this hulla baloo created over such issues. most are politically motivated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2013 at 9:33 PM

      Every religion has such groups, unfortunately. Look at what they did to the 3 girls in Kashmir. Vishwaroopam. And now, Mani Ratnam's Kadal is facing the Christian ire...

      Delete
    2. Deepak KripalFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:06 PM

      Really.. this is sheer non sense. I wonder how much time people have got for these worthless activities. This world is strange.

      Delete
  7. chetan desaiApril 20, 2013 at 9:52 PM

    I dont think there is any explicitly sexual depiction in Ajanta and Ellora caves!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 6, 2015 at 12:51 AM

    Apparently those people in those times were not so afraid of the body and the nature of humans as much as today society is. Sex is natural. Priest and people who denounce that art just taking the human mind away from what is natural and present everywhere. the more this is oppressed the more it will be in your face because its natural to be natural in the whole universe. Why don't they cover the statue of David since his penis is showing? You body is your spirits only vehicle, why would it want to hide it?

    ReplyDelete

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