Standing on Sacred Ground: Delhi Exhibition Unpacks the Many Faces of the Sacred

From September 14 to September 21 the Kalakriti Art Gallery in Bikaner House, New Delhi, will host a modest yet thought‑provoking show titled Standing on Sacred Ground. It isn’t a shrine or a museum of relics; rather, it is a gathering of seven artists who each ask, in their own language, what the word ‘sacred’ truly signifies.

The curators have deliberately steered clear of treating the holy as something fixed in stone or confined to a single place. Instead, they let everyday objects, familiar landscapes and even childhood recollections step onto the altar. As one visitor put it, the exhibition feels like a conversation between the inner worlds of the makers and the broader mythic universe that shapes our collective imagination.

Rekha P Lahoti, co‑founder and director of the gallery, explained the concept in an informal chat: “We have seven artists, seven materials, seven thought‑processes. Mayadhar works with wood, translating the soaring lines of Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple into contemporary forms. Bratin, raised in a Bengali village, captures monsoon‑splashed memories in stark black‑and‑white sketches. Keerti uses garlands of marigold and jasmine to question what we actually offer to the divine.”

Mayadhar Sahu, whose pieces are carved from reclaimed timber, spoke about the painstaking craftsmanship involved. “Each panel can take a year or two,” he said, “because I’m trying to preserve the intricate latticework of temple architecture while giving it a modern voice.”

Across the room, Bratin Khan’s work flickers with nostalgia – ponds, trees, the sudden rush of rain. “Even now, living in the city, those childhood scenes are what push me to paint,” he confessed, his brush strokes echoing the rhythm of a distant monsoon.

Other contributors, such as Keerti Pooja, turn to ritual objects – the humble garland, the fragrant jasmine – and elevate them into visual meditations. The exhibition does not merely reproduce folk motifs; it re‑positions them, inviting viewers to see the sacred not as a relic but as a living, breathing conversation.

Visitors can wander through seven distinct stations, each a portal into a different material world – wood, paper, fabric, pigment, and more. The hope, according to the gallery team, is simple: to spark a moment of pause, a quiet reflection on what we each hold dear, whether carved in stone, whispered in a song, or imagined in a child’s game.

“Standing on Sacred Ground” will remain open until September 21, offering Delhi’s art lovers a chance to step onto an ordinary floor and, for a few moments, stand on something unmistakably sacred.