By Pallavi Jain
The Sacred India Gallery in Perth displays the artistic works of resident artist Jagattarini. Jagattarini is an Australian artist but lived in India for over a decade. The artwork at the gallery includes traditional Indian carvings, a maze of intricate displays, walk-in installations and Jagattarini’s 1/72 scale miniature dioramas based on stories of Lord Krishna from Vrindavan. These displays are an attempt to capture the “sights, sounds, and mystical atmosphere of spiritual India.”
Australian Artist Jagattarini tells SBS Hindi: “I first went (to India) in 1974. I then went back to live there in 1983 and I stayed in Vrindavan with my family until 1996. When I got back here (to Australia) I started longing to keep my mind and my thoughts in Vrindavan.
“Then a friend of mine sent me as a birthday gift, a tiny one-inch sized figure of Krishna. When he came (Krishna) like that, I didn’t know why he had come and what I should do with him. I made a little house, a little temple with some trees, little simple items to make him feel welcome and that’s where it began. Before I knew it, I was making all kinds of little things. A size scale of one inch. It just started flowing but I never had any idea that they would end up in a gallery.”
Jagattarini recounts how in India she felt a sense of timelessness.
“When I went to Vrindavan, I found, how people there had been living the same way for generations. And whilst they have certainly made technological progress, still the appearance of Vrindavan and therefore the atmosphere of Vrindavan, it still retains some of that timelessness.”
Shree Radha Raman is the Gallery Manager at The Sacred India Gallery. He tells SBS Hindi, “The Sacred India Gallery is a community Arts project by artists from the Hare Krishna community here in Perth. We came together with a desire and an interest to share with the broader community here in Australia something about the wonderful gifts of spiritual India.”
“I am originally from New Zealand. I took to this path when I was young, when I was 19 years of age. My parents are University lecturers. I was inspired after I received a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and I read the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. It inspired me on my spiritual journey and I have dedicated the last thirty years of my life in the service of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.”
Soumya Gupta is a volunteer at the gallery.
“Sacred India Gallery was inaugurated in 2012. This gallery was created so that India’s culture and spiritual background could be presented to the general audience not just Indians but everyone.”
Sonu Rastogi is an Indian-Australian who lives in Perth.
“A visit to this gallery is totally free. I have been living in Perth for the last 10 years. I have young kids. Australia is as beloved to us as India, but when we are outside India, our children get very few chances to learn about our religion and culture when they are growing up. So these kinds of places, where there is a visual tour, kids get interested. And when their interest develops and when they go back to India and speak to their relatives and friends, they can say with a lot of happiness that even though we are in Australia we are still connected to our Indian culture.”
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