Dr. Manju Nahata
(9th Acharya of Jain Swetambar Terapanth sect)
A Mural Painting by Dr. Manju Nahata
Size: 56 feet x 4 feet Base: Cloth mounted on the board Medium: Tempera, Earth colours
MAHAPRAYAN
(Panel 7)
[ large size ]
In my farewell panel Mahashraman is singing a song ‘Shasan kalpataru... rakho rakho rakhwali’. It describes, by implication, the Terapanth sect, as well as addressing Acharya Tulsi to be its spiritual protector, even as Acharya Tulsi has left for his heavenly abode on 23rd June 1997 at Gangashahar (Bikaner, Rajasthan). His demise is a fact of mortality. His presence through bodily absence is, in fact, so pervasive that I have drawn it, imaginatively though, through the life-sustaining intimacy between a milch-camel and its young one drawing milk. Acharya Tulsi’s nourishing presence is felt by everyone attached to the sect, directly or indirectly. Acharya Tulsi was the ninth Acharya of the Terapanth sect. He left this world with first acharya, Bhikshu’s presence felt on his life ‘Om Bhikshu’.
Acharya Tulsi’s passing away is treated imaginatively: a bird taking wings is symbolical of the event and the setting sun is equally suggestive of a glorious life coming to a physical end. One will notice that only in the last panel I have used as my base colour the sunset hue.
All his prestigious awards (as many as six) are now here with us. While for the lesser mortals, who are stuck to the worldly affairs, death is to be feared; for noble souls, such as Acharya Tulsi’s, death is to be welcomed when it comes. That is precisely why I have shown a dancing peacock placed behind the series of his awards.
Three flames inside a cave under a hillock connote the essence of all Jain Treatises. The essence, as painted on flight of three steps, reads: Utpad (origination), Vyaya (cessation), and Dhrauvya (existence). Here I have used three different colours: red (for Utpad), blue (for Vyaya), and white (for Dhrauvya).
As we move towards the end, a rare cosmic representation of Parshvanath is shown on a white band in keeping with the theme of the panel. On 24th June 1997 a farewell song was composed by Acharya Mahapragya and it was sung by every single man. Its first, last and approx. middle lines are reproduced ‘Kaisi yah komal kaya re mahaprana gurudeva...’, the last ‘re mahaprana gurudeva’ being a refrain). The song’s appeal is great enough to affect nature (as tear-shedding clouds) and human nature alike.
With the lines of the song the panel ends and at the margin of the panel appears my signature with a sharp stroke that appears to reach out to the logo of Mahasabha (Terapanth), an organisation contemporaneously established with Acharya Tulsi’s date of birth.
The mural, a heart-felt job, a duty-bound job for me, is my humble dedication to Acharya Tulsi who passed away at Gangashahar, my birthplace (though my working place is Kolkata). Peace be upon us and may it encourage us to be awakened.