TRANSFORMED BY INDIA

CHAPTER TEN: IMPERMANENCE

Traveling to gather information on Indian terracottas, I grow increasingly fascinated with women’s sacred and decorative art in rural villages. My third book, Painted Prayers (published in 1994), is based upon interviews and photographs throughout India, while coordinated exhibitions are displayed in museums in the US, Europe, and India.

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Hota ("Maushi") Bantaligram, Puri District, Orissa

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Hota ("Maushi") Bantaligram, Puri District, Orissa

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata employs a Homemade Brush to Paint Her Walls

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata's Daughter Grinds Freshly Harvested Rice to Make a Paste

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata's Daughter Uses Her Fingers To Apply Paste to a Floor Diagram

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata's Home in Bantaligram, Puri District, Orisaa

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Another Farmhouse Across the Village Pond

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Footrprints of the Goddess Lakshmi Lead Across the Treshhold and into Bidulata's Home

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Paints a Lotus Inside Her Home to Create A Temporary Shrine For Goddess Lakshmi

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Paints a Lotus Inside Her Home to Create A Temporary Shrine For Goddess Lakshmi

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Welcomes the Goddess Lakshmi Into Her Home

Bidulata
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Bidulata

One of Exterior Walls of Bidulata's Home Painted with Symbols to Welcome Lakshmi Inside

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Once the 3-Day Ritual is Over, Bidulata's Home Returns to Normal

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Bidulata Covers Her Recentlly Painted Walls with Mud Mixed with Cowdung to Create a Palette for New Artworks

Bidulata
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Bidulata

Stephen's Friend, Bidulata Hota

Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur
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Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur

Maharajah Gaj Singh ("Bapji ") at Home

Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur
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Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur

Offical Portrait of Maharajah Gaj Singh

Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur
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Maharajah Gaj Singh of Jodhpur

Royal Family of Jodhpur (Bapji, His Mother, The Maharani Hemlata Devi, the Crown Prince Shivraj Singh, and Princess Shivranjani Rajye)

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Brahmapuri - the So-Called Blue City of Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Brahmapuri - the So-Called Blue City of Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Brahmapuri - the So-Called Blue City of Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Cows Have Right of Way on the Narrow Streets of Brahmapuri, Jodhpur

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

A Woman Paints Her Home's Walls With A Fresh Layer of Blue Pigment For the Diwali Festival

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Closeup of Repainting A Brahmapuri Wall

Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri
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Jodhpur's Blue City of Brahmhapuri

Homes in Brahmapuri, Jodhpur, Are Painted Inside and Out For Each Diwali Festival

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Children Squirting Coloured Water on Holi in Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Children Playing Holi in the Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Men Playing Holi in Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Men Playing Holi in Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Stephen Playing Holi in Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Women & Boy Watching Holi Frivolities in Blue City

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Holi at the Umaid Bhawan Palace

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Holi at the Umaid Bhawan Palace

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

The Crown Prince & Friends Playing Holi at Umaid Bhawan Palace

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Gaj Singh, Maharajah of Jodhpur Playing Holi

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Maharani Hemlata Rajye Playing Holi

Playing Holi in Jodhpur
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Playing Holi in Jodhpur

Stephen Later in the Day on Holi

Rajasthan
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Rajasthan

Phulo Covers Her Wall With Camel Dung, Motisingh ki Dhani

Rajasthan
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Rajasthan

Phulo Uses a Stick as a Paintbrush, Motisingh ki Dhani

Rajasthan
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Rajasthan

Phulo's Complex Geometric Abstraction on her Wall in Motisingh ki Dhani

Rajasthan
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Rajasthan

Motisingh ki Dhani, Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan

Rajasthan
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Rajasthan

Shelf Niches inside Phulo's Home - Motisingh ki Dhani

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Painted Prayers Cover, Rizzoli & Thames&Hudson, 1994

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Peintures Sacree de l'Inde, French Edition, Arthaud, 1994

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Die Bilders Indiens, German Edition, Frederking Und Thaler, 1994

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Rabari Artist Applies Clay Border for her Home's Bas Relief, Bhujodi, Kachchh, Gujarat

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Rabari Artist Applies Clay 7 Mirrors to Household BasReleif Decoration, Bhujodi, Kachchh, Gujarat

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Household Bas Relief in Ludiya Village, Kachchh, Gujarat

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Wall Decoration in a Woodcarvers Village, Ludiya, Kachchh, Gujarat

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Interior of a Home in Ludiya, Kachchh, Gujarat

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Unmarried Women Create Athapoovidal (Flower Kolams) Outside Their Home. in Trivandrum, Kerala

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

An Unmarried Girl Creates an Athapoovidal Outside Her Home in Trivandrum, Kerala

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

A Finished Athapoovidal, Trivandrum, Kerala

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Mud Bas Relief on a Doorway in Chhindwara DIstrict, Madhya Pradesh

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Mud Bas Relief on a Doorway in Chhindwara DIstrict, Madhya Pradesh

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Bas Relief Lions on a Courtyard Wall, Chhindwara DIstrict, Madhya Pradesh

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

Mina Tribal Artists Create a Mandana on the Floor of their Courtyard in Sawai Madhopur District, Rajasthan

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

A Mina Artist Uses White Lime Pigment to Adorn Her Threshhold, Sawai Madhopur District, Rajasthan

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

A Mina Artist Paints An Elephant & Rider on her Wall, Sawail Madhopur District, Rajasthan

Painted Prayers
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Painted Prayers

An Elaborate Mina Wall Painting in Sawai Madhopur District, Rajasthan

Painted Prayers Exhibitions
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Painted Prayers Exhibitions

Painted Prayers Exhibition Entrance at the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC

Painted Prayers Exhibitions
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Painted Prayers Exhibitions

A Local Hindu Artist Completeing a Kolam Inside the Painted Prayers Exhibition, Smithsonian

Painted Prayers Exhibitions
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Painted Prayers Exhibitions

Painted Prayers Exhibition Poster on DC Street

Giving Books
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Giving Books

Giving Bidulata Her Copy of Painted Prayers

Giving Books
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Giving Books

Giving Bidulata Her Copy of Painted Prayers

Giving Books
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Giving Books

Handing Out Pages of Painted Prayers in Blue City

Giving Books
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Giving Books

Giving a Copy of Painted Prayers to Family in Orissa