December

December

Artist: Simran Kaur, UK
Title: Aarti
Medium: Miniature Art
Commissioner: Manjinder Singh Tiwana, UK

Sultanpur Lodhi to Jagannath Puri, Odisha: 1641km

At the eastern edge of his first Udasi, Guru Nanak reached Jagannath Puri, Odisha. The temple there was known for its grand aarti prayer, where devotees stood as lamps were waved before the idol during sunset.

The Pandits challenged the lack of respect shown by the Guru who remained seated. He calmly replied that their ritual honoured God only at sunset, but he is a devotee of the true Eternal One whose aarti never ends. When challenged to show such an aarti the Guru stepping outside the temple, sang this shabad in Raag Dhanasaree, revealing the true devotee sees the whole universe as God’s Aarti.

As the sky is the plate, sun and moon are lamps, stars are shining pearls, wind carries the incense and the forests are flowers.

Artist

Simran Kaur, UK

I am a london-based artist, specialising in indian miniature painting and the use of natural, sustainable sources to create these works. My journey in traditional art aims to pick up and conserve the fine threads of ancient mastery, particularly those focusing around the Indian subcontinent – showcasing and educating the coming generations on the art of the lost worlds, where with God’s Grace, these techniques and form of spiritual practice are embraced and carried into the future. As a current student of the traditional arts and learning under the watchful eyes of many renowned masters in their practices, the path within my spiritual and physical practice has just begun. My work also focuses on the use of natural resources such as earths and plants, where the journeys of these materials intertwine into the paintings and a collective energy is formed. I have only scratched the surface as a traditional artist, but may this ‘kalakaari’ lead to the divine truth, and bring the eyes of the future closer to the source from which they permeate from.