"Sonar Horin" - The Golden Deer

Back again with my "calendar-style" painting !  Of Late I have been very busy with my work, but that doesn't give me an excuse to be away from my favourite leisure job for so long. I promise myself to be more regular in future .... anyways no more hanky panky, lets talk about my latest venture. It has a very interesting mythological story behind it which is one of my all time favourites as well .

Yes! you are right this painting is from "Ramayana". Those of you who are still wondering, this is a depiction of one of the famous scenarios of the Indian Epic "Ramayana". Although  given the size of the book, no wonder very few Indians have actually read the whole epic. Most of us have been satisfied watching the TV series "Ramayana" directed by Ramananda Sagar or at max have read a few chapters from it (thanks to our middle school curriculum !) . However we all can somehow recollect the whole story for sure in bits and pieces. I vaguely remember the episodes of "Ramayana" but thanks to Youtube for providing us access to those golden childhood memories. 

I highly recommend Sita sings the Blue by Nina Paley where she has tried to catch the emotions of Sita through her wonderful animation. Though it's mainly sarcastic, still it's well enough to unravel the inner message beneath. 

Another song I would love to share here is from the Bollywood movie "Swadesh" - Pal Pal he Bhari. The only essence I get from it is Sita's palpable love for her husband - even after so many days of hardship, she is all praises about her husband. The enormous magnitude of love and trust that she has for her dear husband is the highlight of this song. Although "trust" is one of those very few adjectives that is perhaps not applicable to Rama. Infact it was this very "Trust" that didn't bring happy ending to Ramayana , even the deep love that he had for his wife Sita could not save it. Check out the video of this song if you feel like.

Rama and Sita 

The picture that I have drawn this time is the focal point of the story. I'm not going to get into the details - in short, Sita was amazed by seeing the golden deer (which was Maaricha, a demon in disguise) and wanted to pet it.  

              Maaricha - the demon in disguise

She insisted Rama to fetch it for her. Now Rama was very much aware of the fact that Golden deer was a myth. Still he went to catch it because he was so much in love with her and  all he wanted was to bring a smile on her face. Here I wanted to capture a moment of their undying love for each other. 

I have tried to create the serene beauty of Panchavati  forest ( where Rama, Sita and Laxman were staying during their exile). I chose Hibiscus, Ixora (also known as Rangan in Bengali , Tagar or Chadni and small summer sunflower as garden plants ( these flower plants are very common in West Bengal as well as in all parts of India). Waterfall is enough to pop the beauty and almost in every calender you'll find one. 

The "Panchavati" Forest

Original Painting

This is a high resolution picture of my painting "Sonar Horin - The Golden Deer" done in June 2013. The original was painted in acrylic paints on 16” x 20” Canvas. Please email me at huensplash@gmail.com if you are interested in buying my original artwork.

" Sonar Horin " - The Golden Deer

Acrylic on Canvas ( 16" x 20" )

Wildflowers

I love flowers as any other person in this world. Other than the common love, as a student of Plant Science flowers has a special place in my heart. Though I always hated the Taxonomy classes in my undergrad days but always enjoyed the lab which introduced me to so many unknown plants with their beautiful flowers and fruits. Well, now I'm no more in India and I have a chance to explore new plants. The funny part is either you have to go the nature trails or have to carefully look on the sides of the sidewalk for the herbs which have won the "hide and seek" with the grass mowers. In India, we have natural mowers , cows and goats :) My lab mate here was telling me that she is thinking of hiring some goats to mow her lawns. Not a bad idea :P

 These pictures are taken mostly on my way to the work place. Yes, I walk as it's only 20 minutes from my home. Everyday I see the additional yellow carpet of buttercups on the endless grass carpet from a distance. I went near by one day, adored them and captured their elegant presence in my mind as well as in my camera. I can't express how happy I was within them. 
Wildflowers are another reason for me to go for hiking. White, purple, blue flowers will welcome you all through your way. Japanese honeysuckles are there to mesmerise you with their fragrance.  What else you want. I find Kentucky Wildflower a very useful link.

    I'll keep on posting some more photos, so keep on checking.

                                             Beautiful Buttercups(Ranunculus acris)

                                                       Me with the Buttercups

                                                               Buttercup carpet.

                                     one of my favorite: Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

                                               very common White clovers (Trifolium repens)

                                                Beautiful Rough-fruited Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)

No, these are not strawberries but called Mock strawberry, Gurbir or Indian Strawberry (Potentilla indica)

Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera)

                                              Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) Well, this is a fruit not the flower.