Dr. Rajesh Bhat
Very few are aware of the place and position that history has accorded to Ghulam Rasool Santosh, painter, a mystic poet, the playwright, a calligrapher and a weaver who tried to weave `Tantra” into visual expression by giving it a totally different direction while combining an ancient concept with modern dimensional art form. Primarily, a Kashmiri Shaivite, Ghulam Rasool Santosh was something in everything or should we say everything in noting. Perhaps, it also resonated with his thought process.
Santosh, (born 1929) was a Kashmiri Muslim of Chinkral Mohalla, Habba Kadal, Srinagar. His childhood circumstances arising out of his father’s death compelled him to give up school and was forced to take up odd jobs. He got the feel of the hard realities of the world when he tried his hand on an array of jobs like silk weaving, whitewashing and sometimes painting the signboards. Brutal as the World may have revealed out to him, the seed was sown for the painting in him to flower at a later date. Even though the income appeared to be meager, his love for painting turned him into a “ Sadhak” to explore the inner canvas that was projecting myriad experiences borne out by catharsis and ecstasy. This phase was very important in Ghulam Rasool’s life as it was here that spiritual insights and future directions were being received by him.
His paintings and abstract art even though relatively ephemeral at this stage projects a sense of experimentation with cubism and geometric proportion…. An important base for his later concepts when he produced world-class Tantra art. As they say, the Universe in his case also conspired to favour him. The progressive movement was in full bloom, especially in India and energies were being synchronized and it is here we see Santosh being greatly motivated and influenced by another son of Mother India… Sayed Haider Raza— whose geometric abstraction revolved around the “Bindu”…the spiritual and Tantric concept of nature of ultimate reality in Hinduism which continued till his death.
Santosh’s proximity to Shaiv Darshana (being a native of Kashmir), further accentuated his thirst to understand the nuances to which Raza was pointing to. In 1954, Santosh was able to win a scholarship to study Fine Arts under a celebrated Indian painter, N. S. Bendre in the city of Baroda, Gujarat where he came into contact with “Who is Who” of the art world and his horizons consequently widened.
In early 1960s, Ghulam Rasool Santosh had studied Tantric (mystical) art and Kashmir Shaivism. In 1964, he adopted this style to create some of the best examples of modern Tantric paintings. His paintings are known for the vibrancy of colours, neat lines, spiritual energy and sensuousness. His paintings have been exhibited in notable international shows. Santosh also wrote plays, poetry and essays in Kashmiri. He was also an authority on Kashmir Shaivism, and was one of the very few people who could read and write the ancient, and almost-extinct, Kashmiri script called Sharda.
Adding name of his wife Santosh to personify the man- woman union
Around the same time, he did what was considered unusual and unprecedented in conservative Kashmiri society. He married his childhood Kashmiri friend, Ms Santosh and incorporated her as part of his own identity to become Ghulam Rasool Santosh. As more and more insights were getting revealed, his natural affinity to delve deep into Tantra paintings admittedly produced wonderful results. His paintings centered around the theme of dimensional circles, cubes, triangles all along trying to explore the Ultimate Reality by invoking “Shaiv Shakthi” themes. Thus Santosh not only accorded an academic base to these paintings but also explored the hidden spiritual meanings and messages.
These themes mainly revolved around Shiv and Shakti and the inspiration behind these was his utmost devotion for the Universal Mother seated at Hari Parbat, known from the ancient times as `Predumana Peeth” or ” `Sharika Peeth”. It is said that during this period, which was to last till his stay in Kashmir, his average day would start by getting up early after the midnight and circumambulations around the Shrine of Universal Mother at Chekreshvar would continue, followed by meditative practices.
Later, his whole focus, however, was on interpretation of `Shri Chakra’ and its spiritual significance as recorded in many Shaiv Tantras along with mentions by sages and aspirants of Kashmir’s spiritual heritage, but unfortunately, this could not fructify, as he along with lakhs of Kashmiris had to abandon his homeland.
Considering the current situation, it is unlikely that another Santosh can emerge from Kashmir, as the very soul of Kashmir stands brutalized as on date. But since strange are the ways of the Divine, the seed that lies embedded may sprout in the womb of future.
Santosh’s canvas represented a Projection of Shunya
According to a booklet brought out by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) , Santosh is quoted to have lived with the belief that his canvas represented a projection of Shunya, the void which is incalculable in time and dimension, Anadi and Ananta {without beginning to end}. “The surrounding dark oceans in terms of which you describe the borders of my canvas are the ever unfathomable, unreachable of the fundamental unfathomable, infinite aspects of the fundamental creative force which lies beyond the pale of wisdom, thought and imagination. The canvas itself, therefore, is symbolic as it portrays the omnipresence of infinite in the finite. But space cannot be defined without a minimum of three directions or three lines, which formulate a triangle, which is Mula Trikona. The initial nature of all pervading creative force is Shabda Brahma, primordial sound which is ever and ceaselessly vibrant.”
In search of Inspiration at Amarnath Cave
In 1960, Santosh took a visit to the Amarnath cave in the hope finding inspiration to write an inter-faith romance. However, he came back with an experience of a philosophical tradition that would become the fulcrum of his thought process and embrace his inner sanctum. The 8th century tantric philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism became his leitmotif. He started studying Tantric Art -imagery and philosophy and created his own cosmic corollaries incorporating the cosmic egg form, the vertical symmetry, the ovoid shape as well as the phallic. This why he said: “My paintings are based on the male and female concept of Shiva and Shakti and therefore construed as tantra.”
Kashmir Shaivism had influenced Santosh in terms of colours. It spoke of Prakash Vimarsha as it considered colour a form of light. Therefore, Santosh started treating colour as light. The orange colour in his paintings referenced a connection to tantra in the form of sindoor. Santosh had meditative practices, so deep was his understanding that his paintings reflected those powers of energy.
Santosh had over 30 solo shows in India, U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, besides exhibiting his paintings in national international group shows.
Honoured with Padma Shri by the President of India, he was also awarded the National Award twice and the Artist of the Year Award in New Delhi in 1984. His works belong to Museums all over the world.
Santosh as a mystic poet
Many few people must be aware of the fact that apart from a painter, Santosh was also a great mystic poet. He wrote an important poem in 1963 `Do Rukh’ (twin faced) which employed the metaphor of one’s eyes being transplanted behind the skull. The poem was symbolic of liberating one’s thought process from the constraints of time, space or dimension on the one hand, and implying on the other than one may have left one’s destination behind.
Santosh loved reciting his poetry over Radio Kashmir. In 1972, he had participated in All India Poetic Symposium at New Delhi. In 1978, he received the Sahitya Akademi award for his collection of poems in Kashmiri, titled ‘Be suakh Ruh’ On March 10, 1997, Santosh left for heavenly abode- away from Kashmir, The same year, he was awarded posthumously Doctorate of Literature (Litt.D.) by University of Jammu.
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