Images of the Goddess: Photography exhibit in Delhi

[Guest guest]

Temple Tales

 

Anushree Majumdar

January 07, 2008

The Indian Express

 

" It is important to differentiate between what has been

passed on and what has been ignored, " says Giti

Thadani emphatically. The 47-year-old Delhi-based

photographer is speaking about Shakti and the divine

feminine form being celebrated in Hinduism and the

way certain forces in our religious and political history

have manipulated temple architecture in India over the

decades. Over the last 25 years, Thadani traveled across

the country and photographed temples and images of the

goddess. All those images are now a part of The

Spiraling Matrix, an exhibition that pays homage to the

power of the divine feminine.

 

Over 40 photographs capture the essence of what

Thadani calls " Pre-modern Indian temple art " . " I studied

Sanskrit texts, some of which haven't been translated

and the dichotomy between the accepted interpretations

and the original texts is vast, " says Thadani. She says

that over the years, there has been an archeological and

cosmological underpinning [sic; undermining] of the

feminine. " Some of the photographs of some temple

architecture may not be found today because of

decisions taken by some political parties in certain parts

of the country, " says Thadani.

 

The exhibition celebrates some known and some

unknown images and imagery of the Goddess. From the

yoni to the Yogini temples to the Urdhav Tandav, a

dance that deals with the opening and extension of the

Kundalini energy of the yoni, the photographs are a

labour of love and determination so that the art and

architecture of our ancient and yet progressive

civilisation is remembered, if not preserved.

The exhibition is on till January 9 at the Experimental

Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre [New Delhi].

 

Article:

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Temple-Tales/258542/

Gallery:

http://www.indiahabitat.org/vag/vag2k6/experimental-art-gallery.html