An Expression Of The Divine Wrapped in Purple

“I am a, just like a peach is, just like a fish is.
I have a right to be this way…
I can’t apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I want to…
We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful…
We realize that we are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid.
It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they choose.”
(From “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker)

This is a sacred sculpture from Kolkata’s Indian Museum which has a fascinating composition.
It is located in Chowringhee on Jawahar Lal Nehru Road, known as “Jadughar”, and is one of the earliest museums established in the world and considered the largest one in the country.
Sometimes arise mysterious fluids taking different shades of colours, the purle glow leads to the path of dreams…

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Traversing Sensuality

“The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
Always an orchestra, and just as music traverses walls, so sensuality traverses the body and reaches up to ecstasy.”
(From “The Diary Of Anais Nin, Volume Two (1934-1939)” by Anaïs Nin)

This apsara (celestial nymph) was sculpted during the 8th century AD by the Ganga Pratihara School and is coming from Etah in Uttar Pradesh before resting in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, the Art and Archaeological Museum of Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi (Benaras).

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The Energies of the Universe

“To the question “What am I? The scripture replies “Tat tvamasi” it means ” You are that”.
Throwing another question “You are that? ….what does the THAT signify?”, the scriptures replies “Aham Brahmasmi” it means “You are part of the Universe”.
Throwing in the last question “Which part of the Universe”, the scriptures replies ” Antaryami” it means ” the super soul within you aka the God which resides within you”.
The quintessential seeker bluntly wonders “The God within me? Is God a thing or a concept? Is God a “He” or a “She”? If God is within me, am I God? How can I be God? Is God working through me?”
( From an article by Saumya Suresh – ablogonpsychology.blogspot.fr/2012/07/anima-animus-indian… )

This is a contemporary Ardhanarishvara statue which stands in front of the main building of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras).
Ardhanarishvara is a composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati (also known as Devi, Shakti and Uma).
Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle, it represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe and illustrates how Shakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or the same as, according to some interpretations) Shiva, the male principle of God.
The union of these principles is exalted as the root of all creation.
Another view is that Ardhanarishvara as a symbol of Shiva’s all-pervasive nature.

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Dragron Study

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
(From “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926)

This is a detail which is on the corner of a door of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras).
It is a quiet place nearby the house where I am living and I like to come there in order to daydream among this amazing Gothic style architecture which is quite unexepected in this city.
This building was established in 1791.

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The Closed Door

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
(Helen Keller – American author and political activist, 1880–968)

This is one of the doors of the main building of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras).
The architecture of this place is an amazing blend of Western Gothic style with Sanskrit elements.
There are doors everywhere, most of them are closed but when one opens it is always a moment of happiness as it is like stepping in a daydream with an extraordinary set lost in time.
Somehow it looks Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and you wouldn’t be surprised to see Harry Potter in one of those classrooms…

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The Door Of Knowledge

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand.
Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.
(Jiddu Krishnamurti – Indian Theosophist Philosopher,1895-1986)

This is a door of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras) which is specialized in the study of Sanskrit and related fields.
The main building was constructed in 1791 through the efforts of people of different religions and its architecture is an amazing blend of Western Gothic style with Sanskrit elements.
Ancient and rare manuscripts are kept there making this place a wealth of knowledge.
There is an old saying that goes, “Questioning is the door of knowledge”…

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The Door is Ajar

“Life is a journey.
Time is a river.
The door is ajar”
(From “Dead Beat” (The Dresden Files, #7) by Jim Butcher)

This door was slightly opened in a narrow street of the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras)
at a few meters from the Ganges.
There was no one around, it was lunch time and the heat of June was becoming unbearable.
The paintings decorating the walls meant that a young couple was living there, their wedding probably hapened a few months earlier.
The colors were still bright, time didn’t affect them as if everything was frozen for a while in order to let the people there enjoy a moment in their life and forget that all this is only a journey, not a destination…

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The Lip of Insanity 1923

“I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door.
It opens.
I’ve been knocking from the inside.”
(Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi) – Persian poet and Sufi mystic, 1207-1273)

We are always in the grace of God but sometimes we seek answers away from ourselves and we are not listening to the voice within our own hearts.
Why searchig everywhere what is simply there and thatt we often don’t want to see.
The Gospel according to Luke mentions that “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), Rumi’s words are echoing this message on every door of the oldest living city in the world…
This picture was shot at Ramakant Nagar close to where I live in Varanasi (Benaras).

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The Unlocked Door

“I’ve got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”
(From “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott, 1832–1888)

This is one of the four painted doorways representing the seasons in Pritam Chowk (the Court of the Beloved) inside the City Palace of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.

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Never Opened Door

“Footfalls echo in the memory, down the passage we did not take, towards the door we never opened, into the rose garden.”
( T.S. Eliot – American/British Author, 1888-1965)

This door is in one of the yards of the City Palace of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.

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