Arunachala – The Sacred Mountain of Silence

Paintings from a place of silence and fire

For the past years, I’ve spent seasons coming and going to the small town of Tiruvannamalai in South India, drawn again and again to the presence of Arunachala, a mountain revered for centuries as a living embodiment of stillness and inner fire.

These paintings were either created while I was there or inspired by the deep impressions that linger long after leaving. Arunachala has a way of working inside you, through silence, truth, and surrender. It’s not just a landscape; it’s a space where the veil grows thin. I often feel that the work paints itself when I sit in presence or hold the presence of the mountain and its sacred caves and shrines where millions of people have meditated before us.

There’s a particular magic to full moon nights, when the air is thick with devotion and the light touches everything. But none more powerful than Deepam, the sacred festival when millions of people walk around the base of the mountain, carrying prayers and fire in their hearts. The energy is almost otherworldly—charged, expansive, luminous. My brushes seem to move on their own in the days around it.

This series is not so much a visual representation of the mountain, but rather a translation of the felt experience—the stillness, the fire, the subtle transmissions that arise in silence.

May these pieces carry a little of that essence to you—wherever you are.

Size: 29,7 x 42 cm / 70 x 50 cm
Paper: 300 GSM watercolour paper made in India
Technique: Chinese ink & watercolour
Year: 2024-2025