“Lord Jagannath Is With Me And I Am Not Going To Look Back”- Artist Priyanka Sahani

“Lord Jagannath Is With Me And I Am Not Going To Look Back”- Artist Priyanka Sahani

The whole world is in awe of the divine power of the lord of the universe, Lord Jagannath. There are uncountable miraculous stories related to his devotees, and here is one more. Meet young artist Priyanka Sahani, who has got a new way of leading her life and she is getting huge appreciation for doing miniature paintings of the Lord on every single thing she comes across in her day-to-day life. 

Priyanka is a very well known face on social media platforms and in other sectors too with her brilliant portraits of the Lord and of other things too. Within only one year Priyanka has been featured in national and international news for her art. Priyanka feels all this has happened due to the blessings of her father and the Lord. She feels Lord Jagannath has adopted her after she lost her father.

Software professional Priyanka lost her father in May, 2020. Her father wished his last rights to be done at Swargadwar, Puri. As the pandemic restrictions were there, it was tough to fulfill his wish at that point of time, but with the Lord’s grace she was able to do it and the next day Swargadwar was off-limits for all due to the COVID 19 restrictions. 

Deeply moved by this, a native of Kendrapara, Priyanka believed that it was the wish of the Lord who made it possible to fulfill her father’s last wish. That’s when she got emotionally connected with the Lord and started making paintings of him.

Youngest in the family of three sisters, talking about her journey with painting, Priyanka said to My City Links, “I left painting after my 10^th board exam. My father was suffering from depression and I have also faced the same. That’s when I returned back to my hobby, which is painting. In the beginning I started doing mandala art, which was really effective.”

“Simultaneously I started seeing the Lord in every single thing around me. I have painted the Lord and his siblings on things like cucumbers, watermelon, jackfruit, banana, mango, orange, lemon, grapes, biscuits, nails, balloons, etc. I feel he is the reason why I could fulfill the last wish of my father,” she added.

Seeing her paintings through her social media posts, few organizations offered her to train children and she started training some underprivileged children through a social organization called ‘Beautiful Minds’. She said, “There was a time when I used to stay away from social media with a fear that something wrong may happen to me. Someone may misuse my photos. But today I can say whatever I am today, all this has started from social media only.”

Other than a government employee, Priyanka’s father has had a hobby of painting and writing. So in his leisure time he used to train her to draw using chalk on the floor. She has also won several painting competitions back then. But her parents have always made her take studies more seriously than any other thing.

Selling her painting at 20k-30k these days Priyanka is more than happy seeing a hope in the field of art, which is her passion. Talking about leaving her software job and taking art as full time, she said, “Yes, this can happen soon, I am getting self-satisfaction in following my passion. I want to take art to a different level with my efforts. I hope our government takes more steps to promote our art and artists in the near future.”

“Every year I am dedicating my art to Lord Jagannath starting from ‘Snana Jatra’, which is his birthday, I will continue doing that till my last breath. When the Lord is with me I am not going to look back.” she signed off.