The exhibition ‘Living Temple’, featured paintings, photographs, and sculptures that highlighted India's temple traditions and symbolism displayed against a backdrop of 3D printers and metalworking stations.
Published Mar 04, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 04, 2025 | 9:00 AM
Hyderabad housed a unique exhibition exploring Indian Heritage this weekend
Synopsis: The exhibition ‘Living Temple’, offered a striking juxtaposition between the traditional and the modern at Hyderabad earlier this month. Over 100 artworks from 30 artists showcased India’s artistic and spiritual heritage at venue dedicated to cutting edge innovation. Beyond static displays, the event offered workshops and performances to help transmit traditional culture to new generations.
Telangana’s capital Hyderabad was recently host to a unique cultural event. At the city’s Information Technology (IT) Hub, Raidurg, ‘Living Temple’, an exhibition showcased India’s rich artistic and spiritual heritage from 28 February to 2 March.
The venue, T-Works, a government-backed prototyping centre that facilitates small-time innovators realise their ideas, provided an interesting contrast between technology and culture.
EkChitra, an art platform, organised the showcase inaugurated by Principal Secretary to the Government from the Department of Tourism and Culture Smitha Sabharwal.
I Quit – by Aaryan Patel
It featured paintings, photographs, and sculptures that highlighted India’s temple traditions and symbolism displayed against a backdrop of 3D printers and metalworking stations.
Visitors encountered temple sketches, representations of performance arts, and interpretations of sculptural forms.
“We are hosting over 100 pieces of art by about 30 artists,” curator Annapurna Madipadiga explained to South First.
“Over three days, we’ve had workshops, dance performances, and discussions. Living Temple is not just an art exhibition, it is an attempt to discuss art and see how we can transmit this culture to future generations.”
Some of the eye-catching works on display at the event were the Yoga Narasimha Study by Drdha Vrata Gorrick, an artist who studied classical arts under iconographers in South India.
His sketch broke down a sculpture of the Hindu deity Narasimha in meditation, in an attempt to decipher the meaning embedded in this traditional form.
Another notable work came from former tech worker turned photographer Amer Ramesh.
After eight years working in IT in the United States, Ramesh returned to India to pursue his passion. His photographs of Therukoothu and Yakshagana performances showed the poses and expressions of these traditional art forms.
Yakshagana – by Amer Ramesh
The exhibition also offered workshops on Vedic Symbols and Kerala Mural Arts. Similarly, dance performances brought stories and traditions to life for contemporary audiences.
An advisory board guided the exhibition that included photographer Amar Ramesh, film director Akul Tripathi, artist Drdha Vrata, water conservationist Kalpana Ramesh, and architect Nand Kumar, with support from the Telangana Tourism Department.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
