India is a country of various Gods and people find both peace and happiness in worshipping them in their own different ways and in many temples in all parts of the country.
However, the varied formations of different Gods are mostly portrayed as white in color, the imagination of the same showing the country’s obsession with white skin despite the fact that a major population of our country is dark in color.
However, two Chennai filmmakers, Naresh Nil and Bhardwaj Sundar have decided to reverse it and re-imagined our Gods and Goddesses as ‘dark-skinned’ deities instead.
On their Facebook page, they have stated their clear purpose behind it.
By depicting Gods we revere as dark-skinned, this initiative aims to celebrate a different view of their divinity, serenity and all-pervasive beauty by going beyond perceptions. Dark is not just beautiful, but divine.
Here are some of their creatives and they’re dark and beautiful!
1. Bala Krishna
2. Goddess Saraswati
3. Lord Shiva
4. Goddess Durga
5. Mother Sita and her children, Lava and Kusha
6. Bala Murugan
7. Goddess Lakshmi
With all these beautiful dark-skinned presentations of divine deities, its time we think beyond the popular adage of ‘fair is beautiful’!
All images courtesy: Naresh Nil Photography