World Heritage Day: Shades of Hampi come alive in exhibition

New Delhi: Every time artist Ganesh Doddamani went to Hampi in Karnataka, the same site would welcome him with a new composition and magical interplay between light and shadow, giving him opportunities to interpret and paint. The result of his labour will be displayed at an exhibition which began here on Friday. The 40-year-old artist's fascination for the Unesco World Heritage Site is evident through a series of 40 artworks that glorify its architecture and intricate carving in an exhibition titled "The Fabled Hampi" at the Art Spice Gallery, the Metropolitan Hotel, to mark the World Heritage Day on April 18.

"In 2006, the Karnataka government gave me a month-long project to stay in Hampi and paint this architecture marvel. Such beautiful was the experience that since then I have been painting only Hampi and nothing else," Doddamani said in an interview on the sidelines of the exhibition. "What was surprising is a spot I would paint on a certain day, would never offer the same view the next day. The play of light and shadow has a different view to offer every day," he said, adding he has created over 100 paintings of Hampi.

The artist belongs to Ramadurg town in Belgaum district and for the past 10 years, Doddamani has been visiting Hampi regularly - twice or thrice in a year - to paint this village located within the ruins of Vijayanagara city, former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Doddammani has tried to bring in forth elements that are usually ignored by visitors through oil painting.

There is a small sculpture inside a chariot in Hampi that can be seen through a hole. So the artist clicked a picture of that sculpture and highlighted it on his canvas - keeping the chariot in the background.