Devil, God or...an Artist?
In a world where everyone is looking
for a purpose in their lives, those who
know what they are meant for from
the beginning are blessed. They are
the children of God.
One such man, who calls himself
God’s child is Shaitan Singh Rawat.
Shaitan is a Hindi word meaning the
devil. It is derived from the Arabic
word šaytān, which comes from
Hebrew śātān. It’s very difficult to
.
think of anything
positive about this
. man, Shaitan Singh is
word. Yet this
God’s own child.
Why the name Shaitan then? As a
child, he was obedient, always a do-
gooder and almost angelic, they say.
His parents named him the opposite
of his character so he wouldn’t get
proud and lose those admirable
qualities.
Shaitan Singh grew up to believe that
his purpose in life was to serve God.
He was from a farmer’s family and
therefore the natural career choice
for him would have been to become
a farmer himself. But he knew he was
different. He was meant for something
else.
Growing up in the holy city of Pushkar,
he was used to the huge gatherings
around temples, the religious fairs, the
singing, the chanting, the display of
art in various forms as an ode to God.
Even as a toddler, Shaitan knew that it
was art that brought us closer to God.
He knew that it was through art that
he could serve God.
By the time Shaitan was eight, he was
already painting himself blue head to
toe and dressing up as Shiva.
According to Hindu mythology, three
Supreme Beings or three forms of one
God command the universe. ‘Brahma’
the Creator, ‘Vishnu’ the Preserver and
‘Shiva’ the Destroyer. Shiva transforms
the universe by first destroying it, so it
can be created anew. He is supposed
to be a kind, gentle Supreme Being,
whose abode is the Kailash mountain.
He doesn’t mind a bit of alcohol here
or a spot of marijuana there. He is a
yogi who lives an ascetic life, sitting in
meditation all day unless he is called
upon to sort out the problems of the
Universe. However, once his wrath is
awakened, he becomes fearsome and
formidable. The earth quakes when
he dances in fury.
Shaitan always felt this deep love for
Shiva. Of all Supreme Beings, Shaitan
found him to be the most dynamic,
the most enchanting, the most
un-Godlike God. He spent hours
picking out pieces of rags, beads,
shells, wood to make his Shiva outfit.
He wanted to look like the Shiva
in pictures, only better. He wanted
people to feel the surreal joy of
having seen Shiva when they saw him.
When at the age of eight, Shaitan
dressed up as Shiva for the first time
and went to a fair in Pushkar, he knew
this was it. This is who he was. This
is who he was going to be. The love,
adulation, awe and reverence with
which people approached him was
intoxicating. In fact, even more than
that, it was fulfilling.
Since then, there has been no
looking back. Every year, Shaitan has
been dressing up as Shiva during
religious and other fairs. When he
is not playing Shiva, Shaitan is a
painter. He paints portraits of Gods
and Goddesses. He has also kept his
family occupation of farming alive.
He works on his farm when he is not
painting or playing God. Shaitan’s
wife is also an artist and so are his
eight children. They all act in local
mythological plays, paint, make
costumes and sing. Shaitan believes
that they all are serving God through
art. And we believe him.
As an ode to this artist, and to
celebrate the ancient art of dressing
up as God, Chiiz magazine features
Shaitan Singh as Shiva, the destroyer,
the transformer. Shiva is usually
blue in color in paintings. The story
goes that the Gods and Demons
churned the ocean, to get the nectar
of immortality and divide it among
themselves. However, poison Halahala
came out of churning as a byproduct.
Shiva was called upon by the other
Gods to save them from this poison
and he valiantly drank it all, thus
saving the universe. But the poison
started to have an impact on his body
and turned it blue.
We, at Chiiz, are thinking about the
other poison, that’s destroying our
world - global warming, cutting down
of trees, increasing carbon footprint.
Bringing together the myth and the
truth; the old and the new; the art
and the artist, Chiiz presents - Shaitan
Singh as The Green Shiva.
Anurita De
[email protected]
Anurita is a writer, storyteller, a compulsive traveler and an avid
photographer based in London. She has a chartered accountant’s
degree and a masters in business from Oxford University. After
spending 15 years in the banking industry, she has now turned to
her passions - writing, content creation and photography. She is
also a keen student of psychology, Italian and french.