The divine feminine in Indian cosmology is an ever present entity. This motherly figure is projected on to many aspects of existence like nature and earth. Across Hindu scriptures and traditions, this archetype is invoked through many names like Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, and Parvati. But her essence is singular: generative, cyclical, and enduring. The image of the mother is inseparable from the idea of the goddess. In mythology, she births the universe, is honoured as a nurturer and protector, and is also feared as the destroyer. In daily life, she is folded into every gesture of reverence shown to women.
It is within this devotional terrain that photographer Sagar Kharecha situates his debut photobook, 'MATAJI'. The title borrows from a term commonly used across Indian households — a respectful invocation that simultaneously denotes 'Mother' and 'Goddess'. For Sagar, there is no division between the two: "Literal embodiments of the Goddess are central to the story of MATAJI. The title itself alludes to non-difference," he shares. Over five years and across regions as varied as India, England, and Wales, he set out to document the divine as it appears in the world — not only in temples and rituals, but in women he encountered, in his own mother, and in the natural world: "it felt important to show parallels in scripture and women playing out eternal stories of creation, war and bliss in their own lives."
Sagar points that travelling across England and Wales and observing how Indian diasporas preserve their cultural heritage, festivals, and traditions whilst maintaining a uniquely British identity was a fascinating experience, "Examples like Sri Kalpaga Vinayakar Temple immersing Ganesh into the Aberavon Sea next to the Port Talbot Steelworks, or Wellingborough Hindu Association serving the community since the early 1960’s," he tells us. "These are living expressions of spiritual continuity shaped by migration, memory and belonging. Beyond the UK, I went to India for the first time in August 2024. There was a sense of bewilderment and reverence as a British Indian returning to the place of my ancestors."
I want to show that divinity is accessible in the earthliness of human experiences. Be it the violence & beauty of creation, the natural world as a spiritual confluence, or death as a process of transformation....This kind of spiritual realism guides my photographs, it lets the ineffable become graspable, like my mother’s hand or the arm of a tree. If I embrace the premise of divinity, why should I place it out of reach? I can be part of it right now."Sagar Kharecha
Rooted in visions and mystical experiences, the book engages with the Devi Mahatmya, a foundational Hindu text that celebrates the goddess in her many forms. Structured in three chapters — 'Creation', 'War', and 'Ananda' (bliss) — the book reads like scripture filtered through a personal and perceptual lens.
MATAJI roams the thresholds where the sacred leaks into the mundane. Scattered amidst physical forms of the divine feminine like mothers swaddling children, idols ferried on the backs of trucks, or women immersed in ritual, are abstract images — grainy textures, blurs, and moments where the figure slips from recognition. They turn spiritual states of trance and memory into a reverie of the intangible.
"Abstraction and symbolism are perfect analogues in depicting ideas of the spiritual world. Abstract images can become literal manifestations of spiritual phenomena or translations for describing the inner world -much like religious texts,"Sagar shares. "Literal embodiments are anchors from which the abstract asks us to extend ourselves, perhaps to the point of discomfort. They are in constant dialogue with one another."
The photobook's cover designs are hand-drawn directly from visions saturated in symbolism and meaning. The book itself is a nod to the ritualistic practices in India. The Devotional Edition includes Nag Champa incense, an incense holder affixed to the front cover, and a note of thanks written on wildflower seed paper.
Crucially, MATAJI doesn’t reduce the divine feminine to a singular cultural idiom. While rooted in South Asian visuality and ritual, it stretches across geographies and contexts, while asking where goddesses reside in the diaspora, in the margins, and in the natural world. Through a seeker's lens of the world, this project poses a meditation on the question: where do we locate divinity?
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