Rajendra Kumar Shyam-GOND ART-Madhya Pradesh-India-Jungles-Hunting-Prey-HOMAGE-folklores-Tiger (RAJ 24)

Rajendra Kumar Shyam is a talented artist who depicts motifs from the rich iconography of Gond art in his works. A tiger is in hunting mode with his four limbs stretched ready to stalk the prey. It’s tongue out with greed for the prey insight to be hunted.
The image remarkably captures the unearthly roar of a tiger such that even the ground quakes and trembles. There are several stories among the Gonds about tigers of fearful size and appearance hidden away in trees to hunt their prey, holding villages to tyranny, raiding cattle, and ambushing unsuspecting travelers. This predator par excellence often assumes wildly supernatural proportions in these tales, and is sometimes also associated with the destructive force of Shiva. If the tiger has been a feared predator, it has also served as a revered guardian for the Gonds, being propitiated and worshipped for their protection against the worst forms of danger.