India has always been praised for its syncretic culture and a recent example of this came to the fore, when a Muslim woman making Lord Krishna paintings, presented one of them before a deity of the God.
On Sunday (September 26), 28-year-old Jasna Salim, from Kozhikode having made more than 500 pictures of Little Krishna, presented one of them before the deity at the Sree Krishna Swamy temple in Ulanadu in Pathanamthitta district. Two of her drawings had been earlier presented at temples.
Jasna, a devout Muslim, told the media that Ulanadu temple authorities had requested her for a painting and like in past she agreed. It was the first time that she had stepped into a Hindu shrine.
Talking to New Indian Express she said: “It was a big dream of mine to see Lord Krishna’s idol and to present my painting before the deity. I’m delighted to have been able to fulfil that wish at the Ulanadu Sree Krishna Swamy temple in Pandalam. I have no words to express my happiness, and my gratitude to the temple authorities.”
Born in a conservative Muslim family, she had an early association with Lord Krishna because as a child, she was called 'Kannan' by her loved ones. Interestingly, ‘Kannan’ is a name used to refer to infant Krishna in Malayalam.
It was by accident that her passion for painting Lord Krishna pictures started six years ago. Suffering from an injury during her second pregnancy after a fall, she was bedridden and it was at that time she found Lord Krishna’s picture and felt like drawing one.
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Using her son’s colour pencils she made her first Lord Krishna painting which looked good. Her husband Salim liked it too but asked her to destroy it as their relatives may object. Her heart didn’t agree and hence the couple decided to gift it to a Hindu family living nearby.
The family later informed Jasna that picture was lucky for them as several good things happened to them. Inspired by this, she decided to paint more pictures.
More people appreciated and bought her artwork but this didn’t go well with some of her relatives, but her husband and immediate family supported her for which she is grateful.
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Jasna’s who paints only one image — of Little Krishna with a butter pot — is now keen to gift one of them to the Prime Minister himself. “I have been gifting my paintings of Lord Krishna to the Guruvayur temple for the past six years, during Vishu and Sree Krishna Jayanti celebrations. I can only paint one image to perfection — Little Krishna sitting with a butter pot. And everyone is demanding that image. I wish I could gift a Lord Krishna painting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi one day,” she told NIE.
