Sadbhavna Sthal, Vrundavan

Guild of Service, an NGO based in New Delhi for the empowerment of women contacted me for creative inputs for a multi-faith temple in their old age home called Amar Badi- Maa Dham.

A Religious place- that caters to 8 faiths. What else could I ask for.

Octagonal Structure. Eight Faiths. Me- Painting it!

This is how the temple looked in the beginning. Now, the task at hand is something like this- Eight faiths that are : Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism.

Find some imagery that makes the place look good and does not alter the sanctity.

The challenge- All pillars will have scriptures from each religion.

Brainstorming, hitting a few dead ends of thought and then finally a few drafts later- Tree of life seems to be the only appropriate visual that we decide upon. (We standing for Sarandeep Grover, the brains behind him, Himani and yes, Guild for Service for the final approval.)

Then begins the first stage of airbrushing the walls with some last minute edits in the construction.

Work in Progress......

Post the inside was painted. Scriptures from all the faiths had to posted on the walls. I chose to get stencils ready for the same....

Stenciling turned out to be way more time demanding than I had expected.

The interiors has the scriptures, outside each pillar are the translations.

And that's the Dome :)

The Religious heads inaugurating Sadhbhavna Sthal.

The Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Hon'ble Shri B.L. Joshi- Chief Guest of the event.

You could read more about Sadbhavna Sthal at the UN website.