God lost childhood V

The painter Bal Krishna Banamala is from Bhaktapur’s unique Banamala caste of gardeners and flower growers. The Banamala are also ritual dancers responsible for the annual masked Navadurgā in which the performers become the gods whose masks they inhabit. These inherited roles come with great responsibility and pre-defined social standing which severely limit choices of profession and lifestyle for those born into the Banamala caste.

God lost childhood V was painted during Nepal’s 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. On 7 October 2020 Bal Krishna Banamala wrote, ‘I have tried to show the future of the person who walks while preserving the tradition and culture and the reality of the real God. I have tried to highlight the problems of the family life of the real people who are working day and night by calling it tradition and culture. The deeds done today determine tomorrow. … People who become gods are finding it difficult to become human.’