Marks of Devotion

Lord Ganesha's face is composed using the popular aarti ‘Shendur Lal Chadhayo’, written directly with a finger dipped in paint. The technique draws inspiration from sacred rituals such as the act of applying tilak on the forehead using one’s finger, or devotees gently taking kumkum from the deity’s idol and pressing it onto their own foreheads as a blessed offering. Many then imprint their tilak-smeared fingers onto the walls of the temple, leaving behind silent marks of faith. These intimate gestures, deeply etched in the artist’s memory, evolve into a unique visual language—one that transforms symbolic acts of devotion into an abstract artistic expression.