Master of Design Project - Part 1
Shunya
The Ideology of nothingness is expressively complete in this poster, and these forms are the letter-forms of Kannada, my mother tongue and a Dravidian language of India. 'Shunya' means emptiness or void. It is this character of 'shunya which is so inspiring, to have been initially symbolised by a 'Bindu' – a dot; which is existent but has no dimension... free, fascinating and flowing; which had possibly made the ancient Indians give it the form of a circle, that personifies the completeness of the number system and has become such an integral part of everyday life.
The Ideology of nothingness is expressively complete in this poster, and these forms are the letter-forms of Kannada, my mother tongue and a Dravidian language of India. 'Shunya' means emptiness or void. It is this character of 'shunya which is so inspiring, to have been initially symbolised by a 'Bindu' – a dot; which is existent but has no dimension... free, fascinating and flowing; which had possibly made the ancient Indians give it the form of a circle, that personifies the completeness of the number system and has become such an integral part of everyday life.
Jantar Mantar
The huge monumental structures of the Jantar mantar that were used for celestial observations, timekeeping,
studying the eclipses, earliest calculation of the circumference of the earth... the heliocentric theory... mesmerised me.
Starting with the earliest documented methods of timekeeping with the Ghataka Yantra, which is a punctured
coconut shell in a tub of water, the ancient Indians observed and deeply studied the eclipses, the star constellations and developed astrology to envision the future.
Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Buddhayana, Bhaskara, Katyayana, Pingala and Srinivasa Ramanujan are just a few names of the great astronomers. Aryabhata measured the circumference of the earth to be 5000 yojanas which is the closest ever to the actual calculations. Maharaja Jai Shngh 2 of Jaipur constructed a set of 5 yantra mantras, which literally mean calculation machines. These are magnificent architectural monuments that were used for celestial observations and are called Jantar Mantar today. It surprises me today that the science had developed to such great extent in India, and I regret the ignorance we have developed towards the same today.
The huge monumental structures of the Jantar mantar that were used for celestial observations, timekeeping,
studying the eclipses, earliest calculation of the circumference of the earth... the heliocentric theory... mesmerised me.
Starting with the earliest documented methods of timekeeping with the Ghataka Yantra, which is a punctured
coconut shell in a tub of water, the ancient Indians observed and deeply studied the eclipses, the star constellations and developed astrology to envision the future.
Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Buddhayana, Bhaskara, Katyayana, Pingala and Srinivasa Ramanujan are just a few names of the great astronomers. Aryabhata measured the circumference of the earth to be 5000 yojanas which is the closest ever to the actual calculations. Maharaja Jai Shngh 2 of Jaipur constructed a set of 5 yantra mantras, which literally mean calculation machines. These are magnificent architectural monuments that were used for celestial observations and are called Jantar Mantar today. It surprises me today that the science had developed to such great extent in India, and I regret the ignorance we have developed towards the same today.
Chaturanga
The majestic game of Chaturanga...
Elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry... imagine mesmerising scenes from the glorious battlefields. Chaturanga – an ancient Indian game that marks the origin of today's chess. Chaturanga was played on 8 into 8 checkered board called ashtapada. The game is believed to have been played between the kings of
various kingdoms in their courtyards, with people moving places on the checkers by the king's commands... that's magnificence.
The majestic game of Chaturanga...
Elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry... imagine mesmerising scenes from the glorious battlefields. Chaturanga – an ancient Indian game that marks the origin of today's chess. Chaturanga was played on 8 into 8 checkered board called ashtapada. The game is believed to have been played between the kings of
various kingdoms in their courtyards, with people moving places on the checkers by the king's commands... that's magnificence.
Parama Priyam
Sanskrit – The mother of all modern languages. The word sanskrit is formed by combining the words 'sam'
meaning entirely, wholly or perfectly and 'krit' meaning the unchangeable. The phonology of this piece of perfection is so unique, that it never needed a change or an introduction of a new word. This exemplary nature of the sanskrit language has given birth to numerous Indo-european languages of today. For example: Matr in sanskrit becomes Mother, Pitr becomes Father and Bratr becomes Brother. So, I call sanskrit - Parama Priyam which means loved by all or loved by the supreme – the very nature of a mother.
Sanskrit – The mother of all modern languages. The word sanskrit is formed by combining the words 'sam'
meaning entirely, wholly or perfectly and 'krit' meaning the unchangeable. The phonology of this piece of perfection is so unique, that it never needed a change or an introduction of a new word. This exemplary nature of the sanskrit language has given birth to numerous Indo-european languages of today. For example: Matr in sanskrit becomes Mother, Pitr becomes Father and Bratr becomes Brother. So, I call sanskrit - Parama Priyam which means loved by all or loved by the supreme – the very nature of a mother.
Shulba Sutras
The earliest studies of geometry and trigonometry happened in India.
The rich, fertile and prosperous plains of the River Indus became the cradle for the Indus valley civilisation.
They placed a very high priority on hygiene and religious rituals. They show an exemplary knowledge of urban
planning and religious architecture. This demanded for the earliest geometrical and mathematical investigations. The vedic Shulba sutras meaning 'codes of the rope' used the far-fetched theories of
equating the square of the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle, to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Thus, Gameeti became Geometry where ga means earth and meeti means knowledge; and Trikonamati became trigonometry where tri is three and 'kona' is an angle and 'mati' is knowledge.
The earliest studies of geometry and trigonometry happened in India.
The rich, fertile and prosperous plains of the River Indus became the cradle for the Indus valley civilisation.
They placed a very high priority on hygiene and religious rituals. They show an exemplary knowledge of urban
planning and religious architecture. This demanded for the earliest geometrical and mathematical investigations. The vedic Shulba sutras meaning 'codes of the rope' used the far-fetched theories of
equating the square of the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle, to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Thus, Gameeti became Geometry where ga means earth and meeti means knowledge; and Trikonamati became trigonometry where tri is three and 'kona' is an angle and 'mati' is knowledge.