The Sacred Mantra carved in stone to be displayed at the International Exhibition of Calligraphy

Andrei Letyagin

A Buddhist mantra carved in stone will be one of the chefs d’oeuvre on view at the International Exhibition of Calligraphy scheduled to be held in the historic center of Veliky Novgorod at Yaroslav's Court from September 10-12, the Organizers“ Committee told RIA Novosti.

“The mantra to be displayed is Karmapa Chenno which can be translated as ”Powers of compassion of all Buddhas, act through me”,“ the spokesperson said.

Carved-in-stone mantras have been set on the roads to Buddhist holy places since the 8th century.

Sven Plamer sculpted this copy of Karmapa Khyenno in 2009.

“Earlier, the mantra was exhibited at Sokolniki Eco Centre, Moscow. Thus, Veliky Novgorod is the second Russian city, where this masterpiece of modern calligraphy is to be presented”, the spokesperson said.

A page of the Golden Koran, a unique monument of 21st century art, is reported to be displayed for the residents and guests of the city beside the mantra.

The only replica of the Koran of Usman, the ancient Muslim manuscript of the 8th century, was coined under a unique technology in 2006 at the Moscow Mint of Goznak and is kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts under the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg).

It took 1.5 years to manufacture the Golden Koran’s 163 plates of the highest purity triple nine gold.

The Golden Koran was first presented in 2007 at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow).

Some of its pages were displayed at international exhibitions in Iran (2007), Bahrain (2008), Libya (2008), and Egypt (2010).

In 2009, one page of the replica was donated to Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, King of Saudi Arabia.

According to a Novgorod administration’s official, the works of renowned calligraphers from about fifty countries as well as writing materials and tools will be presented at the event.
Many exhibits have already been successfully demonstrated at similar exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

The exhibition will see master classes on writing technique.

The exhibition is organized by the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy (Moscow), the National Union of Calligraphers, and MVK, the International Exhibition Company (Moscow) under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The exhibition is going to travel to Paris, New York, Jerusalem, and Shanghai.

Source: RIA Novosti