Her Divine Aura Pervades the Cosmos in Entirety

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The iconographic modeling of the face of the goddess has reflection of her face as conceived in Bengal art tradition – rounded and a smaller one in relation to the anatomy of the rest of her figure, eyes with a moderate size but conceived as in meditative trance, well trimmed eye-brows, braids of hair falling in alike manner on both shoulders and above all a circular crown framing her face within it more like a halo around her face. The style of her costume, especially that of wearing sari, is also close to Bengal style. During India’s freedom movement Bengal activists not only equated India, their land, with Durga, their goddess, but also sought her active participation in their action against the British with the result that her images were invariably conceived as standing, a posture revealing readiness to act, and her lion, the symbol of might, formidability and dauntlessness, behind her. Needless to say, this effulgent divine image reproduces the same historical vision of the great goddess.

The right one of her normal two forehands is held in ‘abhaya’, and the left, carrying a lotus – the symbol of life and beauty, in a gesture of giving them protection. This suggests that the primary role of the goddess is to let the life be protected and be free from fear. In her other six hands she has been represented as carrying the instruments of destruction : disc, trident, sword, conch, mace, and bow and arrow. In scriptural tradition the Devi that preceded all gods and the creation manifested three aspects of the cosmos : ferocious, valorous and lovable or beautiful. Subsequently, these aspects were associated with the Devi’s three manifest forms – Kali, Durga and Parvati or Uma, Kali manifesting ferociousness effecting destruction, Durga, valour effecting sustenance, and Parvati, beauty, love and service, representing absolute womanhood. In them Durga’s role was somewhat complicated as for effecting sustenance she was often required to annihilate evil that sought to destroy life and cosmic order, and hence while she held her hands in ‘abhaya’ and in life-protecting posture, in the others she also carried instruments of destruction.

Durga thus synthesized into her being all forms of the Devi, being Kali when she slew demons and sought to eradicate evil but not with her ferocious appearance but rather with the benign look and feminine softness of Parvati being thus also Parvati. Durga thus emerges in the worship tradition as the most popular female divinity, worshipped beyond sectarian lines of Shaivites and Vaishnavites, and the same manifests in this painting. If the goddess is carrying Shiva’s trident, Vishnu’s conch, mace and disc, and Indra’s sword are also her attributes in the painting. In popular worship traditions, such as in Bengal, Kali is often represented in Durga’s effulgent form.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.