Tarble Arts Center of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston is holding an exhibition containing paintings of various Hindu gods and goddesses through May 27.

This exhibition, titled “Three Folk Art Traditions of Northeast India”, depicts folk paintings of Hindu deities Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Jagannath, Durga, Ganesh, Krishna, Rama, Hanuman, Kali, etc.

Applauding Tarble Arts Center for exhibiting Hinduism focused paintings, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.

These folk Madhubani paintings, Noya village patas and Puri patachitras from Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa respectively portray Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhana; Ganesh and Consort; Rama Releases Ahalya from the Curse; Ferryman Takes Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana across the River; Radha and Krishna; Vishnu’s 10 incarnations; Yashoda and Baby Krishna; Krishna Subduing the Serpent Kaliya; Krishna Rides in a Chariot Made of the Cowherd Girls' Bodies; Vishnu Appears to Arjuna as a Composite Animal; Rama Chases the Deer; Durga Slaying the Buffalo Demon Mahisha; etc. A portable Jagannath shrine is also on display.

This exhibition is the subject of the 2012 Fifth Grade Enrichment program open to area schools.

The Tarble Arts Center claims to be “a major cultural arts resource serving east-central Illinois” and its founding purpose is "to take the arts to the people." Michael Watts is the Director while Bernard Cesarone is the guest curator of this exhibition.

Consistently ranked in the top third of Midwest universities in its class, Eastern Illinois University on a 320-acre campus offers a textbook rental system and its student graduation and retention rates are said to be well above national averages. William L. Perry is the President.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.