VIJAYAWADA: Ekaa: The One - The 64 Yogini Trail, a national travelling painting exhibition by Beena Unnikrishnan, is being showcased in Vijayawada from March 31 to April 2 at Makineni Basavapunnaiah Vignana Kendram.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Minister for Tourism and Culture Kandula Durgesh. Speaking on the occasion, he thanked Dr Benna Unnikrishnan for bringing her art forms to Andhra Pradesh.
He said that these art forms would help people to build a better society and become better citizens.
He further congratulated Dr Unnikrishnan for conceiving the 64 Yogini artwork that reinterprets India’s ancient spiritual traditions through a contemporary lens. Rooted in the philosophy of Shakti-the primordial feminine energy-the works explore themes of feminine power, balance, consciousness, and transformation, the minister said.
Artist Beena Unnikrishnan said that the 64 artworks are not a reproduction of temple imagery or an academic reconstruction, but a contemporary artistic interpretation that places the Yogini tradition within today’s cultural and social discourse. For the first time globally, all 64 Yoginis have been envisioned and painted as a cohesive body of work by a single artist, making this exhibition a significant cultural milestone.
The exhibition has been developed over a period of five years, reflecting an intensive artistic and research-driven engagement with the Yogini tradition.
Conceived as a non-commercial public initiative, the exhibition is open to all and none of the artworks are available for sale, reinforcing its focus on cultural access and dialogue over commerce.
The exhibition is part of a larger national journey spanning 16 states over 81 days, covering more than 10,000 kilometres, positioning it as one of India’s most ambitious travelling art showcases.
The journey began earlier this year in Kochi and has travelled across multiple cities before arriving in Vijayawada, building a pan-India cultural narrative around the Yogini tradition.
Drawing inspiration from Yogini temples dating back to the 9th-12th centuries-known for their circular, open-air architecture that challenged traditional ideas of power and gender-the exhibition reinterprets these philosophies for contemporary audiences.