Re-Mahabharat

42 Drawings
21.0 x 29.7 cm (8.27 x 11.69 in) each
Pen and ink on paper
2018

Set of 42 drawings/paintings portraying and interpreting the Mahabharata an ancient Indian epic that comprises of 18 chapters. The saga narrates the events before, during, and after the great war known as The Kurukshetra. The Mahabharata has significant cultural, political, and social relevance in India. It’s impact is prevalent in everyday lives, as it was originally written to propagate and instill social values like duty and morality, and acted as a precursor to Hinduism as a religion.

Dissecting the epic, the project highlights nuances in the story, understanding the underlying tones of truth and language. By breaking down such a complex text, which has been rewritten and retold extensively into just 42 artworks compiled in a single image, the work actively omits minutia to give a holistic picture. The work indirectly illustrates the issues in propagating single narratives and half truths ; something which is currently pervasive in Indian politics, more specifically the hegemonic right wing.

The drawings also depict the complex characterization in the story using a broad and unconventional colour palette, without being restricted to popular media representations, which are strongly rooted in the widely accepted versions of the story.