On 81-day national tour, ‘Ekaa: The One’ brings 64 yoginis to Ahmedabad

“I started this journey in 2015,” Beena Unnikrishnan said during a media interaction. She spent five years completing the paintings and another two years working on the documentary.

In Indian tantric traditions, the 64 Yoginis are regarded as manifestations of Shakti and are associated with multiple aspects of feminine power and transformation.

Unnikrishnan said her interpretation seeks to foreground the idea of internal balance rather than ritual practice. “It is more about feminine energy and the importance of co-existence. Every person carries both feminine and masculine energy,” she said.

She had travelled to Yogini temple sites including Hirapur in Odisha, Morena in Gwalior, Bheda ghat in Madhya Pradesh and Khajuraho during the course of the project.

Unnikrishnan described her engagement as intuitive rather than academic. “It was a very spiritual journey for me,” she said, adding, “Academically I have not done any research.”

She also distanced her work from ritual-centric understandings often associated with the tradition. “For a person to understand God or a Goddess, you really don’t need a ritual,” she said.

Among the distinctive elements of her process was her decision to paint the eyes first. “Normally, when they do spiritual paintings, they paint the eyes at last. I painted the eyes in the beginning. Then I felt I had a figure to talk to,” she said, adding that viewers often remark that “the eyes speak a lot”.

Describing her method, she said, “I am not a learned artist. I just explored colours and what came to my mind, nothing stopped me.”

The exhibition, presented under the aegis of the Kankali Trust for Arts and Cultural Economic Development founded by the artist, follows a standardised three-day format in each city, with the complete set of paintings displayed alongside screening of the documentary.

Following Ahmedabad, the exhibition will continue its tour to Jaipur, Delhi and Gwalior before concluding in Chennai in April.

‘Ekaa: The One – The 64 Yoginis Trail’ will remain on view in Ahmedabad from February 11 to 13, between 12 pm and 7 pm.