As I started to teach online last year, I wanted an artsy background. After some thought I decided to cover an ugly looking mica wardrobe door just behind my desk with yellow chalk paint and paint a mural on it. After several months of indecision, I finally painted the story of Matsya – the primordial on it for reasons I will discuss below. But first let me tell you the Matsya Avatar story. Strap in for a slightly long, storytelling post.
The Matsya Avatar story
Matsya means fish and avatar – an incarnation. Matsya avatar is the first of most important incarnations or Dasavathar of Lord Vishnu. Flood myths are common across several cultures. It appears in the story of Gilgamesh, in the telling of Noah’s arc and ofcourse the Matsya avatar story. Different versions of the story exists and here I will be telling a simplified amalgamation of several versions. It is not meant to hurt anybody’s religious or cultural sentiments. Let me tell the story in three parts.
Manu and the little fish
There was once a king named Satyavratha Manu who had retired from his kingly duties and lived in a forest hermitage. One evening as he was performing ablutions with river water, a tiny fish came into his hands. Just as Manu was about to throw the fish back into the river, the fish pleaded with Manu to save it from the dangers of the world. Manu put the fish in a pot of water, brought it home and transferred it to a open vessel. The fish soon outgrew the vessel in size and was struggling to breathe. Surprised, Manu kept transferring the fish into subsequently bigger pots, pans, a puddle of water, a lake and then the river as it kept growing in size, magically.
Next morning, he took the fish to the sea where it grew so big with blinding light that Manu, asked the fish to reveal its true nature. The fish turned out to none other than Lord Vishnu. He appeared standing in a merman form with a human face, conch and disc in his four hands.
The flood myth
The merman, Matsya notes how people have become irresponsible. Further, they destroy natural resources for their own greed, making death and destruction a certainty. In order to wipe the earth clean, he forecasts a deluge – pralaya or flood in seven days. Matsya advices Manu to build a boat. Manu following the advice, builds a boat and takes with him, his wife, the seven wise sages, seeds of all plants, one animal of each type. Matsya appears as a giant fish, with the serpent Vasuki tied to his horn. The serpent is tied to the boat and it is propelled to Mt Himavan. They survive the flood and start afresh in the new era.
A demon who stole the Vedas
While the period in which all these incidents happens is called Satya yuga (the age of truth), it is also the age of darkness caused by loss of knowledge. There is a snail-man named Hayagriva (not be confused with the God of Knowledge of the same name). He realises that the power to create and sustain the world lies in knowledge. Therefore, by stealing the knowledge and keeping it away from others who need it, he can deny others the power and keep it all for himself. Lord Brahma is the custodian of all knowledge in the form of four Vedas. Between eras, during the flood he takes a moment rest so that he does not far asleep while creating. But the moment he falls asleep, Hayagriva steals the Vedas and hides them deep underwater.
Lord Brahma wakes up to re-create the world but cannot do so without the Vedic knowledge. He cries to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu once again becomes the Matsya, kills the demonic Hayagriva, and restores the knowledge to Brahma. The creation process begins anew.
Learnings from this story
What drove me to paint this story in my room is the relevance of it in today’s world. The human being is only one of the several species on Earth. However, the human power to either protect or destroy is unparalleled. We cannot hungrily consume the earth’s resources. Doing so will bring about destruction in the most painful manner. Those you love, the wealth that you collect can vanish at a moments notice. In the end it is the more than human world that truly matters. but, just as the crimes of a few ruin the lives of many, the kindness of a few or even one can save the world.
Now more than ever I find it important to talk about the more than human world. We are testing so much, wearing disposable masks, PPE and throwing away used needles in an unprecedented manner. We have not stopped to consider how we are going to dispose this medical waste in a way that will not harm our environment. In an attempt to fight the pandemic we are creating another catastrophe. Let us learn a lesson from the Matsya Avatar story, and be proactive. Climate change is real. When we create an imbalance in our delicate ecosystems it will destruct.
Finally, knowledge is hard to come by in times of need and those who deliver it to us are true saviours. Ignorance causes fear. So stay away from fake news, assumptions and seek knowledge that will empower you.
Matsya the primordial – door art
After reading the story, it may be easier for you to relate with the visual components. The Matsya has a horn as in the story. Since the door is narrow, instead of drawing hands, I drew a Conch and a Disc – weapons of Lord Vishnu. One of the creative liberties I took is converting the merman to a fish with legs. I wanted show a fish (more than human) as an intelligent creature with knowledge. Furthermore, at Hindu temples we worship the deities from foot to face and therefore the feet are very important. Typically the deities will be standing or sitting on a lotus. Here I have shown a lotus like shape formed by a school of fish above the sea bead of rocks and aquatic plants. I have decorated the feet with patterns indicating aaltha and added thick anklets.
Then comes the mid section of the fish with all its fancy scales and fins. This is where you see the Snail man Hayagriva and lord Brahma with his four heads. The names of the four vedas – Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana are written in Sanskrit above him. I have shown Hayagriva at the end indicating that he has been defeated (swallowed) by the Matsya. Inside the head of the fish you see seven sages, Manu and his wife on a boat drawn by the serpent.
at the top, you see the nested fishes, the biggest transforming into a man. Instead of showing Lord Vishnu alone, I wanted to add his wife, Goddess Lakshmi as well. She is symbolised as the letter Shri on a pink lotus. In my head I saw it differently but messed up when I drew it.
Matsya door art – process
To record the process I took photos whenever possible. The door is 82 inches long and 18 inches wide and I painted freehand, vertically. I had painted chalk on mica (a laminate) after a foundational gesso in August. However, in December when I set out to paint the mural, it had become patchy. I used chalk paints as I wanted something that will stick to the laminate and also dry quickly. Since my room small- approx. 85 sqft (excl wardrobes) I didn’t want to keep inhaling oil and acrylic smells as I slept after my series of lung infections. Acrylic or enamel would have given a more professional look.
To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about what I wanted to do when I started. I began on a whim as I do with many of my projects and soon I was knee deep in it to back out. I used whatever materials I had in hand – paints and 3 brushes. A little more than what you see above was painted in one shot in four hours listening to audio notes for an exam that I had to write a couple of days later. After that, I had my wisdom tooth removal. Due to the 2 stiches in my mouth I couldn’t lift my head high for nearly a week. Another 2 weeks went by in laziness and I guess I did the final part in a hurry on 28th or 29th December (I guess?) as I wanted to finish it before the New year. See the full piece as a video here from my instagram page – the actual video seems to be having its own mind.
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I had lots of fun drawing but photo/videography has been a totally different story as there is no space to stand and shoot. I embarked on a mural as my hands were shaking a lot and I couldn’t make anything. Just as I thought, a project with as many restrictions as this one was enough to take my mind of shaking and push me towards drawing.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my door art and I would love to hear what you think.
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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