New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Culture& Tourism (Independent Charge), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Lt. Governor of Delhi Shri Anil Baijal jointly inaugurated the exhibition ‘Shashwat Maharathi : The Eternal Seeker’ on Chitracharya Upendra Maharath at newly renovated Jaipur House in National Gallery of Modern art New Delhi today. The Exhibition showcases more than 1000 works of art, design, and woven objects of art by Chitracharya Upendra Maharathi. Exhibition will be remained open for general public from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm Tuesday to Friday. On weekends people can visit exhibition till 8:00 pm.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister congratulated NGMA for beautiful restoration of Jaipur House. He also appreciated the Exhibition ‘Eternal Seeker’ which is showcasing magnificent work of Shri Chitracharya Upendra Maharath.
The show of paintings, drawings, murals sculptures, woven cloths and chairs all point to the zenith of his creativity. His interest in Buddhism brought forth many designs that were inspired by Buddhist ideology. The installations in the retrospective have been designed by DG, NGMA Adwaita Gadanayak. The Exhibition has been curated by Adwaita Gadanayak and his team.
Maharathi was author of many books too, The Book on bamboo art, “Venushilpa” was among the best. Vaishali ke Lichhvi (The Lichhvi dynasty of Vaishali), Bouddha Dharma ka Abbhuthan (The Rise of Buddhism), Indragupta were some of the other memorable works.
Following the tradition of ancient art of sculpture, he designed many noted buildings : Venuban Viharin Rajagriha, Sandarbh Vihar, Ananda Stupa, Prakrit and Jainology Institute at Vaishali, Nava Nalanda Maha Vihar at Nalanda, etc. of great interest is the outer facade of the Nalanda Railway Station, are among those specially designed at the exhibition at Jaipur House .
Born in the village Narendrapur, Puri district in Orissa, in May 1908, Maharathi finished from the Govt College of Art, Kolkata, as an artist cum architect. In later years he came to Patna in Bihar. From 1933 to 1942 he advocated a literary-cultural revival as he worked in the publishing house, “Pustak Bhandar”, in Laharyasari, Darbhanga. In 1942, he was appointed a special designer in the Department of Industry, Govt of Bihar. In 1954, he visited Japan to attend the UNESCO International conference as representative of India.
