SAIKAT ART – SAND FORMS – ATTRACT BRAHMOTSAVAM PILGRIMS AT TIRUMALA

Tirumala , October 14: The unique sand art – Saikat art in service of Lord Venkateswara is a big hit at the Exhibitions put up by the TTD at Tirumala as part of the Navaratri Brahmotsavams.

The two large sand art forms – How Garuda transshipped the Srivari temple gopuram – from Vaikuntam to Tirumala and the second one of Holy Cow feeding Lord Venkateswara in Ant Hill-the episode taken from Venkateswara Mahatyam are the main attractions attractions at the exhibition grounds got up on the Papavinasam Road.

22 year old Neelambika, a Mechanical engineer by education hailing from Mysore is the chief artist of a team of two artists – Neela and Gauri – who created the art forms this year for enthralling the devotes and pilgrims at Tirumala.

I got this intuition of sand art from my father who was a fabricator. It took us 3 days of hard work to create these forms with 12 truck loads of sand. We used a compounding method to make sand to stay bonded” says Neelambika.

The two teenagers have already set up a museum of saikat art at Chamundi Hill Road in Mysore with over 34 such art forms. ‘Their goal is to take the saikat art to national level with art forms of national events and other social themes’.

She says that the TTD garden deputy director Sri Srinivasulu had invited them to create two mythological themes which would attract the pilgrims to Brahmotsavams.

ISSUED BY THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, TTDs,TIRUPTI