On Sunday, Vruti Chavda, a devotee, decided to devote her day to the Lord Krishna. Chavda was at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple, Chowpatty, painting the dress that the Lord will adorn on Janmashtami, which the ISKCON celebrates a day later on September 7.
“This year we are having Kalamkari art on his and Radha Rani's dress for the mangal aarti that happens at 5am. It is a famous art form from Andhra Pradesh,” said Chavda who does the painting as service to Lord and has learnt Kalamkari but is yet to be a trained artist. Part of the youth congregation that makes the dresses for Janmashtami, Chavda said, “For us (her and her colleagues) making the dress for the Lord is like doing service for him.”
Tied to a cot, the dress is spread on which members of the congregation paint different colours. “We first choose the art form, then the decision of what will go on the dress is taken and then the work starts,” added Hrishika Donthule, another devotee who was working on the cloth that was stretched on a cloth on which many painted drawings. Previously, the congregation had done Pattachitra Art forms from Odisha and Kerala Mural Paintings.
Vijay Gohil/FPJ
The first decision is about designing and then about vibrant colours. “In the case of Lord Krishna, the motifs are Lotus and Swan. All that is symbolic of peace, what the Lord likes is present in his wardrobe,” added Chavda.
On Radha Rani’s dress, the devotees have tried to create the scene of Golo-Vrindavan (spiritual Vrindavan). “On her dress is the Kalpavriskha (Tree of life) tree, cows, elephants, and deer. On the dress of Sakhis we have peacocks and other animals. Every day since mid-June, the devotees start to work on the dress. Towards the end we put in more hours,” said Chavda.
For Shringar Aarti which happens around 7.45am, another dress is made that is done by another set of devotees.
“The dress is made out of Swarovski stones. Shringar aarti dress has the concept of a Sharanarthi (seeking shelter),” informed Premkishore Das, a pujari at ISKCON, Chowpatty.
“We have done a lot of Jari work and used Swarovski stones for the dress and the background. This year, the dress will have a lot of swans and lotuses,” said Damodar Gopaldas, who headed the team that makes the dress for the Shringar aarti.
