The Art Gallery at Diyodhaya has as its theme - Religious harmony and integration.  The concept of this art gallery was formed in 1996, with the focus on creating awareness in the minds of people about different religions. 

The growth and evolution of man, culture, religion and spirituality, over the many centuries, has been portrayed artistically in this gallery.  There are paintings, drawings, photographs, transparencies, sculptures, terra cotta works and video tracks.  There are various exhibits on Creation, the Indus Valley Civilisation and major religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. 

Artists featured include P K Ramachandran, his assistants V Ramanan, Subbramanian, Mani, Babu and scriptwriters V K Dinesh, Dr. M R P Guruswami and Dr. R M Thirunavukarasu. 

Krishanaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman of the Divyodhaya Religious and Charitable Trust termed it a ‘big idea in a small room’.  The creation of life as an expression of God’s beauty is portrayed in one panel through the artistic representations of many forms of life, like seeds, trees, plants and rivers.  Then the Indus Valley civilisation, which is nearly 5,000 years old (to which the worship of Shiva and Sakthi can be traced) is portrayed in the next panel.  Various religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism are portrayed through individual panels.  At the end of these panels there is a painting of a prism from which one single ray of light gets dispersed into seven colours, with the message expressed in a vedic mantra ‘Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadani’, (‘The truth is one, the wise ones call it by various names’).

The message of harmony is depicted in a very creative manner by showing people of different faiths playing various instruments in an orchestra.  Though the instruments they play are different, the end result is harmonious.  In the last series of panels various personalities are profiled – Thiruvalluvar, St. Thomas the apostle, St. Francis Xavier, Guru Gobind Singh, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Vallalar Ramalinga Swami, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sree Narayana Guru, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, Pandit Nehru, Abdul Kalam, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Ambedkar, Vinoba Bhave, Mother Teresa, Acharya Tulsi and Sri Aurobindo.  The last painting in the panel shows men making their way to heaven.

Address: Divyodhaya Art Gallery, 91, Geetha Hall Road, Coimbatore – 641 018.
Phone: 300 966.

Author: Joseph Pradeep Raj

Photographs: Leslee Lazar