In the last blog, we had started on the journey of the discovery of the creations of the illustrious ruler Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. We saw him turn into a full fledged king, soon he will prove he is a ruler above excellence, a beloved of his citizens whom he never considered his subjects. Sayajirao was... Continue Reading →
Dear Aditya, Shashwat and Anushka Let me tell you the story of the place where your parents grew up, studied, met and fell in love. It is a city where you owe your origins to, any guesses for it? Yes, it is Baroda as the British called it and Vadodara as it is now known.... Continue Reading →
This small watercolour by Priyam Chatterjee brings many thoughts to my overworked and undersized brain...A brain greedy for rushing colours, vibrance and images cannot stop going back to this painting and freezing...arrested with the stark painfulness of the moment captured in vivid colours. A day before India creaked with her arthitic joints towards her nearly 70th birthday... Continue Reading →
I recently found this poem by the famous British poet W H Auden doing the rounds of social networking sites. It is startling how the British poets have not minced words to criticise war, violence, brutality, torture, pain perpetuated by their home country. Anyone remembers the painful poem by Rupert Brooke 'The Soldier'? Though the Auden poem below is... Continue Reading →
Throughout the British Museum, and other museums all over the world, there are handling desks, also called hands - on desks or hands - on sessions. Here, volunteers sit with real objects, not replicas, and explain the history of the object, its context, its relation to present day, its place in the gallery, its link... Continue Reading →
These objects were found at the base of the temple dedicated to Buddha at Bodh Gaya, Bihar - probably offered by various devotees. It includes a coin moulded on those during the times of the Kushana king Huvishka I. Aren't these objects intricate and beautiful? They are quite small, as if someone would have taken them off their personal... Continue Reading →
These are the three gold coins that I saw at the British Museum, London, South Asia Gallery. While researching and writing about the Gupta dynasty for the Bihar Museum, I read and wrote about these gold coins by just seeing their images on the British Museum online database. But seeing them today offered a different perspective... Continue Reading →
Many friends have asked about the name of my blog and tiny firm 'VarnikaDesigns'. The name is borrowed from 'Varnikabhangam' from the Six Limbs of Indian Painting. The Six Limbs of Indian Painting is a set of cannons and guidelines that were assembled around the 6th century to guide artists for creating paintings. If you... Continue Reading →
