The Goddess Lakshmi that we pray to on Diwali was painted by Raja Ravi Varma

I found this article very informative... It would be great if some one can tell whether the below mentioned claim is true ...


1. The first man to give faces to the
Indian Gods: Before him, there
used to be sculptures and
miniatures in the pad kathas as
the gods as we see them everyday
were visualised by him making him
the most powerful influence on our
civilization's culture.
2. The first man who made it
possible for untouchables to pray
in front of images of Gods: Prior to
his time, they were not allowed
into temples.
3. The first man credited with
making the sari as we know it
today.

m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/The-Goddess-Lakshmi-that-we-pray-to-on-Diwali-was-painted-by-Raja-Ravi-Varma/articleshow/44908584.cms

Namaste,

Thanks for the post. However going through the following link, I did not find his name in the list of Kaisar-e-Hind medal recipients. Is there any corroboration to the contrary; or proof of any of the other claims made?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisar-i-Hind_Medal

Pranam.

Namaste Believer ji,

Apparently you seemed to have relied on search facility. In the link you have provided, search for "Raja Ravi Verma" and not varma...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Ravi_Verma

Young Indians { including myself :-) } interested in art should draw inspiration from this great man.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Believer

Namaste,

Thanks for the post. However going through the following link, I did not find his name in the list of Kaisar-e-Hind medal recipients. Is there any corroboration to the contrary; or proof of any of the other claims made?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisar-i-Hind_Medal

Pranam.

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Namaste,

Thanks for the additional information.

I see him as a great ancestor of ours and have high regard for him. But, I just wanted to get all the facts straight, so that we don't pass on incorrect information which results in an integrity gap. I had never heard about him before and am amazed at his accomplishments and thankful to you for introducing him to me and to other forum members.

Raja Ravi Varma ki jai.

Pranam.

Namaste

Thank You for bringing this information to the forum.

Two members have introduced Raja Ravi Verma ji on HDF

1. Brahman -- on his KRshNa JanmAsTamI thread -- Yashoda and BAL KRshNa, my KAnhU -- astonishingly natural, how the baby keeps playing with the jewellery while mother tries to quickly dresses him up while he is engrossed with the other necklace.

2. ShivaFan -- Under Indian Art -- Rare original painting of GopAL KRshNa sitting cross-legged, flute in one hand.

We really owe him a lot of gratitude. He has made a difference to zillions of Hindus.

Like the article says, he painted Devi and women wearing saris in elegant styles -- I was especially surprised to see his Yashoda MaiyA wearing a traditional nau-vArI sAdi (9-yard saree) with nath (nose-ornament) and a traditional bun, the padar - pallu of the sari draped around the other shoulder. Very aristrocratic, and it looked very Maharashtrian to me. Considering he was from KeraL. Maharashtra & Karnataka had similar fashions back then, but the Kerala sari is a bit different.
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I always wondered about the artists and sculptors. The temple mUrtI sculptors had direct assignments from BhagavAn and that was the purpose of their birth.

Similarly, I feel indebted to film-art producers, directors and actors of dhArmic and aitihAsic (spiritual-historical) films and serials
e.g. Ramanand Sagar is a one-of-a-kind devotee and film-maker.
A lot of careful research on the scriptures , shAstra, consulting with dhArmic guru parampara, hard work, persistence, to bring such good quality and as much accuracy as possible, in the TV shows

-- KrishNa
-- Jai Shri KRishNa
-- Devonke Dev Mahadev
-- Mahabharat(s)
-- RamayaN(s)
and many more over the decades, Siddhartha (Gautam Buddha), RavaN...

Jai Shri KRshNa

Namaste Smaranam ji

I am fine as long as you dont use the verb "dignify" :-) and that too when we try to impose our conditioning on super naturals i am tempted to comment.

Hope you take only the underlying message. I am in no way attempting to provoke or snub you. If you feel provoked accept my apologise but don't fail to take the message.

Where do you see that word "dignify" in my post?

As far as superimposing human conditioning on the Supreme, we all understand and accept that this is about Raja Ravi Verma's art. His models were ladies from the South India wearing traditional attire. I was commenting on the art of the artist.

You bring up the topic on an artist painting Devi-devatA, the Supreme Lord, which becomes an inherent part of Hindu households and society. So people are going to comment on the art, of course. Why not appreciate it? Lord NArAyaN appreciates it, so should we.

om namo nArAyaNAya

Before you edited your post. :-)

For The rest of your post ...

This discussion doesn't make any sense when that word was removed...

:-)

:-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smaranam

Where do you see that word "dignify" in my post?

As far as superimposing human conditioning on the Supreme, we all understand and accept that this is about Raja Ravi Verma's art. His models were ladies from the South India wearing traditional attire. I was commenting on the art of the artist.

You bring up the topic on an artist painting Devi-devatA, the Supreme Lord, which becomes an inherent part of Hindu households and society. So people are going to comment on the art, of course. Why not appreciate it? Lord NArAyaN appreciates it, so should we.

om namo nArAyaNAya

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