Alliance française de Bangalore Official French Center in India
Date/Time
Date(s) - 26/09/2014 - 28/09/2014
All Day
Location
Alliance Francaise de Bangalore
Categories
26-28 Sept
EXHIBITION: ‘Tat tvam asi’ which means ‘thou art that’
The teleological pursuit in human life takes a person beyond mere worldly fulfillment to a sense-making process behind one’s own presence in the world. Vedic, upanishadic and puranic literature summarise the Hindu philosophical approach to understanding the mortal life in the phenomenal world and provide a path to salvation. The Vedic culture worshipped elements of nature anthropomorphised as Gods. They gave astronomical calculations based on keeping time and observation of astral positions. They worshipped animals, saw many creatures unknown to the modern world and described those in scriptures. They worshipped trees and mountains and were the forerunners of planet conservation and a spiritual consciousness of all creation. ‘Tat tvam asi’ begins with the divinity of learning – Lord Ganesha. He’s seen with ‘Om’ in his left hand and the right palm allows entry into a non-sensory absolute/salvation. Next, ‘Tat tvam asi’ exhibits temple art motifs such as Ganda bherunda and Yali as digital art, Rahu and Revati as representation of astral bodies and moves into the realm of animal consciousness through Nagaloka. There’s a host of vedic deities – Rudra, Surya/Savitr, Aranyani, Pushan, Dadhikra, Vayu – and an incarnation of the divine, Varaha. The tree – Ashwattha stands for the axis mundi. True to its purpose, ‘Tat tvam asi’ signs off with the Sahasraara – the chakra involved in attainment of nirvikalpa samadhi – and shows that everything about the phenomenal world to the absolute truth is a journey of the supreme self.