FOOD ASSOCIATION with Music & Colour

Nov 13, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Nov 19, 2020

Composition and what it really means- composition in music and language; composing smell and taste- ingredients, proportions, and construct (grammar). Importance of visual language. Assignment- Think of your favorite food- can you find a piece of music that resembles your favorite food? Now that you know colour- can you paint the taste and the feel of the music?

Kangri Dhaam

Food is something which everybody loves and for me, food is not only taste but also the ambiance and the memory associated with it. So while I was thinking about my favorite food the food which came into my mind was Kangri Dham. I just loved the whole experience of having that meal so pure and fresh. Each district has its own culture and food. And the same is with Kangra. It is famous for its tourist destinations, world-famous temples, valleys and “Kangri Dhaam”. Kangri Dhaam is a traditional food festival (feast) celebrated in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

Kangri Dhaam History

It is believed that Dham was initially served as ‘Prasad’ in temples but now it is served as an entire meal during festivals, marriages, etc. It is said that King Jaisthamba, one of the Kings of Chamba, was so fascinated by the Kashmiri food that he decided to recreate those dishes among Chamba locals and to offer it to their local Goddess. During that period, Chamba was famous for its spices, Rajma and milk. Hence, the cooks came out with a new dish called “Dham”.

FOOD:- KANGRI DHAAM

Kangri Dhaam is a traditional food festival celebrated in District Kangra (Himachal Pradesh). Kangri Dham is cooked only by botis (a particular caste of Brahmins who are hereditary chefs). It is served in courses for people who sit on the floor. The food is served on leaf plates called pattlu. The Dham includes plain aromatic rice, fried pulses or dal, spicy vegetable curry of red kidney beans and many desserts to satisfy one’s appetite. After that, a kidney bean-shaped pulse known as rajma (madra) is also served and then palda, khatta, maa ki daal and at the end meetha bhatt which means dessert is served.

I tried to picture the taste of food and the song of Himachal Pradesh and create an abstract description of the culture and tradition it has. I also decided to have the influence of a banana leaf on the painting and tried to show the texture of the food that's how they serve the meal beautifully spread over and creating itself an incredible painting of its own.

Images of my favorite food and the abstract music-related paintings I came up with are attached below.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bd5eab_aab4896a77e949ac9ad5e7399695476d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

While painting the food the stroke of my paint started dancing in the rhythm of the music. All the experience of having the meal came out in the form of an abstract shown in the image below.