While Chandran says, “My portrayal of Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali became the base images for Arjuna and he then gave his creative interpretations of the goddesses. It was inevitable that he would want me to perform at the gallery”, Arjuna is certain that an ordinary model could never have managed such authentic expressions that Chandran did. “I am sure the face in my paintings is that of the goddesses themselves,” he says

Over three days, Chandran slipped into the Bharatnatyam costume, her fingers flowering into mudras, and posed for photographs. Hers is the fierce face of MahaKali, a powerful serigraph, of the beautiful MahaSaraswati holding the veena, and the Mega Laxmi. “Megal Laxmi is a tribute to India’s new economic prosperity. It is as if Lakshmi has returned to India with renewed vigour,” says Arjuna.