Defying the Rules
DNA AFTER hrs.
- november 25, 2009
An ornamented Buddha with a long neck is how artist Sanjay Kumar continues to portray the religious figure in spite of receiving flak, finds Riddhi Doshi.
In the year 2006 a major art camp was hosted in Bodhgaya at Bihar, the place where Gautam Buddha received enlightenment and artist Sanjay Kumar along with 27 other artists from all over the world like Bhutan, Japan, China among others participated in this camp. One of the most striking features of Sanjay's 12-feet tall Buddha was that it was adorned with jewellery and his neck was rather long than seen in other Buddha images or sculptures of the Buddhist art school.
"Most Indians present at the camp objected to my ornamenting the Buddha and making an attempt to change his features," recalls Sanjay. (According to the ancient Buddhist school of art, Buddha's features have to be portrayed in a specific manner without any ornaments and these rules shouldn't be changed.) He adds, "The issue had become so big that few government officials had to intervene but people from other nationalities were supportive of my works."
Nevertheless that incident hasn't deterred Sanjay and he still continues to portray Buddha with jewels and comparatively a longer neck. In his ongoing solo exhibition at Tao gallery, the most striking feature is the richness that he has added to the otherwise simplistically portrayed Buddha. Sanjay explains, "If Siddhartha would have attained Nirvana in his home, in the palace, he probably would have been ornamented, just the way I have portrayed him in my art works. I look at him this way and hence I will continue to ornament him." He continues, "The purpose is not to decorate Buddha; I just portrayed him the way I visualise him. It's just like how an artist gave Ravana 10 heads to show his intelligence and Kali is shown with 10 hands to portray her strength and courage. This is my interpretation of Buddha."
The artist who hails from Bihar claims that he has struggled a lot in life. "There have been times when I have slept on the streets at night. But I have no complaints," he ends.
