Buddha as the Muse

In order to showcase different moods of the Buddha and his spiritual journey,Birla has done a couple of metal sculptures of the Buddha. “People from all walks of life and religion relate to the Buddha,” she says.

Not just the Buddha’s physical form and the religious iconography,his teachings also inspire artists. For instance,city-based artist Rubel Pasricha calls him “the guiding light” and his various forms as “a means to reach the divine power”. Pasricha’s recent collection of 12 paintings showcases different concepts of Buddhism. “This is the my way to meditate,” says Pasricha.

More recently,Art Folio,a popular art gallery in Sector 9,invited Subrata Dev,a budding artist from Assam,to showcase a series that emphasised the relationship between the Buddha and nature. Dev’s paintings captured various moods of the Buddha and focused on all things that surrounded him — the prayer wheel and bowl,monks and monasteries.

While some artists choose to paint the Buddha or Buddhist relics for religious considerations,others do it for their aesthetic sense. “Buddha paintings symbolise peace and serenity and are mostly done in colours that go with any kind of setting,” says 30-year-old Payal Juneja,whose recent collection was based on “Siddhartha Gautam,his ways of chanting and how he achieved enlightenment”.

Artist Ankima Das’s depiction of the Buddha and Buddhist concepts is thought-provoking. “People relate to the Buddha more as a human being than as a god. The artistic association strengthens their connect with him,” she has the last word.