Artists' Tribute to Sri Ramakrishna - Part 1

The Annual Exhibition 2023 of the Museum and Art Gallery on the topic PORTRAITS was inauguration and also released a book entitled 'Artists' Tribute to Sri Ramakrishna' on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in the Museum Exhibition Hall of The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture Gol Park, Kolkata - 700 029.

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna associated with the painting is described.

In this painting, Goddess Kali, is shown as the compassionate Mother by Arindam Dutta. Instead In Lof Lord Shiva, here she stands on a lotus and performs Her Divine play. Though She is four- handed, yet, Her other usual iconographic features and attributes have been changed in accordance with Her compassionate character. The smoke and the flames surrounding the Divine Mother are indicative of the burning of all evils and miseries of mankind to mere ashes. From these ashes will be born the new world, a world echoing the divine dance of harmony.

A famous devotional song suggests to the aspirant that he should concentrate on Sri Ramakrishna alone, just like a bird sitting upon the mast-head of a ship in the middle of an ocean. This concentration on the Master is urgently needed for spiritual realization. The idea of a spiritual quest is presented through the painting by Sohini Dhar.

Sohini as an artist presents the composition to remind us of the celebrated path of Bhakti (Devotion). The bird in the painting represents a devotee whose attention is captured totally by the temple. Sri Ramakrishna used to say repeatedly, the path of devotion, among other paths, is the simplest and easiest to reach 'God', which involves total surrender.

^{Sri 'Ramakrishna', as Sri Aurobindo writes, 'is the epitome of the whole'.}

---

The artist Kabari Banerjee, in her painting, outlines quite an old woman reading the Kathamrita. Here the ordinary old lady, is seen reading Kathamrita sitting alone in her room. She cannot see the words clearly because of her poor eyesight, yet she is eager to read it, because it offers her some kind of a mental solace. This book with its lucid language directly from the Great Master, and its simple illustrations from the everyday life, seems to have a specific effect on her mind. The painting suggests the intensity of the influence this book has exerted on the common men and women of India.

Thank you for reviewing my post.