What is Jharna-Kala?

Sri Chinmoy calls his spiritual art Jharna-Kala, a Bengali term for 'Fountain of Art' and says, "When it is a matter of my paintings, there is no mind, no form. It is all fountain-heart; the fountain is constantly flowing, spreading its beauty and light.

A fountain is something that comes from within spontaneously, without any outer strain. It is something effortless, easy. Constantly something within me is coming to the fore with infinite inspiration and with infinite dedicated service-light. That is why my paintings flow spontaneously from within."

Jharna-Kala art is Sri Chinmoy's flowing artistic expression of his union with the highest transcendental consciousness. In a range of techniques and styles, he conveys shapes and colours onto a variety of surface textures. Through this vibrant and colourful format, Sri Chinmoy the spiritual Master says, "I am not the doer, I see a streak of Light and I follow it." In other creative areas Sri Chinmoy's oneness with God manifests itself in music, poetry and literature.

Sri Chinmoy is an artist of the realised-soul. Far beyond the deliberations and limitations of the physical mind, his creative energy radiates from a deep inner meditative-silence, from where divine inspiration flows through the brushes, sponges, pens and painting impliments that Sri Chinmoy uses. Manifesting itself as swaths of acrylic colours, or as the delicate line drawings of Jharna-Kala soul-birds.

Zen-like in their simplistic-style each canvas capturing a flowing movement of Divine inspiration. Displayed in major galleries around the world, the most recent at the Louvre in Paris, Sri Chinmoy's Jharna-Kala follows no traditional style. Acclaimed throughout the art-world for his originality of design, mastery of colours and ability to communicate with the viewer, Sri Chinmoy's Jharna-Kala's show just how freely and spontaneously this creative energy flows.

With over 200,000 canvasses painted and over 15 million soul-birds drawn to date, this artistic legacy almost certainly represents the largest ever creative endeavour by one individual. In the purest sense Sri Chinmoy's Jharna-Kala art is boundless, liberating, energising, inspiring, charming and expresses itself universally as child-like joy.

Jharna-Kala facts: First canvas completed on 19th November 1974, first soul-bird drawn 29th December 1991. Largest Jharna-Kala canvas, painted in 1977 - 13' by 30', largest soul-bird canvas over 96,000 birds. Sri Chinmoy often signs his Jharna-Kala with the initials, CKG - Chinmoy Kumar Ghose.

Sri Chinmoy on his Art:

"My art is my prayerful and soulful offering to help raise the consciousness of humanity."

"Art can bring to the fore the beauty of life and the fragrance of the heart."

"Art is extremely important for the evolution of humanity.”

Sahayak Plowman

See also: view more Jharna-Kala

Sri Chinmoy discusses: drawing soul-birds

Back to: Soul-bird drawings