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Details
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About
The 'yantra' sculptures present with seemingly extraordinary simplicity profound spiritual ideologies. Indian religious thought is built around the fundamental principle that all existence emerges from a single point of origin and it is to this point that everything ultimately returns. The central quest of Indian spirituality is to understand the relationship between the individual and universal and to achieve experiential realisation of the 'One'. Sacred diagrams ('yantras') illustrate this fundamental notion in abstract form and, indeed, map out an individual's spiritual journey.
Although 'yantra's make charming display objects they are in fact ritual tools and belong to the Tantric religious tradition of India. By definition, 'yantra' are sacred dwellings or receptacles that contain the essence of a divine being. During a ritual, a practitioner will make special offerings to the deity housed within the 'yantra' and use the diagram as a meditative support to stimulate latent psychosomatic energies.
This sculpture exhibits a sequence of patterns commonly seen on 'yantras'. The diagram is composed of a square enclosure with T-shaped portals in the cardinal directions that allow access towards the sacred centre. A series of circles and lotus petals appear within the square and house a set of interlocked triangles. At the very heart of the diagram lies a triangle enclosing a dot--the mystical point ('bindu')--the singular point of origin and the destination of the spiritual journey.
Asian Art Department, AGNSW, February 2006.
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Places
Where the work was made
India
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Exhibition history
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Tantric Art, Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 06 Dec 2005–23 Dec 2005
Goddess: Divine Energy, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Oct 2006–28 Jan 2007
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Bibliography
Referenced in 1 publication
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Madhu Khanna, Goddess: Divine Energy, 'Tantric goddess 'yantras' ', pg. 159-171, Sydney, 2006, 167 (colour illus.). cat.no. 101
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Provenance
The provenance of this work is under review and records will be updated as new details become available. The Gallery welcomes any information. Contact provenance@ag.nsw.gov.au
Ben Janssens Oriental Art, pre 2006, London/England