‘Ekaa: The One’ Exhibition Brings 64 Yogini Paintings to Ahmedabad on Extensive National Tour
A major travelling art exhibition titled ‘Ekaa: The One – The 64 Yoginis Trail’ has opened in Ahmedabad, marking a significant stop on its ambitious 81-day national tour. The exhibition, which launched in New Delhi on December 4, 2025, features a complete contemporary interpretation of the 64 Yoginis through paintings by Kerala-born, Chennai-based artist Dr Beena S Unnikrishnan.
Exhibition Details and National Journey
The Ahmedabad leg of the exhibition is being held at the L & P Hutheesing Visual Art Centre from February 11 to 13, 2026, with viewing hours from 12 pm to 7 pm. This three-day show presents all 64 Yogini paintings created by Dr Unnikrishnan, accompanied by a 65-minute documentary film titled Y64: Whispers of the Unseen, directed by Jain Joseph.
The exhibition is part of a comprehensive tour that spans 16 states across India, covering more than 10,000 kilometres between January and April 2026. Following its Ahmedabad presentation, the exhibition will continue to:
- Jaipur
- Delhi
- Gwalior
before concluding its national journey in Chennai in April.
Artist’s Journey and Creative Process
Dr Beena S Unnikrishnan began her artistic exploration of the 64 Yoginis in 2015, dedicating five years to completing the paintings and an additional two years to collaborating on the documentary. During a media interaction in Ahmedabad, she described the project as “a very spiritual journey for me” that was intuitive rather than academic in nature.
“I am not a learned artist. I just explored colours and what came to my mind, nothing stopped me,” Unnikrishnan explained about her creative method. One distinctive aspect of her process involved painting the eyes of the Yogini figures first, contrary to traditional spiritual painting practices where eyes are typically completed last.
“Normally, when they do spiritual paintings, they paint the eyes at last. I painted the eyes in the beginning. Then I felt I had a figure to talk to,” she revealed, noting that viewers frequently comment that “the eyes speak a lot.”
Conceptual Framework and Cultural Significance
In Indian tantric traditions, the 64 Yoginis are regarded as manifestations of Shakti and are associated with multiple aspects of feminine power and transformation. Unnikrishnan’s interpretation seeks to foreground the idea of internal balance rather than ritual practice.
“It is more about feminine energy and the importance of co-existence. Every person carries both feminine and masculine energy,” the artist emphasized. She further distanced her work from ritual-centric understandings often associated with the tradition, stating, “For a person to understand God or a Goddess, you really don’t need a ritual.”
During her research and creative process, Unnikrishnan visited several significant Yogini temple sites across India, including:
- Hirapur in Odisha
- Morena in Gwalior
- Bhedaghat in Madhya Pradesh
- Khajuraho
Exhibition Format and Organizational Support
The exhibition follows a standardized three-day format in each city it visits, with the complete set of 64 paintings displayed alongside regular screenings of the accompanying documentary. The project is presented under the aegis of the Kankali Trust for Arts and Cultural Economic Development, which was founded by Dr Unnikrishnan herself to support artistic and cultural initiatives.
This extensive national tour represents one of the most comprehensive contemporary explorations of the 64 Yogini tradition in recent years, bringing together visual art, documentary film, and spiritual inquiry in a unique traveling format that engages audiences across multiple Indian cities.
