The Imperial Compilation - Hampi Inspired.

They say everything comes to an end....my recent trip to Hampi & Badami as well...what was left behind were we and many more in their ruins of temples, markets and palaces which once belonged to the great Kings and warriors....What was also left behind were my thoughts inspired by these majestic ruins. I came home, studied the pictures of the architecture, studied the metal used, the bold colours and the importance of water in this area. And then, it was time to use it in my work...



Mirrors have always been my favourite. I love to experiment with them and guess what? Most things look nice on them anyway. So, talking about the rich Vijayanagara of Hampi, there lived middle class people as well. The most important metal used during those times was copper or peetal. This place was also full of temples where spoons, diyas or lanterns were made from copper. Hence, I thought, I should dedicate my tall, green mirror to the temples and the common man of Vijayanagara.





This next mirror has a very profoud thought after the beautiful and intricately carved Pushkarni. A water reservoir shaped in a square with triangular steps, was made around Temples for bathing before visiting the Gods. The deep Blue of the mirror with a combination of Gold marks the riches of Vijaynagara..





Bali is my next mirror. The reason I named it such is, after the gorgeous women of Vijayanagara. All the statues of women, goddess, queens that I saw in the museum of Hampi, jewelry seemed to have a lot of importance. It looked like they spent a lot of time getting dressed very elaborately. So along with the mirror, I decided to make a wall dresser with golden motifs and pieces of circular mirror and named it Bali, meaning earring.





Round, rich and deep blue, one of my favourite mirror is Jaala, meaning water. Water being the most important element of life, civilization and prosperity had to be a part of my work. The kingdom survived and prospered because of the infinite Pushkarnis and water holes and a splendid water supply despite the barren land of Hampi. This mirror marks the infinite water reservoirs and the riches of the kingdom of Vijaynagara.



Storage of any sort has been one of the most important part of our lives. We need it all over. Nidhanika meaning shelf in Sanskrit - is a solid display and storage shelf for books or anything else. It has simple yet ornate golden wrought iron embellishments. The little motif in golden marks the literacy and riches of the era of the Saluva dynasty.



Last but not the least, after so much time, we saw the Milky way in the twilight that spread over Hampi. That moment was so significant for me, that Koshayi meaning drawers in Sanskrit is a piece inspired by the clear starry nights over the expansive strech of these ruins. The drawers are made blue with golden beads to imitate the shinning stars.