Exhibition of Lord Shiva Paintings by Sita Sudhakar, Hyderabad

Hyderabad, 26th December: Sita Sudhakar, a renowned painter will be hosting an exhibition of Lord Shiva paintings at State Gallery of Art, Hyderabad from 27th Dec to 31st Dec 2012. Today the exhibition was inaugurated by Shri P S Ramamohan Rao, former Governor, Tamilnadu.

Ms Sita Sudhakar presented many solo exhibitions and group painting exhibitions in the past across the globe.
"Shiva" means "Shubam". Lord Shiva is the king of all dancers and is also called "Natraj". He created the Thandava, a vigorous style of dancing. This dancing form has inspired many saints, poets, painters, singers, sculptures and historians. The sthotram, about Shiva Thandava is form of expression about Lord Shiva in the act of dancing. Repetition and rhythm of the Shiva Thandava is what inspired artist Sita Sudhakar to take up painting of various forms of Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha. Despite reading the sthotram at very young age, the sthotram is still very fresh and vivid in her mind and her paintings.

This sthotram was composed by Ravana, the demon king who was also one of the great devotees of Shiva. Ravana's mother is also a great devotee of Shiva and performs Puja every day by using 'Shiva Lingam' made out of clay. Hence, Ravana decided to conquer and gift Mount Kailas on top of which Lord Shiva resides, to his mother so that she could perform her Puja. After approaching Mount Kailas, Ravana called Shiva to come down. And when Lord Shiva did not heed to the request, Ravana uprooted the mountain with his twenty hands. Earth started shaking and this made Goddess Parvathi jittery. Lord Shiva pressed down the mountain with his thumb, there by crushing Ravana by the weight of the mountain. Suppressed by the power of Lord Shiva, Ravana prayed to Lord Shiva by singing the Sama Veda and this great sthotram