Tarble Arts Center of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston is holding an
exhibition containing paintings of various Hindu gods and goddesses through May
27.
This exhibition, titled “Three Folk Art Traditions of
Northeast India”, depicts folk paintings of Hindu deities Vishnu, Shiva,
Brahma, Jagannath, Durga, Ganesh, Krishna, Rama, Hanuman, Kali, etc.
Applauding Tarble
Arts Center
for exhibiting Hinduism focused paintings, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a
statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that art had a long and rich tradition in
Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of
deities on wood or cloth.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of
Hinduism, urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and
Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles
Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago,
Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in
Washington DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus
sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.
These folk Madhubani paintings, Noya village patas and Puri
patachitras from Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa respectively portray Krishna
Lifting Mount Govardhana; Ganesh and Consort; Rama Releases Ahalya from the
Curse; Ferryman Takes Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana across the River; Radha and
Krishna; Vishnu’s 10 incarnations; Yashoda and Baby Krishna; Krishna Subduing
the Serpent Kaliya; Krishna Rides in a Chariot Made of the Cowherd Girls'
Bodies; Vishnu Appears to Arjuna as a Composite Animal; Rama Chases the Deer;
Durga Slaying the Buffalo Demon Mahisha; etc. A portable Jagannath shrine is
also on display.
This exhibition is the subject of the 2012 Fifth Grade
Enrichment program open to area schools.
The Tarble Arts Center
claims to be “a major cultural arts resource serving east-central Illinois” and its
founding purpose is "to take the arts to the people." Michael Watts
is the Director while Bernard Cesarone is the guest curator of this exhibition.
Consistently ranked in the top third of Midwest universities
in its class, Eastern
Illinois University
on a 320-acre campus offers a textbook rental system and its student graduation
and retention rates are said to be well above national averages. William L.
Perry is the President.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.