M’sian-Indian Photoshop Artist Stuns Netizens With His Illustration Of a Dual-Toned Murugan Statue

By Lara Kramer  •  07 Apr 2022 in Design

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On the morning of April 7, Rames Harikrishnasamy adorned his readily-alluring Instagram feed with a stunning photoshopped edit of the Murugan statue at Batu Caves, standing tall alongside the famous multi-coloured staircase.

He also posted the image on his Twitter and Facebook profiles.

Rames is currently a Senior Art Director as well as a Photoshop Artist, 3D Modeller and more. He also curates NFTs; non-generative 3D art featuring mini versions of popular icons, as well as Hindu deities, known as “Tiny Dolls’, which you can view on his website.

Tourists, devotees and citizens alike gather around the temple throughout the year, in awe of the 140-feet statue. Lord Murugan carries a vast significance in Hindu culture. In Hindu scriptures, multiple variations of His life are portrayed, mainly as the son of Shivan and Parvati.

Rames’s spin on the usually-gold-clad mighty figure draped the Lord with black accents to complement the dazzling gold. He said that the edit was just a random idea that came to him while working from home.

“Most of the Hindu deities in the main shrines are carved in black stone and when the temple priest starts adding the pieces of jewellery and props such as crowns, the deities look extraordinary. I wanted to do the same with the current Lord Murugan statue that’s in Batu Caves,” he explains.

He simply purchased the original photo from a stock image site and went on to edit it according to his vision.

Netizens quickly flooded the comment sections of his Instagram and Facebook posts, unanimously praising Rames’s work, many saying that they assumed it was real. Others stated that they would like for the Batu Caves’ management to consider bringing his idea to life.

Rames said that he was extremely grateful for the positive feedback.

Rames’ artwork is extremely captivating to the eye as the contrast between the two colours further defines the sublime statue, adding an additional sense of richness to Lord Murugan’s stance.

In his own words, the edit “shows the clear separation between the majestic crown, jewelleries, Vel (trident) and Lord Murugan Himself.” Several devotees also agreed with his statement that the colour combination adds to the grandeur of the statue.

In the post-pandemic world, traditions of worship, such as Thaipusam prayers and chariot-carrying were minimal due to risks of over-crowding. Rames’s creation has helped breathe life into the statue and is a commendable effort to upkeep the Tamil-Hindu culture and represent Malaysian worshippers.

Devotees have also expressed gratitude towards Rames for his spiritual initiative, as Indians are a minority in Malaysia and gestures like this help prevent the Hindu culture from being overlooked.

The gifted 42-year-old has also produced a number of other art projects in correlation with Hinduism, such as this time-lapse video of how he created his own Lord Murugan temple using Photoshop.