The Golden Anar Tree in Uzbekistan

Indian artist Arpitha Reddy’s Golden Anar painted??in??Uzbekistan

TOI BLOG UMA NAIR

?ICR ( International Cultural Relations) which is a part of the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi had a two week program, entitled the “?The Plein Air Program . ” Part of this was an?art symposium at Samarkand 2022 organised as a cultural exchange program for the Samarkand Summit by the Tourism Ministry of Uzbekistan as part of the "Shanghai Co-operative Organisation” and Indian artist Arpitha Reddy was among the artists invited.

Pomegranate?or Anar?

Arpitha Reddy, an Indian artist trained at the Guruvayoor school in the art of mural tradition, created four canvases. The subjects had to be taken from the historical dynamics and dimensions of Uzbekistan. Arpitha who is known for her versatile realist rhythms created a tree of life, resting on the beauty of the fruit of the pomegranate tree and she called it The Golden Anar.

At once the name conjures up a slew of images and we recall classic and stylistic representations of the Tree of Life, rendered on everything from richly embroidered Uzbek coats and Chinese robes to block-printed cottons, carpets, porcelain, and bronze. Today, centuries after commerce moved away from the Silk Road, the Tree of Life motif remains, its tendrils binding the multitudes along the route that crosses boundaries and the ages, reaching even to the state Malls in western countries .

The name Pomegranate originated from the Latin?word?pomun, “fruit of the trees.”?Pomona was the Roman protector goddess of fruitful abundance. The species name?Punica granatum?comes from the?French word?pomme?“apple”?and?granatum?“seeded”.

Pomegranates?are deciduous trees,?native to the Middle East and Himalayas.?

?Greek tales

Arpitha’s Golden Anar is a beauty to behold. The glistening pomegranates remind us of Greek tales of Demeter and her daughter Persephone . Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. In response, Demeter, goddess of agriculture, cast a drought across earth and proclaimed there would be no harvest until Persephone was returned. Under pressure to release Persephone, Hades tricked her into eating a pomegranate seed, thus ensuring that Persephone would return to him in the underworld every year. Her yearly journey between the underworld and earth created the seasons: Spring/Summer – life, Fall/Winter – death.

Blue background?

Arpitha shares her thoughts of creating this masterpiece. “?The blue in the background is from their profuse usage of blue in their monuments. Amir Timur commissioned special craftsmen to use blue in all the monuments built during his period. Blue is a symbol of peace (though there was an emphasis on portrayal of monuments I decided to present the blue of the monuments rather than the architectural form.)

The tree of life?laden with golden Anar is a symbol of prosperity?and abundance. Anar is the most popular motif used in their country?in?their embroidered suzanes, ceramics and carpets. The many seeds in the Anar represent fecundity and it is strongly associated with wedding rituals.”

Unusual fruit?

Pomegranates are unusual fruits, “no more than a closet of juicy seeds,” as famed writer??Jane Grigson says.??Poets have been known to compare those seeds to jewels. Opening a pomegranate is a rich experience. Within the split rind, an ornate pattern, edible and glistening, offers itself to human hands and eyes.

According to Jewish lore, the pomegranate contains 613 seeds, one for each mitzvah. For millennia across Europe, Persia, and Asia, in Buddhist, Islamic, Judaic, and Christian traditions, pomegranates have been invoked as a symbol of fertility and sometimes smashed in bridal chambers to encourage the birth of many children.?

Pomegranate in art

Unforgettable is?The Unicorn in Captivity, a medieval European tapestry at the Met Cloisters in Manhattan, where a unicorn sits within a low-fenced pasture beneath a pomegranate tree. He looks content in captivity, a symbol of fertility and marriage and the fertility of a soul’s marriage with Christ. The unicorn appears to be bleeding from wounds of the hunt that chained him to this tree. On closer inspection, the wounds don’t bleed—they weep seeds. The blood is pomegranate juice.

At a deeper level Tarot readers state that the??pomegranate reminds us to connect with our intuition in search of the deeper or hidden meaning of life, love, death and birth. This is a time of establishing a healthy balance between our desires and life’s simple necessities. We may find ourselves navigating a middle path that allows for expansion and growth in areas of our life we have yet to explore.

The Pomegranate tree of life, symbolises richness, abundance and fertility, life eternity and infinity - the whole universe.?We feel a flight of fantasy and are drawn into its bloom filled beauty.