Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya

Dear Friends,

Join us on Sunday, 28 June at 5:00 PM for Samvāda.

On a luminous full moon we gather at Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya, Beaufort Street studios.

This special symposium brings together Dr. Anu Sutharshan, Mr. Christian de Vietri, and Ms. Subhashini Maniam in a shared exploration of geometry, mandala, music, sculpture, and the deeper relationship between art and the human experience. The symposium is convened by Dr. Sarasa Krishnan.

More than a presentation, Samvāda is a space where we gather to reflect on how art shapes the way we think, feel, connect, and live.

As the inaugural event of SMV’s Education Series, we warmly invite you to be part of this meaningful evening of conversation and insight.

📍 SMV Beaufort Street
🗓 Sunday, 28 June
🕔 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

RSVP Here: https://events.humanitix.com/sa-vada-dialogues-on-form-sound-and-consciousness

We look forward to seeing you!

Today is the birthday of our Founder of Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya and The Temple of Fine Arts: Swami Shantanand Saraswati 🙏🏼

He Lives Through Us

He did not stand before us
as one name, one form, one role.
He arrived as everything.

A hand that steadied
like a mother’s quiet knowing,
a gaze that protected
like a father’s unspoken strength,
a laugh that walked beside us
like a brother, a sister,
woven into the small, tender hours of becoming.

And yet, he was more.

He was the rhythm before the step,
the silence before the note,
the breath before the word.

From 1971
he gathered dreams like scattered petals
and made of them
a thousand blooming stages.

We did not know
we were becoming history
as we moved.

Ramayana rose under his vision,
not as story, but as living fire.
Malay tales found their pulse in our feet,
Chinese melodies and stories curved through our hands,
Western symphonies met ancient mudras,
and somewhere, in the meeting of all worlds,
he smiled.

He told us, gently,
as rivers do not argue with the sea,
so too do all faiths
find their home in the same vastness.

And we believed him
because he lived it.

He composed not only music,
but people.
He choreographed not only dances,
but destinies.

Even now
when we teach,
it is his voice that arrives first.
When we move,
it is his body that remembers.
When we sing,
it is his breath that carries the note.

He did not leave.
How can one leave
when one has dissolved
into so many hearts?

If he were here today
he would be ninety-two.
But time does not measure him.

He lives
in every lifted arm,
in every trembling ankle bell,
in every child who steps into light
not knowing
they are stepping into him.

Guru,
you did not build an institution.
You became a current.

And we,
still flowing,
are your river
finding the sea.

There are moments in time that stay with us, quietly glowing in memory.

Today, we revisit one such moment from 2020: our children’s visual arts exhibition at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya. Each artwork held a story, a discovery, a small but powerful expression of a young mind finding its voice. It was not just an exhibition, but a celebration of imagination, patience, and the joy of creating.

We were especially honoured to have visiting artist Anthony Rieck join us, taking the time to thoughtfully view the children’s works and present a special award. His presence added a sense of encouragement and recognition that meant so much to our young artists.

As we share these memories, we are reminded of how important it is to nurture creativity in our children, to give them the space to explore, to feel, and to express without boundaries.

If your child is interested in learning visual arts in a nurturing and inspiring environment, we warmly invite you to join us at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya.

Let us continue to create, together.

There are moments in time that stay with us, quietly glowing in memory.

Today, we revisit one such moment from 2020: our children’s visual arts exhibition at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya. Each artwork held a story, a discovery, a small but powerful expression of a young mind finding its voice. It was not just an exhibition, but a celebration of imagination, patience, and the joy of creating.

We were especially honoured to have visiting artist Anthony Rieck join us, taking the time to thoughtfully view the children’s works and present a special award. His presence added a sense of encouragement and recognition that meant so much to our young artists.

As we share these memories, we are reminded of how important it is to nurture creativity in our children, to give them the space to explore, to feel, and to express without boundaries.

If your child is interested in learning visual arts in a nurturing and inspiring environment, we warmly invite you to join us at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya.

Let us continue to create, together.

Celebrate Language & Culture – Tamil Classes at SMV

Tamil at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya nurturing language, culture and identity for the next generation.

SMV is now gathering Expressions of Interest for Tamil language classes.

If you or your child would like to be part of this journey, please register your interest using the link below by March 27, 2026:

EOI Link: https://smv.typeform.com/to/JRv1A2kj

Thank you!

A weekend of Celebrations!

Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya is delighted to share that we successfully presented three beautiful Arangetrams this past weekend. It was truly a celebration of dedication, discipline, and grace as our young artists Mahadeva, Naimish and Shant who performed with remarkable confidence and artistic prowess, making us immensely proud.

We are equally proud of our young tabla teacher, Sivakumar Balakrishnan, whose support and musicianship elevated each performance. Wishing all our students continued growth and brilliance on their artistic journeys ahead.

In 2016, for the Fringe Festival, we created this two-storey mural on SMV Beaufort Street. It was a monumental undertaking; cherry pickers lifting us into the sky, artists working together, colour poured across brick, breath and courage stretched across height and scale. It was a collective act of creation.

Today, that wall has been desecrated with graffiti.

There is sadness in seeing something born of community energy altered without care. Yet I find myself asking a deeper question:

Can we work with graffiti artists instead of against them?

Is there a way to create dialogue, to preserve murals that carry story and intention, while also providing space for contemporary street expression? Can respect replace rivalry? Can collaboration replace defacement?

Public art lives in the tension between sacred and profane, permanence and impermanence. But preservation too is a form of dharma. Protecting collective effort is seva.

Perhaps this wall is not asking for anger, but for conversation.

What do you think?

Throwback to 2012

A room-sized Ganesha, unfolding across multiple canvases.
This work was created while living inside sound , the Aatharva Seesha Upanishad, written and recited by the cast and crew of Vishwavinayaka, performed in Kuala Lumpur.

The script itself became the backdrop of the painting.
Every word and phrase of the upanishad written repeatedly across the surface as Likitha Japa a form of written meditation.
The mantra is not hidden. It is visible, layered, breathing through the canvas.

As an artist, I was listening, receiving, and translating sound into colour.
Painting as Ganesha, the grand master: seated, spacious, quietly enjoying the fruits of action offered by devotees.
Karma softened into grace.

This was not just a painting.
It was a homa.
An offering made through sound, word, hand, and presence.

Some works stay with you forever.
This is one of them.