For Ayodhya temple, 75 artists to paint Lord Ram — the man & his idea

The artists will begin work “on site” mid-December and will have around two weeks to finish before the temple is inaugurated during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several heads of state.

Workers giving final touch on first floor of the Ram Janambhoomi Temple in Ayodhya on sunday, first floor of the temple. Express photo by Vishal Srivastav

The event — which will see prominent names such as Vasudeo Kamath, Dharmendra Rathore, Adwaita Gadanayak and Harshvarshan Sharma produce work on their understanding of Lord Ram — is being organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi, which functions under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture.

“We have planned a big event in Ayodhya,” the Akademi’s Chairman V Nagdas told The Indian Express.

“The construction of the Ram Temple after decades of struggle is about the realisations of the aspirations of every Indian citizen,” he said. “The aim is to promote the principles of love and social harmony through the ideals of the Ramayana.”

According to Nagdas, after the exhibition, half the artworks will become part of the Akademi’s permanent collection while the rest will remain on display at the temple complex.

The final list of the participating artists, though, is being shortlisted, he said. Other officials told The Indian Express that the Akademi is trying to get artists with diverse views and ideologies on board for the exhibition.

Only Kamath, Rathore, Gadanayak and Sharma have so far confirmed their participation, although some of them told The Indian Express they were still firming up their specific themes and ideas for the project.

While Mumbai-based Kamath has done portraits of several dignitaries, the work of Rathore, a Rajasthani artist and art restorer, has featured in exhibitions in Denmark, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. Gadanayak, a sculptor/ artist, is the former head of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi; Sharma is an art teacher.

The exhibition will be curated by Delhi-based art curator Johny ML, who also works as an Editor at the Akademi.

“The on-site project starts mid-December and the artists will be given around 10-14 days to create two acrylic-on-canvas works each, Johny said, adding the artworks will be figurative in style, such as the traditional mural style and the temple sculptural style.

“They will offer a mythological feel,” he said.

However, there are some restrictions. Officials said although the artists will not be given any particular framework to create their pieces, “the only constraint will be that they can’t go against the accepted versions of the Ramayana”.

This would be the first mega project that the Akademi will undertake under Nagdas, himself a painter and printmaker from Kerala’s Palghat, who was appointed the Akademi chief a few months ago. He earlier steered the visual arts faculty at Chhattisgarh’s Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya.