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musugu

 MUSUGU is a picture book that unravels the myth behind the masks that appear on buildings all around Andhra Pradesh. These masks are intended to protect the occupants of the establishments they are mounted on,by warding off the “evil eye” (Drishti). They are made by artisans with coconut fibre and clay and are commonly sold on the streets of Andhra Pradesh.

This book is dedicated to Andhra Pradesh, a place I have come to call home, intended to take a vibrant piece of culture from AP to intrigue minds across the world.

As the Hindu legend goes, Shiva in order to teach the Yaksha a lesson for disrespecting nature and being greedy creates an all-devouring monster from his third eye with an intense hunger. Disgusted by his own greed which was much like the monsters, fuelled by selfish desire the Yaksha realised its mistake and begged Shiva for mercy and forgiveness. Having forgiven him, Shiva commanded the monster to do no harm. The starving monster asked Shiva what it must eat to satisfy its ravenous hunger, Shiva casually asked the monster to consume itself. The monster then willingly ate his body starting with its legs as per Lord Shiva's order, who, pleased with the Monsters devotion gave it the name Kirthimukha, the face of glory.

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