Reverence to Lal Ded, 2019
57.6” x 40.8” inches
Acrylic colours, gouache, inks and gold leaf on Archie’s paper on stainless steel base

Lal Daed a Kashmiri saint, literally means “Lal the Womb” A designation that connects her to the mother goddess .”-Ranjit Hoskote. 

Her sayings show her to be a Yogini, a free spirited realized soul, to her all religions were one in their essentials. Like Kabir she found her home in her own  self in the soul which resided in this body.

I ride the waves of wind and water
I dive deep beneath the earth
finding the worlds of earth and skies
No different from the world above
or from
the world
within

We are all tied by the same umbilical cord
The binding rope becomes an umbilical cord connecting all souls with the super-consciousness
To the divine
And to light

In the yoni, soul and body come together,
again and again, and again, in life after life
The play of life begins and ends
the cycle continues.

The Hiranyagarbha: the golden egg from which the first seed emerges
Tracing the path of prana through the body.

And the journey continues
Through fire to air
air to water
water to earth
and earth to life

Seema Kohli

2019