August 22, 2010

Buddha and the Banyan

This painting of part of a Banyan tree is done in oil on paper sized 10'' by 12''. The effort of doing an oil on paper was not as exciting as doing on a canvas, I felt that the paper does not take as much paint.But I received a book of oil painting paper as a gift and I need to use it :-)

This Banyan is special to me because this tree of an age of about more than 100 years, existed in the Monkey park of Basaveshwarnagar, Bangalore, very near to where I have been living for many years now. The tree housed hundreds of monkeys and birds. The residents of our area did not require an alarm clock to wake up in the morning since the birds started chirping as early as 3 am in the morning. (The monkeys were a menace though since they entered our houses and created havoc!) There were a lot of activities going on under this tree. The senior citizens sat down chatting and made new friends everyday.The children played to their hearts' content. There was a free yoga class going on for home makers and ladies were excited to visit the tree for their yoga. There was a laughter club where men and women of all ages met and started laughing with each other to remove stress and improve health! So at any given point of time there were hundreds of people under the tree, using its shade to go through their activities. One night, the tree crashed down completely from the roots. It looked like a huge bird fallen down with its wings spread all around. It was a sad day for all of us, the residents of this area and everyone was out in the morning to pay their "homage" to this tree.

It was amazing to see that the tree chose to come down at night when there were none underneath. It would have been a major disaster if it had fallen on so many people..Buddha preached Ahimsa, a rule of conduct that refrains from causing pain or injury to any living creature.I thought it was a virtue to be practiced by only humans..but how wrong I was!

25 comments:

  1. This is an amazing story! I love your tree. It dances with color and excitement.

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  2. Gorgeous colors and design! And an amazing story that makes the painting so special!

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  3. This is wonderful. I love the myriad of colors in the tree, showing that it meant so many different things... Very nice!
    Your story reminded me of a childrens book, "The Giving Tree".

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  4. Beautiful one, Padmaja. Thanks for sharing such an amazing story. A very special painting, indeed. Enjoy your day.

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  5. Padmaja, this is just beautiful! I so love trees and want to look up banyan trees now!

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  6. The story and legends regarding the tree are breathtaking, padmaja! And you have done a very good job with the difficult 'marriage' between paper and oil!

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  7. You know Kika, we have Banyan trees here in Florida and I just love them... There is one in Safety Harbor not far from where I live, It is an amazing site... They are hundreds of years old. and its always sad to see something happen like that.. but I suppose just like our lives.. all living things go.

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  8. Oh what a wonderful story Padmaja! You've immortalised the tree with this lovely painting, even if you're not that happy with the oil painting paper.

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  9. Beautiful painting, Padmaja!! And the story is just as beautiful. I picked a special day to stop by and see what you are doing! Well done!

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  10. The story and your painting both are beautiful Padmaja,the blue and orange shade in the tree are nice and good....wonderful.

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  11. I love all the colors you chose to include in your painting of this tree, Padmaja. It certainly deserved the character you gave it. The contrast with the light background is stunning and only serves to make me concentrate on this lovely tree. Thank-you for the story to accompany this. Great post!

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  12. A wonderful painting and an equally wonderful story! I'm happy and sad all at once. Sad, of course, for the loss of something so precious, but happy for all the joy and memories this amazing tree gave. As well, happy that it chose to not harm anyone upon its final rest. You've captured it's grandeur and warmth in your painting, such a great tribute.

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  13. What a wonderful story and painting! I think the paper suited the tree very well. Have you ever considered writing and illustrating books? You are so talented with both.

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  14. Wow wow, amazing story and your painting is so loose and drippy and I love it.

    I so enjoyed reading this and could almost visualize the scenes you described but it was sad to read how it fell down...

    Loved your post.

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  15. Hi Pad,

    How wonderful that this marvelous old tree offered its shade to all who would gather under it... and brought joy to the lives of those people. Your painting is wonderful... really captures the strength, size and majesty of such an old tree.

    I love trees :-)

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  16. I love the story, it is so in tune with my sight of life around.
    And I love the painting, it speaks by itself.

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  17. Padmaja, your tree is absolutely lovely. The tree's story is wonderful. I can't tell you how sad the end of the story makes me...

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  18. The way you have treated this subject is really interesting. The colors are fabulous. The composition is great. you have actually made the tree immortal!

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  19. Amazing story...love the colors you chose for this painting. I would like to get some info now on Banyan Trees..I've never heard of it before. Great job Padmaja!

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  20. What a beautiful touching story. Thanks for sharing.

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  21. Love this work of yours, Padmaja. Makes me feel like paint it too. Thanks for sharing this peaceful, haunting and mesmerising painting.

    Keep it going.

    Ishrath
    http://wanderingmist.com

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  22. Amazing artwork accompanied by a lovely write-up. The scenes went through my mind like a movie. I love the play of colors in this painting.

    I too tried this new 'oil sketch pad'- but with acrylic paints. The effect is a smooth finish.

    Thanks for your kind comment on 'Devdas Dance'. Will come back again to enjoy ur artworks.

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  23. You have paid a beautiful homage to the old one, both in words and in paint. Bravo!

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  24. Amazing title and the write-up...
    Banyan trees always awe me...
    They live for so many years... Witness men's changing deeds... Nature's Atrocities and what not!

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