Festival Review
‘The River Goddesses in the Sculptural Art of India’
by
Kavita Charanji
As part of the IIC Festival focusing on the River, an exhibition of photographs on the ‘River Goddesses in the Sculptural Art of India’ was held between October 9-14. The superb display comprised 46 images of select rock cut panels (ranging from the 2nd century to the 16th century and selected from over thirty historical sites and locales of the Indo-Gangetic doab, the central, western, southern and eastern parts of India). The exhibition, conceptualised by well known academician and art historian Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, drew on the collection of the American Institute of Indian Studies. A few of the visual materials were collected from other sister organisations such as the Archaeological Survey of India, National Museum and the Indian Museum.
The credit for the riveting exhibition must also go to Dr U. R. Moorti, art historian and joint director of the American Institute of Indian Studies, who curated the collection. Most of the exhibits focus on the mythological descent of the river Ganga to the earth, though a few also depict Yamuna and Sarasvati. Says Dr Moorti, ‘Due to the limitation of time and resources, we couldn’t represent all the goddesses but decided to concentrate on the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati, personified as goddesses, more so because these are the most prominent and well-documented rivers.’
The panels on the Ganga, by and large, show how the river came to earth. They capture the mythological story of Bhageeratha, a great king of the Sagar dynasty, who sought to regain the release of his 60,000 great uncles from the curse of sage Kapila. The only way was to bring the goddess Ganga in the form of the river Ganges from the heavens to the earth. Mythology also has it that Bhageeratha had to propitiate Lord Shiva as only he could break the mighty Ganga’s fall to earth, which, if not broken, could have brought massive destruction in its wake. After much penance, the king was able to get Shiva to capture all of Ganga just as she launched herself on to earth in his jata (locks). Ganga struggled to get free, but Shiva refused to give way. Bhageeratha worshipped Shiva, who let Ganga free after crushing her vanity. She flowed, and is even today believed to flow, at a gentler pace from Shiva’s jata down to earth.
The many facets of Ganga’s descent are effectively displayed in the visuals at the IIC gallery. Panels 8 (Aihole, Karnataka) and 13 (Ellora, Maharashtra), show her celestial descent and Shiva releasing Ganga from his locks respectively. Panel 42 (Mahanad, West Bengal) reveals Ganga as a sustainer of all forms of life and is titled ‘Ganga as Suranimnaga (heavenly steam) under the Kalpa tree’. Then we have (Panel 17 from Ellora) which reveals a seated Sarasvati.
Each sculptural panel symbolises how in ancient times the river (of flowing water) was revered. Today as we hurtle towards modernisation and globalisation, our rivers are being overutilised and falling prey to pollution. Can we afford to neglect these alarming phenomena?
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