Saraswati
The
subject matter for most ritualistic paintings is one or the other
heavenly forms. In the representation of the spiritual ideals and
forms of gods, however, we have an effusion of external nature as
spiritually conceived showing the harmony of spiritual ideas with
objects of nature in the form of flowers, creepers, birds or animals.
Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge
and fine arts. She is majestically seated on a royal swan, playing
the 'veena', a musical instrument. She holds a rosary in one hand
and a religious text (or a scientific treatise) in another. Colors
have a major role to play in this painting. Energy and passion find
expression through the use of bright pinks, yellows and greens.
The aura of the deity is depicted through a range of half open to
fully bloomed flowers, intertwined stems, leaves, etc. filling up
the entire space of the painting because emptiness would be tantamount
to infecundity. Beyond the aura is the circular pattern. Circles
are auspicious in the Hindu tradition- consider the sun, the moon,
the circular dot on a woman's forehead, circles around the sacred
fire as a wedding ritual and so on. They symbolize the cycle of
life that goes on.
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