SHREE MAHAVISHNU AND HIS CONSORTS - A TANJORE PAINTING

Here is my Tanjore Painting....

A rather offbeat one....

depicting Lord Sri Mahavishnu 

with His consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi....

seated on Adisesha with Sri Garuda at His feet...

SRI LAKSHMI NARASIMHA- A TANJORE PAINTING

This is an offbeat Tanjore Painting done by me.Usually we see various forms of Krishnas ,Lakshmis, Ganeshas etc. depicted in Tanjore art form but painting Sri Lakshmi Narasimha is rather uncommon.
No wonder I derived great satisfaction when I did this piece-a calm and benevolent form of
Lord Narasimha with his beloved consort Goddess Lakshmi seated in his lap.

A few words about Sri Narasimha...

Lord Narasimha is the fourth incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu who incarnated to kill Demon Hiranyakashyap and to save his devotee Prahlada. According to Bhagavata Purana Lord Maha Vishnu in his avatar as Varaha killed Demon Hiranyaksha. The Demon Hiranyakshas brother Hiranyakashipu angered by this gained mystical powers from Brahma by undergoing many years of austerity and penance so that he could take revenge on Vishnu. Pleased by this Lord Brahma gives him the boon that Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by human, God or animal or during the day or night or on the threshold of a courtyard or on the earth or space or using any weapon.  So after getting a boon Hiranyakashyap returned to his kingdom and began to trouble the Gods. He also declared himself as God and ordered all to worship him. When his son Prahlada told him that Vishnu is the only God and cannot accept his father as God he tried to kill Prahlada. The servants threw Prahlada from top of mountains and in to the sea but could not kill him. Snakes and fire also could not harm him. 

The Demon asked Prahlada that is Vishnu present in this pillar and took his mace to hit the pillar. Lord Vishnu emerged from the pillar in his incarnation as Lord Narasimha with the head of a Lion and body of the man. The Demon King hit Narasimha with his mace but Narasimha brushed it aside swiftly. It was twilight and Narasimha caught hold of the demon Hiranyakashipu. He sat on the threshold of the court room, placed the body of the demon on his thighs, and pierced his nails into the body of the demon and broke open his stomach killing him.

The Nine forms of Lord Narasimha (Nava Narasimha)

It is believed that Lord Narasimha protects his followers when they are in extreme danger. He also saved Adi Sankara from being sacrificed to the goddess Kali by a Kapalika. As a gesture of gratitude Adi Sankara composed the Laksmi -Narasimha stotra in praise to Lord Narasimha.

Lord Narsimha is recognized in the scriptures by a variety of forms. He is said to have more than 74 forms on the basis of his different postures or weapons. Out of this 9 forms are the most popular. The most popular out of the nine is his Lakshmi Narasimha form. The nine forms of Narasimha (Nava Narasimha) are

1. Ugra Narasimha

2. Krodha Narasimha

3. Malola Narasimha

4. Jwala Narasimha

5. Varaha Narasimha

6. Bhargava Narasimha

7. Karanja Narasimha

8. Yoga Narasimha

9. Lakshmi Narasimha 

LORD DHANVANTRI- A KERALA MURAL

  I have depicted Lord Dhanvantri in Kerala Mural art form...

May HE shower good health on all of us....





Sri Dhanvantari is the primordial God (Avatar) of health care. As such, persons have taken the name "Dhanvantari" in connection with their attempts at medical interventions. One such Dhanvantari was an early Indian medical practitioner and one of the world’s first surgeons. Based on Vedic traditions, he is regarded as the source of Ayurveda. He perfected many herbal based cures and natural remedies and was credited with the discovery of the antiseptic properties of turmeric and the preservative properties of salt which he incorporated in his cures.
Being a very skilled surgeon according to the standards of his time, he is widely believed to be the pioneer of modern medical practices like plastic surgery.Albeit his methods were a lot cruder and more painful and were used only in emergencies, such as on the injuries of war victims.


Dhanvantari is depicted as Vishnu with four hands, holding medical herbs in one hand and a pot containing rejuvenating nectar called amrita in another. The Puranas state that Dhanavantari emerged from the 'Ocean of Milk' and appeared with the pot of nectar during the story of the Samudra or Sagar manthan whilst the ocean was being churned by the devas and asuras, using the Mandara mountain and the serpent Vasuki. The pot of Amrita was snatched by the Asuras or Demons, and after this event another avatar, Mohini, appears and takes the nectar back from the Asuras.
(Thanks to Internet)

MADHUBANI PAINTING - MATSYA AVATAR

                                             

                                  The first among the ten avatars of Lord  Sri MahaVishnu,

                                  The MATSYA AVATAR-(where he takes the form of a fish-MATSYA)

                                  to save the Earth...is depicted here in MADHUBANI  ART  FORM...


                               

KERALA MURAL -MATSYA AVATARAM

Here is my Kerala Mural -Matsya Avatar...depicting the first of the ten avataras of Lord Sri MahaVishnu...

Mahavishnu is depicted in the form of Half fish-half human ...

This avatar is followed by Koorma ,Varaha,Narasimha,Vaamana,Parasurama,Rama,Balarama,Krishna and Kalki respectively...

This painting is based on a traditional Kerala Mural done on a temple wall...

Though it is done on a canvas with acrylic colors-I have stuck on to the traditional Pancha varna-color scheme which  is adhered to in all traditional Kerala Murals...

..

Matsya - The Fish

In the earliest yuga (era) of Sata-yuga, a king named Manu was performing severe penance for thousands of years. One day as he was performing ablutions with river water, a small fish came into his hands and just as he was about to throw the fish back into the river, the fish requested the king to save its life. Heeding its request, the king put the fish into a jar of water but the fish started growing and the jar was not big enough for it. Then the king threw it into the river, but it soon it outgrew the river and the king then threw it into Ganges and then into the ocean. The king realised that it was Lord Vishnu himself and then the lord made an appearance and made a special request to the king. It predicted that the world would come to an end by a huge flood in seven days and requested the king to build a huge boat and take the seven sages(hermits), seeds of all plants, one animal of each type and told him that he would appear as a fish to propel the boat to Mount Himavan for surviving the flood to the next yuga(eon). True to his word, after seven days the Lord appeared and the king tied the boat to the fish by using the royal serpent Vasuki and the fish took all of them to Mt Himavan and kept them there till the flood was over and in the new era, the king started procreation a for the new era.(info courtesy -Internet)