Garuda's Life

The Character

Garuda is the great eagle mount of Vishnu. His name means one he is capable of lifting great weights and moving very fast. He is named thus by hermits who are hanging upside down on a tree branch. When the great winged deity sat on the branch to eat a elephant and tortoise, the branch broke, but Garuda quickly snatched the branch from the air despite already carrying a heavy load.

The Story

After defeating the devas and taking their divine nectar, the mighty bird Garuda doesn't taste even a drop of it, because he's trying to use it to buy his mother's freedom from the nagas. An amazed Indra (King of the Devas) goes to Garuda, asks to be his friend and enquires about the extent of his strength.

To this, Garuda narrates his story. The sage Kashyapa had two wives, Vinata and Kadru, daughters of Daksha Prajapati, who was the son of Brahma. Through divine boons, Kadru asked for a thousand snakes for children and Vinata asked for just two, who would surpass all others in their glory. Kadru's snakes were born quickly. In her impatience, Vinata broke open one of her eggs to reveal a half-formed child who later became Aruna, the charioteer of Surya. Vinata then lost a foolish bet with Kadru and thus became her slave. It was then that Garuda burst forth from his egg with divine splendor. Learning of his mother's fate, he made a deal with the nagas to bring back the nectar of immortality from the heavens where the Devas guarded it fiercely. He defeated their entire army, quenched a wall of raging flames, surpassed an ever-spinning bladed discus, fought off poisonous serpents and retrieved the nectar.

He then explains that on each of his feathers he could carry the entire Earth with all of its contents and Indra himself on top of it.

The Art

The part of the story where Garuda explains his strength to Indra always fascinated me in an Atlas sort of fashion (except that Atlas carries the heavens and not the Earth). This inspired me to show Garuda in the place of Atlas, shouldering a globe which contained in it his entire life story.

Hope you like it!

‪#‎garuda‬ ‪#‎illustration‬ ‪#‎mythology‬ ‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎cosmology‬

Arjuna & Shiva

The 10 Avatars

The Ten AvatarsWe all know the common story about the ten avatars that the Indian God Vishnu takes to protect the world, but more on that in just a minute. When I was making a drawing of Ravana, I wanted to originally draw him with ten hands playing… — The Ten Avatars
We all know the common story about the ten avatars that the Indian God Vishnu takes to protect the world, but more on that in just a minute.
When I was making a drawing of Ravana, I wanted to originally draw him with ten hands playing the Veena. But ten hands for one instrument seemed excessive. So I thought I’d make each hand play a separate instrument, but that looked a bit awkward. Then I had a flash of an image with something related to each of the ten avatars of Vishnu in Ravana’s ten hands. While that made an interesting image, that made no sense at all. Why would Ravana of all people pay homage to Vishnu’s avatars? And then it hit me, I could just draw a ten-armed Vishnu with each arm paying homage to each of the ten avatars.
And so I started off sketching the figure and the various arms, but then I hit upon another problem. Seven of the avatars were human or humanoid and could have arms, but the first three were animals. How was I supposed to have meaningful arms for these?
This I sort of managed to address by giving them humanoid-like hands or just using their limbs as-is.
Then came the dilemma of how to make each hand unique enough to be identifiable. So here’s what I did from the last avatar backwards:
Kalki-sword in hand
Krishna-considered chakra but settled on flute
Balarama-plough
Rama-bow
Parashurama-axe
Vamana-umbrella
Narasimha-was a bit of a puzzle, because the avatar doesn’t hold anything, the nails are supposed to be the weapons. Briefly considered intestines of Hiranyakashipu but felt that would be too gory
Varaha-this one was a little challenging since this was essentially a wild boar whose hand isnt supposed to be articulate. The story has the wild boar carrying the earth to safety on its snout so I settled on the earth on its hoof.
Kurma-this was even more challenging since a tortoise’s hand is even less articulate. In the story, the tortoise carries the mountain Mandhara on its mountain, so I settled on a tortoise arm carrying a mountain.
Matsya-this was the most challenging, since fish have no hands and I didn’t want to make a tentacled cthulu-esqe monster. In the end I settled on a mer-man type arm to give the semblance of an aquatic creature carrying the vedas that were stolen by the demon Hayagriva from Brahma.
Then came another dilemma - some count Balarama as one of the ten avatars and some count Buddha as one of the ten avatars. Which would I follow? In the end I decided upon Balarama because his plough-in-hand was a lot more interesting visually.

The Cathedral of St. VitusA postcard illustration of the St.Vitus Cathedral in Prague, from my recent holiday trip there in 2015. A visit inside is well worth the ticket price. The stained glass windows are absolutely gorgeous and the massive flying… — The Cathedral of St. Vitus
A postcard illustration of the St.Vitus Cathedral in Prague, from my recent holiday trip there in 2015. A visit inside is well worth the ticket price. The stained glass windows are absolutely gorgeous and the massive flying buttresses outside are simply magnificent to behold.

The ColosseumA postcard illustration of the Colosseum in Rome, from my recent holiday to the city of Rome in 2015. It was constructed in 72AD by the Emperor Vespasian and his successor Emperor Titus. It could hold an estimated 50000-80000 spectators… — The Colosseum
A postcard illustration of the Colosseum in Rome, from my recent holiday to the city of Rome in 2015.
It was constructed in 72AD by the Emperor Vespasian and his successor Emperor Titus. It could hold an estimated 50000-80000 spectators.
This impressive colossus, despite undergoing a series of restorations, never fails to astound me with it’s sheer presence and absolute magnificence. What’s harder to believe that there’s as much of it still standing, despite being nearly 2000 years old.
Nothing else represents the utter descent into an absolutely decadent lifestyle like the Colosseum, as visitors would pour in from all corners of the empire to witness bloody gladiatorial tournaments, animal hunts, public executions, simulated naval battles, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas from classical mythology.

The Mother Wolf of RomeA statue of the mother wolf that is said to have taken care of the infants Romulus and Remus, who later became the founders of the city of Rome — The Mother Wolf of Rome
A statue of the mother wolf that is said to have taken care of the infants Romulus and Remus, who later became the founders of the city of Rome

The Angels of St Angelo’s Bridge

I was inspired by the variety and beauty of the Angels of St. Angelo’s bridge and castel from Rome to draw them as postcards.

Here I’ve just used pencils and faber castell black pens of varying thicknesses to ink/shade them.

A Roman Holiday 2015

Was inspired by my trip to Rome in Italy in June this year to illustrate some of the beautiful sculptures and buildings that I saw there. Sources are from Piazza Navona, St.Angelo’s Bridge, Church of St.Louis of the French and the Colosseum.

Postcards From Prague 2015

Was inspired by my trip to Prague in the Czech Republic in June this year to illustrate some of the beautiful sculptures, carvings and stained glass images that I saw. Sources are from the Charles Bridge, St.Nicholas Church, St.Vitus Cathedral and a door near the Astronomical Tower.

Krishna AvatarIn Bharatanatyam, Krishna is often shown in this common pose of standing with crossed legs and holding a flute. Usually the cows are grazing or gopis are dancing in the background, enjoying the divine music of his flute. It’s a fairly … — Krishna Avatar
In Bharatanatyam, Krishna is often shown in this common pose of standing with crossed legs and holding a flute. Usually the cows are grazing or gopis are dancing in the background, enjoying the divine music of his flute. It’s a fairly simple and very iconic image.
His brother Balarama, holding a plough, is often associated with agriculture. According to the story, Balarama once called Yamuna to come to him, but when she refused, he hooked her hair with his plough and dragged her to where he was. I suppose this is metaphorical of revolutionary irrigation techniques involving damming or redirecting river waters for agriculture.
Krishna is strongly associated with animal husbandry, where the cows were said to give more milk just by listening to his flute.
Together, Krishna and Balarama form the duality of the agricultural revolution. They represent a shift from the Vedic beliefs, where the deities Indra and Varuna were worshipped for rain/water, to a state of self reliance and better harnessing the natural resources of land and water. It also represented a shift of mentality in working towards what you wanted instead of waiting for some divine sign or intervention.
Stories within the Mahabharat tell us that when Krishna suggests that the villagers stop worshipping unseen forces like Indra to nurture the known forces of the surrounding environment, he was met with strong resistance to this shift of thought, evidenced by Indra thundering his anger upon the villagers via torrential rains and Krishna protecting the townsfolk under the Govardhana hill.
This sort of “harness/develop your natural resources” attitude is evident once more when Krishna and Balarama help the Pandavas convert the dense forests/arid deserts of Khandavaprastha into the fertile cultivable/livable land of Indraprastha.
Most animals choose to adapt to the environment they are placed in and either die out if the environment has drastic changes or are forced to re-adapt once again. Few animals come to mind that shape their own environment. One is the beaver, which is also MIT’s mascot, is considered to be the Engineer of the natural world owing to its ability to build dams and reshape its eco-system. Another is the termite, which builds giant mounds to help regulate temperature and water.
So, what are the resources sitting unused around you? What are you going to do about them? How have you shaped your environment to better suit your needs?
Isn’t that the true meaning of Engineering?

Questions of the YakshaDuring the exile of the Pandava brothers in the forest after their loss in the game of dice, Yudhishtira finds all of his brothers dead/with their spirits trapped next to a lake by a stork who owns the lake. They have been tra… — Questions of the Yaksha
During the exile of the Pandava brothers in the forest after their loss in the game of dice, Yudhishtira finds all of his brothers dead/with their spirits trapped next to a lake by a stork who owns the lake. They have been trapped as punishment for drinking water without the stork’s permission.
The stork (which reveals itself to be a Yaksha, a subterranean dweller and hoarder of wealth), then proceeds to ask questions to Yudhishtira about the nature of life, the universe and everything in it (way before the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy decided to tackle the subject).
The story often puts Yudhishtira in moral dilemmas where he is often forced to choose between an option which will require him to bend/break the rules and help his family but will make him look bad vs. an option which will require him to follow the rules and hurt his entire family but would make him look good. As a result, we often find him sitting and analyzing the intricacies of what the morally right thing to do is, always fearful of doing something rash instead of taking necessary action.
This incident appears to be the turning point for Yudhishtira where his brothers have been incapacitated and he has to logically come out of the problem on his own. And for the first time in the epic, when forced with a life or death situation, when pushed to act and make a decision, he is able to understand the meaning behind the sufferings his family undergoing, review the events of his life dispassionately, reflect on his duty, gain renewed drive and purpose and solve the problem on his own.
Only in the end does the stork reveal itself to be Yudhishtira’s father Yamadharmaraja, the god of death and justice. This dialogue is called ‘Yaksha Prashna’ or the questions of the Yaksha.
Here are the last three questions that really make you think.
*Q: What is the biggest wonder?*
*A: Day after day countless people die, yet those who remain either believe themselves to be immortal or cannot accept death. What greater wonder can there be?*
Q: What is the correct path?
A: Arguments can lead to no certain conclusion. The srutis are all different from one another. There is not even one Rishi whose opinion can be accepted by all. The truth about Dharma and Duty is hidden inside our hearts, therefore that alone is the path that the great have followed.
Q: What is the eternal news?
A: This world full of ignorance is like a pan. The sun is the fire, the days and nights are the fuel. The seasons are the wooden ladle. Time is the cook that is cooking all creatures with these aids. This is the eternal news.
As a design, I chose to show this in contrasting colors of dark purple signifying night with the four brothers trapped as four orange flames, burning and crying out for help at the base of the tree where the stork resides, something that is especially apt considering the last question. The stork with it’s wings spread against the moon is very reminiscent of a Dracula-like figure who is both intelligent and dangerous.
I considered making a drawing with the questions and answers in them, but realized that a lot of the answers are not simple riddles, they are very metaphorical in nature and translating them into appropriate imagery would be quite challenging!

The Dance of RamaLearning about the various Bharatanatyam hand gestures, I saw a combination that represented Rama, with the left hand closed in a fist but with the thumb extended upwards and the right hand folded as if holding an arrow. I was inspi… — The Dance of Rama
Learning about the various Bharatanatyam hand gestures, I saw a combination that represented Rama, with the left hand closed in a fist but with the thumb extended upwards and the right hand folded as if holding an arrow.
I was inspired to draw ‘Rama in Exile’ as the character of Rama himself performing the bharatanatyam dance, depicting the hand/body gestures of himself. I added a bow, arrow and quiver to make it a little more descriptive. Since this is a time of Rama’s life when he’s not in the palace and he’s forced to live as a hermit in a forest, I’ve always found it hard to believe that he’d be neat and cleanly shaved. Hence I gave him matted hair and a beard to indicate that he has isolated himself from civilization and is living amidst the ascetics and wild animals.
In this drawing he’s not shooting at anything in particular, but perhaps I’ll add something in, like the hunt for the golden deer or watching over the monkey kings Vaali and Sugreeva fighting for the throne of Kishkintha.
During this sketch, I realized that I was drawing more characters from the Dashavatar (or the ten Avatars of Vishnu), I added the discus and conch shell over his shoulders to signify that it’s an Avatar or part of a potential series. This also made me think about Rama’s status within the epic of the Ramayana itself. Some parts indicate that everyone knew about his avatar status, such as when Vishwamitra takes him around to commit divine deeds such as the slaying of the Rakshasas that destroy hermitages or the liberation of Ahalya from her stone prison or the breaking of Shiva’s bow to marry Sita or Hanuman’s unconditional, undying devotion and love. Some parts indicate that Rama knew that he was an avatar such as when he invokes Varuna to cross the ocean and everyone is surprised to see him, or when he agrees to be exiled to the forest foreseeing a divine plan but everyone around him is deeply troubled by this decision. Some parts indicate that nobody knew about Rama’s avatar status, including Rama himself, because he feels pain, anguish and misery at Sita’s abduction and wanders the forest aimlessly while searching for her.
Thinking about Rama’s status in the epic also makes us think about what we can learn from him. There is little we can learn from Rama the God, because Gods can do unbelievable things that no man can do and their story is more like a fantasy epic. There is much to learn from Rama the Man, because it shows us that even in the worst of circumstances, if one is clear about what one wants from life, then all problems can be conquered or outlasted. Lastly, it is very difficult to learn from Rama the Enlightened Man, because he seems to make choices that no normal man would ever dare to make and he always thinks about the good of the Realm, the family and legacy above his own personal good.
So, what do you think?

MohiniyattamThis is a popular dance form from the Indian state of Kerala, with the main theme being love and devotion to the Indian deity Vishnu. Mohiniyattam literally means ‘The Dance of the Enchantress’.The character of Mohini is said to be an av… — Mohiniyattam
This is a popular dance form from the Indian state of Kerala, with the main theme being love and devotion to the Indian deity Vishnu. Mohiniyattam literally means ‘The Dance of the Enchantress’.
The character of Mohini is said to be an avatar of Vishnu, associated with two specific stories.
**Story1** - Vishnu appears in the form of the Enchantress Mohini to trick the demons out of their share of the Nectar of Immortality (Amrit) which they obtain by churning the Ocean of Milk.
**Story2** - Vishnu also takes the form of Mohini to save Shiva from a demon called Bhasmasura. Bhasmasura had procured a blessing from Shiva that anyone upon whose head he lay his hand would burn to ashes. Bhasmasura then decided to test this on Shiva himself, causing Shiva to run away in horror. Mohini intercepts them and challenges the demon to a dance contest with the prize being the chance to wed her. The demon follows Mohini’s every dance move until Mohini places her hand over her own head. The demon follows suit and places his hand atop his own head, burning him to ashes.
When reading into the history and mythology of various Indian classical dances, I was quite fascinated by the stories behind this dance form and was inspired to draw it.
For this drawing, I decided to place a Mohiniyattam dancer beside a demon with a fiery hand trying to mimic her every movement, ending with placing his hand atop his own head, leading to his own fiery demise. I considered adding Shiva hiding behind a tree somewhere in the background but it seemed to disturb the balance of the piece so I relegated it for another time.

These past few weeks I’ve been asked quite a bit about how I draw, so here’s my first attempt at demystifying the process :-)If folks like this, perhaps I’ll share more step-by-step images! — These past few weeks I’ve been asked quite a bit about how I draw, so here’s my first attempt at demystifying the process *:-)*
If folks like this, perhaps I’ll share more step-by-step images!

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a bit of an odd movie for me in that my parents had narrated the entire story to me many times before I actually got around to actually watch the movie myself. My dad loved watching the intense training sessions that c… — The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a bit of an odd movie for me in that my parents had narrated the entire story to me many times before I actually got around to actually watch the movie myself. My dad loved watching the intense training sessions that came along with learning martial arts. My mom loved the entertaining scenes where the hero fails comically, learns a valuable lesson and then succeeds. When at last I managed to find a good print of it, we immediately put away all other distractions and watched it together.
Since then, I have watched this movie multiple times and it remains to this day my favorite Kung-fu movie for its realistic portrayal of martial arts training, depiction of the journey of personal transformation and how one man’s desire to change the world can influence his path.
(I also recently discovered that the same actor who plays the hero in this movie, Gordon Liu, also plays the martial arts teacher Pai Mei in Kill Bill Vol.2)
It was of course natural that I pay tribute to this movie with Ganesha in the iconic pose where the hero unveils his newly crafted Sanchaku or 3-part fighting sticks connected with chains. I also tried to arrange the text similar to how it appears in the movie’s posters.
And there you have it! Hope you like it!

Narasimha & Bharatanatyam

Narasimha is a half-man and half-lion avatar taken by Vishnu to defeat the demon king Hiranyakashipu. The story goes that the demon king had been blessed with a boon that he couldn’t be killed by anything that was born, or any man or any animal, or by any instrument living or dead, in day or night, in the earth or in the sky, indoors or outdoors.

The parameters of the demon king arise at twilight, when Narasimha emerges from a shattered pillar with a terrifying roar in this monstrous form. The creature which is neither man nor animal drags the demon king to the threshold of the house, places him on his lap and tears him apart with his claws.

When going through dance poses from Bharatanatyam, I came across one that seemed to emulate the rage and fury of this avatar perfectly, while also combining the grace and beauty of the dance form itself. My first draft had more oranges and reds, but I wanted to find a subtler way of showing the mood. Hence I settled on an ashen tone for his skin with the violent reds and oranges in his clothes and mane.

Hanuman & KathakaliThe story of the Kalyanasaugandhika from the Mahabharat is set during their 13 year exile in the forests. One day, a beautiful flower with an intoxicating smell wafts on the wind and falls near Draupadi. Fascinated by this flo… — Hanuman & Kathakali
The story of the Kalyanasaugandhika from the Mahabharat is set during their 13 year exile in the forests. One day, a beautiful flower with an intoxicating smell wafts on the wind and falls near Draupadi. Fascinated by this flower (called the Kalyanasaugandhika), she asks Bhima to go in that direction and bring back more such flowers. During his travel, Bhima goes through a banana grove where he meets his elder brother Hanuman (the wind god is their common father) and learns a lesson in humility. Bhima then goes on to retrieve the flowers.
When I learned that the Kalyanasaugandhikam was a very popularly depicted story in the Kathakali dance form in Kerala, I realized that this was an excellent opportunity to depict Hanuman himself as the Kathakali performer. The colors are relatively muted when compared with regular Kathakali costumes but they have a charm of their own.
I also discovered that the face paint color in Kathakali is based on the character portrayed.
Heroic characters use predominantly green in their facepaint (like Krishna or Arjuna).
A green-red combination is used for a charming or mischievous characters.
Completely red facepaint with a red beard is used for demons or very fierce characters.
Hunters and woodsmen are depicted with predominantly black facepaint and a black beard.
Women usually have yellow/golden facepaint.
Characters who are noble but have an angry side to them like Shiva or Balarama or Bhima who are depicted with an orange facepaint.
Characters with dangerous dispositions also have a knife design painted on their face, like a black knife for Yama or a red knife for Ravana.
Variations occur for characters like Hanuman who is depicted with a white beard which represents very noble characters.

Arjuna & Shiva

The Ten Avatars

The Cathedral of St. Vitus

The Colosseum

The Mother Wolf of Rome

The Angels of St Angelo’s Bridge

A Roman Holiday 2015

Postcards From Prague 2015

Krishna Avatar

Questions of the Yaksha

The Dance of Rama

Mohiniyattam

Narasimha & Bharatanatyam

Hanuman & Kathakali