Holy hues

Artist Parmesh Paul belongs to a traditional group of artists who sculpt religious idols and has also mastered the art of painting religious paintings and landscapes.

“Benaras happens to me my birth place. This is one place that resonates of the concept of bhakti (devotion) that is resonated in Indian philosophy time and again. I usually work on Benaras as a subject,” he says, adding, “the different ghats and the many, many temples is the essence of Benaras. The colours, sunrise, sunset, deities, followers, the waters of the Ganges — you will not find these anywhere in the world. Through my art work I have tried to bring to life all these picturesque scenes of this city which is mainly led by religion.”

Although Paul’s paintings of Benaras are much in demand these days, with prices of his paintings fetching as much as Rs30,000, he has known his share of tough times.

Paul spent 10 years working for ISKCON in a village near Kolkatta named Shri Mayapur. In the past, he has worked under pseudo English names to get his works sold in Australia. “Along with religious paintings, I would also draw landscapes of Sydney and Melbourne. And these Australian paintings were sold under the name of Dianes. My dealer told me that nobody would be interested in my landscapes if I signed in my original Indian name. Those times were tough, it took a lot of efforts to make money and hence I did what the dealer asked me to,” he says, adding, “I was not the only one. There were many other Indian artists who did the same to earn a living.” He adds, “Though, now I don’t have to do that anymore as I am doing quite well.”

(With inputs by Sujata Chakrabarty)