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Integraphics
designed and developed by prof. R. K. J O S H I
The Sound Waves
A calligraphic interpretation of Nada vibrations emerging from aum, through permutations and combinations of the letters a, u and m in Devanagari script.
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1. The phonetic structure of the monosyllabic mantra aum consists of
three sounds, a, u and m, with variable duration of
utterance. The permutation and combin-ation of these sounds have been
interpreted calligraphically to represent the multi-directional vibrations
produced by this root mantra.
The Spine
The worshipper instills life (jiva, atma and tejas) in the clay figure of Lord Ganesha, with the help of this mantra of Pranapratistha.
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2. It is observed that the mere utterance of a mantra by a devoted worshipper
imbues life in the clay model of a deity (Lord Ganesha). This unique concept,
though symbolic, of putting life into an object and enabling an ordinary person
to perform the role of creator, is inherent in the mantra and gave rise to its
calligraphic (life giving) rendering in a vertical spine-like, organic
composition.
The Utterance
The reverberations created by the utterance of the mono-syllablic mantra gan, visually experienced.
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3. The reverberations created by the utterance of the monosyllabic mantra
gan, has been represented by radiating varied grey levels from the
essence - the core strokes of the letter gan - to establish the positive
relationship (made visible) between the characteristics of the chanting of the
mantra and its written form.
The Fire
The seed-syllable ram represented at micro level through the calligraphic rendering of a stroke symbolising the cosmic element `fire', one of the five essential elements of the universe.
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4. The seed-syllables representing five essential elements of the universe
(earth, water, sun, wind, sky), at seed (micro) level are represented minimally
with the help of their calligraphic structure. Instead of fire being depicted
as `red glowing flames' at the macro level, the stroke of ra (ram
standing for fire principle) itself has turned into a symbolic flame structure,
which has been further repeated in an inverted triangle which itself indicates
the fiery energy in Indian Tantrism.
The Existence
The philosophy of existence - non-dualism - has been rendered through a calligraphic logo of advaita (Sanskrit word meaning non-dualism).
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5. The philosophical concept of existence - non-dualism - as propagated by
Adi'Sankaracarya, has been rendered through a calligraphic logo of
advaita (Sanskrit word meaning non-dualism), in which a single
calligraphic stroke splits into two before merging into one, represents
everything beginning from the `one', which seemingly gets distinguished as two
(maya). Duality, ultimately, merges into the `one' (advaita)
non-duality.
The five essential elements (Earth-lam, Water-vam, Sun-ram, Wind-yam, Sky-ham) represented in seed-syllables, governing human activities and manifestations.
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In addition to their contribution to the revival of cultural contexts, these
and similar exercises in integraphics, can create a formal awareness and
structural understanding of the written word in context to the nuances of the
spoken word. Their mutually beneficient relationship would be suited to
exploration in modern multimedia and other interactive modes, making the
assimilation of information a more exciting, memorable and worthy experience.
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1. R. SHYAMSASTRI, The Origin of the Devanagari Alphabets,
Bharati Prakashan, Varanasi, 1973.
2. R.H. VAN GULIK, Siddham, Mrs. Sharada Rani, New Delhi, 1980
3. Jayakhya Samhita, Baroda, 1931
4. MADHU KHANNA, Yantra, Thames & Hudson, London, 1979
5. YASMIN HAMID SAFADI, Islamic Calligraphy, Thames & Hudson, London, 1987
6. JOHN STEVENS, Sacred Calligraphy of the East, Shambala, Boulder & London, 1981
7. MOOKERJEE AJIT & MADHU KHANNA, The Tantric Way: Art, Science, Ritual, Graphic Society, New York, Boston, 1977.
8. R.K. JOSHI, Siddham Letterforms, Seminar proceedings, Indian Symbology, Bombay, 1987.
9. R.K. JOSHI, Calligraphy Study of Manuscripts, Seminar proceedings, Caltis, Pune, 1983.
10. R.K. JOSHI, Aksharasaaj, Seminar proceedings, Bamboo Craft design workshop, Bombay, 1993.
11. P.P. APTE & S.G. SUPEKAR, PALACO, Calligraphical Significance of The tantric code of alphabets, Seminar proceedings, Caltis, Pune, 1983.
Illustration credits, courtesy
Source ref.
4: L, M, N, O
2: A
5: K
6: B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, P
Integraphics: Scroll exhibitions Shreelekh (91), Shree (87), Sparsh (93) by PROF. R.K. JOSHI