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RTA-RITU - An Exhibition on Cosmic Order and Cycle of Seasons

Firmly fixed are the foundations of rta shining in beauty, manifold are its beauteous forms.

Rigveda 4.23.9

Rta is:

for the Hindus

the blue print for cosmic harmony

-Dharma

for the Chinese

the mystical path

-Tao

for the Muslims

the inflexible yet all merciful decrees of divine

-Haqq

For the Greco-Romans

the form of universal reason

-logos

for the Buddhists

the law of righteousness

-Dhamma

The Exhibition on Rta-Ritu: Cosmic Order & Cycle of Seasons is the fifth presentation by IGNCA on viewing fundamental concepts on universal themes that cut across diverse cultures. The four previous exhibitions were on Space, Kham, Form, Akara, Time, Kala and The Five Elements, Prakriti.

The concept of Rta, originates in the Rigveda (10.85; 4.23, 9-12; 10.190). In the Vedic vision the universe is not conceived as a haphazard mass of elements and events, but is an ordered whole, in which each part inheres the whole and the whole is balanced by its parts. The ordering principle of nature, the inflexible law of harmony, the universal cosmic flow which gives to everything from the vast galaxies, down to the nucleus of an atom, their nature and course, is Rta. Rta then, is observable everywhere.

Rta governs the movement of the heavenly bodies, Rta commands the shift and play of the seasons, Ritu; and it is Rta which guides the repeated round of birth, growth and decay of all life-forms. Rta lives in each human being as the pulsation of the heart-beat and the innumerable rhythms that balance life.

The principle of Rta is not unique to India. Parallel concepts are found in all the ancient civilizations of the world. Chinese culture describes it as the principle of Tao, Islamic thought as the principle of Haqq, Greco-Roman culture as Logos and the Buddhists as Dhamma. In all cultures the concept is unanimously accepted as a blue-print of Cosmic Harmony. Furthermore, this all-inclusive principle of cosmic harmony and human order pervades all the aspects of life: the natural world, the human world, the social world of every day community life, the moral world, as also, the realm of arts, creativity and architecture. Rta is also embodied in the ecological principle of inter-dependence, balance and interrelationship of all life. The seasonal cycles or Ritu Chakra through spring-time and harvest, are grounded in the principle of harmony and universal order; it is Rta which sustains the eco-balance of nature. Humans do not stand apart from nature but are a part of the larger cosmic flow. This integral bond between humans and nature became a basis for the seasonal celebrations, stimulated with prayers, incantations and sacred performances. The construction of sacred ritual practices and the participation in secular celebrations, are ways to mirror a larger cosmic order as it is conceived by that people. While Rta denotes order, its opposite manifestation is Anrta, disorder. These two mutually dependent principles form two sides of a single cosmic process.

Cutting across interdisciplinary divides, the exhibition presents a multifaceted vision of Rta. As in the previous years, the exhibition was complemented by an interdisciplinary seminar on Rta: Order and Chaos. The seminar brought together physicists, scientists, philosophers, indologists, scholars of the humanities, artists and poets. The encounter brought to light that various viewpoints are not contradictory but are complementary to one another.

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