Art
The Quintessence Indian Goddess
Raja Ravi Varma — Empowering Indian Woman through Art
Marumakkathayam gave birth to Raja Ravi Varma (29 April 1848–2 October 1906) who was a celebrated Indian painter and artist. To be the first to portray the sensuality and modesty of Indian women through Indian sensibilities and European techniques he was perhaps the biggest influencer of his time.
He is considered among the greatest painters in India for several aesthetic and broader social reasons, however, what remains predominant is the fact that he elevated the social status of women to some extent in a country largely governed through patriarchy. Humanizing the aspect of Gods and Goddesses in a new progressive India at a time in Indian history when the British were leaving India in hands of Indians was perhaps the call of the day.
Ravi Varma first started a press in Mumbai. The press came up with tons of oleographs, depicting Hindu gods and goddesses. Back then, the press was the largest and most advanced in the whole of India. Through affordable lithographs which reached almost every household, what lingers in every Indian male memory is bowing down in respect to the mother Goddess in her many forms. Evident in his artworks is the realistic depiction of the human form while weaving in the mythological aspect of Indian gods where they are depicted with four hands, holding a lotus, etc.
Raja Ravi Varma is widely regarded as one of the early pioneers of modern Indian art and his depiction of mythological figures in realistic portraits, was perhaps groundbreaking in the Indian art movement. What today is taken for granted in our collective psyche is the reference of these humanlike forms of Gods which bridge the gap between mythology, history and religion.
Inspired by the Indian female form and European realism his many depictions of women from south of India to this date leave us spellbound both by his expertise and a true mark of historical documentation of women in India. What is truly remarkable is his transcendence between reality and the ideal world where imagination led his brush to weave in embellishments in form of ornaments which are a mark of our glorious past.
Ravi Varma’s paintings also present a rich context for understanding the use of plants in art and design in India. Tempted as one is to showcase his award-winning ‘Nair lady’, it is his many other pieces of brilliance which stand testimonial to his depiction of women in their most vulnerable yet becoming form.
From glorifying women as a Goddess and the Goddess as a woman he has elevated the Indian psyche most profoundly.
As one listens to the popular Bollywood song ‘Paise paise’ where popular actress not of an Indian origin is depicted as ‘Laxmi’- Goddess of Prosperity’ one is saddened by what popular art has done to immortalize our God’s today, and what would the naysayers of yesterday who condemned Raja Ravi Varma and fiercely criticized him for his depiction of Indian women, especially women from Hindu mythologies with pale skin, say today!
Perhaps all history has to tell us through art is not only a reflection of women in society but of women in the collective psyche of a nation. Is it by design or an accidental coincidence that reverence and respect for beauty are today replaced by an overt sexualization of it?
As we move into the 21st Century, perhaps the rape capital of the world today needs is not a Goddess to save her women…but maybe just an Artist!
UTKARSHA M. | Author | Design Thinker | CreatorA desire to understand the world and to improve it always remains at the core. Design is a managed process and my quest for knowledge is subject to an inquiry of the apparent, the imagined and the recalled. As I speculate and design, my liberty of self-expression is in direct correlation to my existence and knowledge. https://www.linkedin.com/in/utkarsha20/
