Bhu Dayal
Indian deity dressing
Sammamish, WA
Bhu Dayal, also known as Bhaja Govinda Das, is a master artist of Sringar, the Indian
art of deity dressing. Dayal was born into a family of Pujaris or caretakers who tend to
the deities of a temple. Dayals’s parents and grandparents taught him the basics of deity
dressing by the age of five. Later in life, Dayal has taken formal courses in the
spiritually significant arts of Sringar and vegetarian cooking. Inspired by Guru Radha
Govinda Swami who trained him, Dayal now educates youth about traditional Indian arts and
helps preserve endangered customs. Dayal serves as a Pujari for the Krishna temple in
Sammamish, Washington, where he dresses deities in different ensembles and adorns them
with garlands each day. These deities represent the many forms that can be taken by a
Hindu gods and goddesses. In this case the spirit of the deity can be manifested into a
statue, or murti, that can accept the devotional services performed by his or her devotees.
As the recipient of a 2007 Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant, Dayal worked with Jayendran
Srinivasan, who has informally practiced Sringar in the past under family training and
more formally in the last five years through spiritual mentors. Expanding on knowledge
drawn from dressing his home deities, Srinivasan developed the skills to dress the large
deities of a temple. Dayal’s teachings focused on choosing the correct dress for a deity
to suit astrological calculations and seasons, as well as in accordance with Vedic
holidays.
Dayal received a second Apprenticeship grant in 2008. This time he is working with Mohan
Padmanabhan as his apprentice. He continues to teach the aesthetic principles for adornment
with headdresses and accessories and other precepts relating to deity dressing.
Padmanabhan will showcase his refined deity dressing abilities when he designs an altar
for the Kumbha Mela Festival at the Vedic Cultural Center in Sammamish.