Day: August 12, 2011

Himmelfarb Gallery of Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel (Maryland, USA) is holding a quilt exhibition based on Hindu Kolam designs till August 27.

Titled “Pieces as Prayers: Kolam and Kaleidoscope Quilts”, this art quilts exhibition is by artist Lauren Kingsland, who was inspired by Kolam designs while travelling through Tamil Nadu (India).

Applauding Himmelfarb for exhibiting Hinduism focused art, 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.

Popular in South India, especially Tamil Nadu, Kolam is a kind of sandpainting which is drawn using rice powder and is said to bring prosperity to homes. Patterns; involving precision, complexity and symmetry; are usually passed on from one generation to the next.

“The Hindu notion of Kolam is that the act of creating the design is the prayer. The dots represent the challenges in our lives and the line is how we choose to create beauty around those difficulties. This meditative or devotional practice is termed by some as ‘painted prayers’,” Gallery announcement says. “Kolam represents for me the universal human impulse to create beauty and order”, Kingsland, who has been making quilts professionally since 1988 as a medium for “healing and wellness, etc.,” stresses.

Founded in 1974, nonprofit Tai Sophia Institute claims to be a leading center for wellness-based education, client care, and public policy discourse, whose 12-acre campus includes “meditation gardens”. Sherman L. Cohn is Board of Trustees Chairperson while Frank Vitale is President. Himmelfarb Gallery “is a place where art and healing intersect”.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/maryland-gallery-exhibiting-hindu-kolam-quilts/

Hindus have applauded Mick Jagger (Rolling Stone) for singing in Sanskrit.

Jagger sings in Sanskrit in “Satyameva Jayate”, the second single on a new album of rock supergroup SuperHeavy. SuperHeavy consists of Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Damian Marley, and A. R. Rahman. Composed by Rahman, it is reportedly four minutes and seven seconds long. “Miracle Worker” was the group’s first single.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, welcoming Jagger and his group for experimenting in Sanskrit, urged other popular singers/groups like Madonna, U2, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Elton John, etc., to record in Sanskrit.

Sanskrit was a storehouse of wisdom which needed to be explored further by popular culture in order to bring spirituality into the life of consumerist society full of distractions, Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued.

“Satyameva Jayate” (commonly translated as “Truth alone triumphs”) is part of a mantra from ancient Hindu scripture Mundaka Upanishad. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages. Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the world with about a billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/hindus-laud-mick-jagger-for-singing-in-sanskrit/