Wielding brush one last time in service of god

TTD artist offers 108 images of lotuses, each telling a story, as his retirement tribute to Lord Venkateswara

These are not just paper lotuses offered at the feet of Lord Venkateswara, but thematic representation of mythological episodes and philosophical quotes that stand as a symbol of spiritual emancipation.

B. Anand, who served as an artist with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for over four decades, made a thanksgiving series during his retirement by painting 108 images of the lotus and offered them at the feet of the deity. He did not merely draw the lotus images in various shapes and sizes, but infused a theme and weaved a story around it.

For example, he painted a baby and mother seated on a lotus, then an elephant in ‘Gajendra Moksham’ episode holding a lotus while awaiting the Lord to rescue him, there is infant Padmavathi born in a golden lotus, Shiva and Parvati as ‘Ardhanareeswara’ resembling lotus, the Sun rising from a lotus, a conch and the discus (Sankhu and Chakra) sprouting from a lotus and so on.

These apart, devotional images associated with mythological characters viz., ‘Sri Chakra’, Siva’s Trishool (trident), Subrahmanya’s Vel, the crescent, ‘Homam’ flame, Godha Devi’s parrot, Narasimha’s mane and Venkateswara’s sword (Nandakam) were also creatively presented in the form of a lotus.

“Ahead of my retirement, I thought of using my paint brush for one last time in the service of the Lord. Offering real lotus flowers at the Lord’s feet is common, so I thought of using this god-given skill to breathe life into the canvas in presenting the lotus in different forms. I started on May 11, 2021 and finished on August 26, drawing 108 images non-stop, one image a day”, Mr. Anand told The Hindu.

On June 30, the day of his superannuation, he drew a pen, pencil and brush as the Lord’s holy ‘Namam’, and a palette to represent the camphor on His chin, which was hailed by his well wishers as a ‘fitting parting tribute’.

Mr. Anand chose line-drawing with black ink on a white canvas and avoided using colours. He is planning to bring the 108 paintings in the form of a book titled ‘Padmarchana’ by adding a two-line caption for every art.