Srishti Gurukul

Ancient Indian art is always appreciated but rarely taught. Srishti Gurukul took this ardent step to teaching this art form both in person and online. A chance encounter on Facebook page, revealed the stunning sculptures made by students (from all over the world) of Srishti Gurukul. I was both wary and intrigued. Immediately spoke to Venuji who runs this Gurukul. All I said to him was that I admired art but have never had any experience with any art form (literally). He persuaded me that all that was required was hard work, discipline and commitment. I trusted his capacity to teach more than my ability to sculpt and had a fantastic experience. At every step, I wad guided and corrections were provided to improvise (thanks to zoom, whatsapp sessions). Venuji gives it his all and encourages to unwind and enjoy the experience. He goes above and beyond to assist you in every way he can. This is a course I heartily recommend. Personally, apart from drawing, sculpting and temple architecture - this course demonstrated my capacity to be disciplined and the extent to which I can be disciplined. At the end of the day, I wanted to do more. As the course draws to a close, I'm looking forward to visiting temples to see and appreciate their splendor from a new perspective.
Feb 15th, 2022

Jan 19th, 2022

Sudha Mahadevappa, Fall 2021, San Jose, CA Thanks, Venuji for being a wonderful teacher and making this class interesting. I could not have made my deities without your guidance and constant support. Despite not having initial art or drawing experience, Venuji's clear and simple steps allowed me to easily follow instructions for both drawing and sculpting. In this course, Venuji covered a multitude of topics including drawing, clay sculpting, as well as the wide range of topics related to temple architecture. We learned in detail the tala scale, the different styles of jewelry, costumes, hairstyle, postures ... , which we were able to use while sculpting the deities. We worked on 2 projects during the course 1st deity was lord Ganesh which was common project and second was deity of your choice. when i chose the Chamundeshwari Devi as my second sculpture i was doubtful about my skills but but Venuji provided guidance on the sculpture and video tutorials covering every single detail on the deity. He provided corrections for the homework submissions in a very constructive way enabling us to finetune our skills and making finial deity perfect. Venuji is a very passionate teacher providing constant support and guidance throughout the course. He provided additional support sessions towards the end of the course, enabling us to complete the deity successfully. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who is interested learning this art form.
Nov 6th, 2021

Finished a Maha Saraswathi sculpture with guidance from teacher Mr Venu. In the classes learnt many concepts from the ancient scriptures on how to make a good sculpture. The theory behind each symbol that is usually shown with every God picture. Overall the classes were enjoyable and a very good intense learning experience ! Module 2 - spring 2021 Attended module 2 with Mr Venu and it was truly enriching . Did a sculpture (Lord Hayagriva) with armature wires and the final sculpture came out very beautiful with the teachers guidance . Mr Venu has in depth knowledge of temple architecture and it is rare for such teachers to impart this knowledge to students . He is very encouraging and very motivating. Very responsive teacher and always has detailed feedback to improve the sculpture even in online class .
Jul 4th, 2021

When i was a kid, i was so interested in drawing and more particularly i was always searching in devotional magazines nice deity's picture and i spent hours and hours in trying to reproduce the same image. Nearly 30 years later, Shrishti gurukul facebook post took my attention. I have never imagined or even saw anything like this. Doing deity with clay on the board , it is like the picture i was used to draw coming into life. I am living in France so , so many questions arised, will it be possible to join the class , not the same time zone, how can i do online courses and learning a new skill without any sculpture experience. The teacher Venu ji was so reassuring for all my queries even before joining the course. So i decided to join Spring 2021 batch for Module I . Coming to the class program, the syllabus was so interesting. We can see how pationnate is Venu ji and he shares it so well. In each zoom class , of course we learn new skill in clay work but we always learn something new about hindu religion, or about a deity or about a temple. The teacher gave so minute corrections seeing photos we had to send him for review ( he sees everything, as if he was in front of our work, i don't know how) This class was a great way to elevate my skills and i was happy to do something like this and it kept me in the spiritual path. Venu ji is a great teacher , he knows how to motivate us when we feel lost, and can't thank him enough to share such a beautiful ancient art.
Jun 14th, 2021