Akalpya, Ahmedabad

AKALPYA A MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE :Fresco painting, in contemporary style

This Artwork was thematically designed for a 30 ft half dome, adorning the main living space in a private residence in Ahmedabad. According to the Acharanga Sutra, Mahavira descended from the heaven where he had dwelt for a karmically allotted period of time to take theform of an embryo in the womb of Trishala, the wife of King Siddhartha. That very night, Trishala, the Queen, saw enchanting dreams while shewas reclining on a couch in her room. She saw fourteen dreams. The fourteen dreams were believed to symbolise the emergence of a great teacher or a universal emperor into the world. Mahavir was hence to be born. The great Tirthankara’s birth was attended by the joyous gods as well as with lavish festivities within his father’s kingdom. He was given the name Vardhamana (Increasing) due to the growth in prosperity throughout his father’s kingdom at the time. The contemporary translation of this beautiful tale is to be rendered on the Dome in the living room. This Artwork hence appears as a series of elements from the narrative, successively emerging and disappearing, dream-like, between clouds that float across the large span of the ceiling.