Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art: Part A (Ganesha)

Ganesha

Picture by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

Source: Wikipedia

 

I enjoyed watching this video because it explains Hinduism in simple terms—something that is very hard to do, and even all the videos, pictures, and books put together could not justify the complexity of this religion and even the culture. I like that this video starts off with a simple picture of different idols. When you take a closer look at the picture, the viewer sees all the different elements of the gods like Ganesha’s elephant head, the peacock, and even another god within the picture.

I feel like using a picture to tell a story relating to Ganesha’s task to travel the world is something I could use in my own story. However, I would like to include the journey in one picture. I guess this would kind of be like picture books we read as children where the pictures do the talking. A concept that I really liked from the video is the one that explains being incomplete without women, which is represented by a different god. I would like to keep this concept in my own story by adding a female character to Ganesha’s travel around his world. There are many meanings of the various gods I can utilize to tell a story of a journey. I think this video will keep me in check of all the meaningful values held in each god I decide to include.

I like that this video was slow and detailed because it allowed me to better understand what Ganesha, Shiva, Parvatri, and my favorite Sarawati, and more all stood for. I feel like knowing some more knowledge behind the actual gods will allow me to make my story more “realistic” with a twist. I look forward to finding a picture to fit my criteria, and telling a story from just one picture.

Bibliography: Devdutt Pattanaki's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art