Ram Naam
Made in the year 2003 after the visit of Ayodhya, this series contains thirty paintings all of which are in wash technique on paper. These paintings in some way or other suggest the presence of Shri Rama in every sphere of life.
Apart from depicting Rama as prince, king and ideal human being , other dimensions of Rama has also been portrayed . Sanat Chatterjee has painted him, as an all pervading, omnipresent essence of Godhead. Eulogies to Ram, the मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम or epitome of highest human ideal conduct, have been sung, written and spoken of for millennia.
As Tulsidas said “जाकी रही भावना जैसी, प्रभु मूरत देखी तिन तैसी” (Jaki Rahi Bhavnaa Jaisi,Prabhu Murat Dekhi tin Taiseei) Rama is viewed differently by different persons according to their feeling or perspective. For nirakar devotees, he is paramatma, the formless ultimate soul, creator and protector of all mortal souls. Kabir Panthi and Sikhs also adopt this symbolism. For sagun devotees who believe in epiphany, Rama is God incarnate who descends to earth to destroy evil and re-establish dharma.
Muhammad Iqbal in his poem titled simply as ‘Ram’ said India is proud of Rama’s personality and thinkers consider him as a leader of India. Sanat has not painted Shri Rama in person,but convincingly tried to show how the different class and various strata of people are experiencing the presence of Shri Rama.
This series celebrates the view that “Greater than Rama is the idea that Rama embodies” . Series conveyes the viewer that in India, Rama is a household name. People feel blessed by the name of Shri Rama; it can be uttered in any form. It can be in form of person, place or a thing.
All the painting of this series has landscape with natural looking trees and life like animals and birds, all play important part in explaining the philosophy of the series. The flora and the fauna act as a kind of symbolism and serves devotional purpose. The delicacy of brush work, the refined and fluent lines and the use of soft tones make the painting vibrant with realism.
The characters are endowed with so natural emotion and expression that they give a feeling of portrait painting. The age, the body language, the identification of difference in human race makes it unique and masterpiece in itself. The Ram Naam series, when seen in cultural perspective depicts myriad facets of life and imparts a deeper meaning to ‘life’ per se.
Acknoledgement:-To Lalita Sarkar Sen ( A major part of the write up on this series, has been taken from Ph.D. thesis done by her, on late Shri Sanat Kumar Chatterjee.)