Will Rama Save Us From Evil Once Again?

Fabrice Monteiro’s The Prophecy is extremely striking and dynamic in its subject matter and composition. He uses a strong palette to create contrast in the different textures. This artistic manifestation of the destruction that industrialization and capitalism have brought is extremely compelling and powerful. It is important to note that "these sites were chosen precisely because they are neither unique nor remote; these are places where Senegalese people go about their daily lives, impacting the water they drink, the fruits and vegetables they eat." This allows the viewers to experience the daily lives of Senegalians. The photographs highlight the environmental damage,overwhelming mass destruction and emphasize the global inequality of the climate crisis.Therefore, these photos illustrate how we are not only destroying the natural world, but the natural world will soon reclaim our spirits and bodies. 

Now let's look at the Hindu figure: Ravana.

Ravana was one of the most dreadful creatures ever born according to hindu mythology. He was known to have ten heads with great intellect and a devotee of lord Shiva. His obsession to conquer Lanka and be unbeatable by other supernatural beings, consumed him. He dedicatedly performed tapas to please Brahma, who eventually granted him his wishes.Furthermore, Ravana’s sister Shurpanakha was captivated by lord Rama, and soon proposed to him. However, Rama was married to Sita and refused her proposal. Then, Shurpanakha asked Laxman (Rama’s brother) to marry her. This not only aggravated Laxman, but also made him chop off her nose. To take revenge for the humiliation of his sister, he kidnaped Sita (Rama’s wife) and kept her captive for over a year. This was the beginning of the war between Rama and Ravana. Since Ravana was unbeatable, Rama attained a special weapon that led to the demise of the ten headed evil demon. The end of Ravana was a result of his bad Karmas and his raging ego. 

On the festival of Dussehra, Ravanas sculptures (along with his two brothers) are burnt to show that victory of good over evil, “the day of victory”. This festival also celebrates the female divinity/ goddess which is considered to be the “Cosmic Energy” that guards life on this planet. 

Going back to Fabrice Monteiro, his photographs do an excellent job of elevating the figure with extravagant, sculptural costumes that make the figures appear like gods/ supernatural spirits. The scale of the figures make you feel powerless in front of them. Here, we can see an interesting correlation between Ravana and Monteiro’s photographs. Something that happened around 4000 BCE, is echoed again in the 21st Century through this series: heightened emotions, greed, egos violence and ignorance to the level that results in the end of our civilization and environment. The figures in ‘The Prophecy’ encapsulate the after effects of falling into the trap of capitalism and consumerism. Each environmental problem is presented through this series like illegal fishing, climate change acting the great barrier reef, contamination, bush fires, coastal erosion, urban waste. This not only exemplifies the deterioration of our planet, but also does the job of making us realise that we are going to be the reason for this Earth's slow death. Furthermore, just like the war between Ranvana and Rama, Monteiro illustrates a war between human beings and our earth. The choice of this female figure in Monteiro's work is also interesting and can be viewed as the female goddess Sita (Rama’s wife who also represents mother earth itself), as she has been kept captive in the hands of these large, corrupt corporations around the world whose actions have resulted in the earth being suffocate with plastic, oil spills and tons of non-degradable trash.

Now, all there is left to do is wait for Rama to land on this earth and save us from all this pertaining evil. But will Rama save us from evil once again? And is there enough time for us to wait for some supernatural magical solution to save our planet? 

(DG) 

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.hindutsav.com/about-dussehra/ 

https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/life-and-character-sketch-of-ravana

https://www.ecofund.org/project/prophecy.html

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