Get a glimpse of Chhattisgarh's history at Raipur airport

RAIPUR: Passengers can soak in beauty of Chhattisgarh’s rare landscapes and forgotten history at the city airport, at the exhibit of Bhilai artist’s paintings.

As many as 10 paintings depicting Bastar’s memory pillars, Chhattisgarh’s tribal culture and its terrains by artist Dr Dhruva Tiwari have been on display at the art gallery in Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport .

The exhibition commenced on October 15 and concluded on November 13 and is said to have received a great response and appreciation from the visitors.

Speaking to TOI, Tiwari said, “This is the first time when paintings of the memory pillars have been put on display. I have tried my best to make bring back these forgotten pillars into the light. The memory pillars are identical with the artistic beauty of Bastar region, in other words, it can be called as the social reflection of Bastar.”

The history tells that these pillars, were built in the memory of departed souls which are believed to be about 3,000 years old and are mainly found in the villages inhibited by Maria and Gond tribes in Bastar and Dantewada districts. They have carvings and colourful paintings depicting humans, aeroplanes, trains, bikes, horses, animals, guns, and many more.

Besides, his other nine paintings depict Chhattisgarh’s scenic beauty. He said that he made these indoor landscape paintings in his studio using his past tours across Chhattisgarh as reference. With an aim to promote the budding artists, Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur under Airports Authority of India (AAI) has conceptualized an Art Gallery at the terminal building to exhibit feature work by local artists.