GALLERIES - BUDDHIST COLLECTION

ECLIPSE AT BENARES

COLLECTION  >

Benares (now called Varanasi) is a city bordering the river Ganges and is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. More than one million pilgrims visit the city each year. In the residential neighborhood of Benares lies Sarnath where Buddha began his Avartarship, met his first disciples and gave his first sermon. Benares has the holy shrine of Lord Shiva, who is said to have once lived there. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges cleanses their souls and all try to make the pilgrimage during their lifetimes. They also believe that dying there ensures release of the soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Elderly people come to Benares to die and have their bodies cremated and floated down the river.

Eclipse at Benares, depicts a momentous occasion in Hindu ritual. It is based on photographs taken on the morning of a partial eclipse of the sun that lasted almost two hours — an auspicious time during which many thousands of Hindus came to wash their sins away in the river. Throughout the course of human history, the solar eclipse has served as a universal symbol of death and renewal -— a metaphor that is evoked in the immersion and funeral practices of the Hindus at Benares. The confluence of these powerful symbols forms the subject matter of this piece.

The work is a composite of six principal elements — photos of two flowers and four photos taken in Benares during the eclipse. The Benares photos consist of a votive flower offering floating on the river that is centered about a flickering white flame; a group of men, women and children bathing; the partial eclipse of the sun and its reflection on the river surface; and a dark-bearded man on the steps of the river bank. Superimposed on these photographs are water lilies and orchid sections.

These elements were combined into a complex and dramatic interplay of form and color. The central figure of the old man washing himself and the right-sided figure of the bearded man exhibit a fluidity of movement that is almost dance-like. The graceful sweep of the left arm and robe of the bearded man is reflected in the sweep of the right arm and washing cloth of the central figure and again by the curved yellow orchid elements. The two lower yellow arcs focus one’s gaze on the central region where the partially-eclipsed sun and its pencil-like reflection on the river appears. That unusual reflection pattern is mimicked on the right by the reflection from the robe of the bearded man and on the left by the reflection from the green sari of the woman bather. Also noteworthy are the lace-like veil of water lilies; the triangular patterns formed separately by the yellow, red, green and lighted elements; the subtle, almost mystical, shading of the figures; and the interplay of their distinctive shapes and colors.

Eclipse at Benares was chosen for inclusion in the 2009 Rauschenberg Tribute Exhibition at the Museum of the Gulf Coast. Entries to this art exhibit were selected by Susan Davidson, Senior Curator of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The magnificent photos from Benares were kindly provided by Mamta Rana.

SIZES:      18 X 24

                 22 X 30

                 26 X 36

                 29 X 40

                 37 X 51

DETAIL