Srishti Gurukul 3548 Agate Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95051

"When i was a kid, i was so interested in drawing and more particularly i was always searching in devotional magazines nice deity's picture and i spent hours and hours in trying to reproduce the same image. Nearly 30 years later, Shrishti gurukul facebook post took my attention. I have never imagined or even saw anything like this. Doing deity with clay on the board , it is like the picture i was used to draw coming into life. I am living in France so , so many questions arised, will it be possible to join the class , not the same time zone, how can i do online courses and learning a new skill without any sculpture experience. The teacher Venu ji was so reassuring for all my queries even before joining the course. So i decided to join Spring 2021 batch for Module I . Coming to the class program, the syllabus was so interesting. We can see how pationnate is Venu ji and he shares it so well. In each zoom class , of course we learn new skill in clay work but we always learn something new about hindu religion, or about a deity or about a temple. The teacher gave so minute corrections seeing photos we had to send him for review ( he sees everything, as if he was in front of our work, i don't know how) This class was a great way to elevate my skills and i was happy to do something like this and it kept me in the spiritual path. Venu ji is a great teacher , he knows how to motivate us when we feel lost, and can't thank him enough to share such a beautiful ancient art."

"Srishti Gurukul art class provides a unique exposure to sculpting that one could ever experience. The teacher is very passionate and knowledgeable about sculpting and temple architecture. He pushes students out of their comfort zone to bring out the art work from the student. I have no prior experience in any form of art / drawing. The teacher insisted and guided me to learn this art and to sculpt Lord Ayyappa. My class consisted of 3 sections - Theory, clay work , casting and molding. In the first section we learnt theoretically about different topics like deity postures, hand gestures , deity ornaments, body structure and face features along with basics of temple architecture, different measurements used in idol creation. We also learnt about the basics of 2D drawing and how to implement it practically using clay. The second section is about claywork, here we applied the theoretical section using clay and come up with different shapes using clay, Venu sir teaches different techniques that can be applied in the clay to come up with the desired structure., we were given 2 different sculptures - Nandi , which is a common sculpture for all students and 2nd sculpture is of students choice. In the third section, we learnt about moulding and sculpting this is a very unique experience wherein we learnt how to preserve our clay work. Here we learn to prepare the mother mold from the clay work and then cast the clay work using the mold. The teacher is very dedicated and gives his 200% into the classes and expects prompt completion of assignments from the students, this is more of a crash course and if we follow the guidelines and be prompt in the assignments we would cherish the output and benefit a lot from this course. I would recommend this classes for any one who is interested in Indian art."

"Srishti Gurukul is an intense course of Indian traditional sculpture based on the ancient Sthaapatya Veda. It goes into the specifics of sculpture and teaches fine techniques of sculpting. The teacher, Mr. Venu Devu is descended from a lineage of Sthapatis, supreme craftsmen who were in charge of building an entire temple and were in charge of thousands of sculptors, from the Vijayanagara era. The twelve-week long course is quite interesting with multiple reference papers, long , in-depth class teaching sessions, and rigorous homework assignments. Although the work load is fairly large, it is a crash course of sorts and the speed is the key component through which all the knowledge will be transferred. I learnt a lot in Srishti Gurukul. I discovered for myself another aspect of Indian art, as I already learn Carnatic music. The teacher has a deep and clear understanding of the topic and is more than qualified to instruct multiple students. All in all, Srishti Gurukul is a unique blend of learning and hardwork which is great for anybody. Those who are prepared for the work load, and can be consistent with the time commitment will fare great in this class."

"An awesome experience !! I highly recommend Shrishti Gurukul classes for someone passionate about learning and practicing Indian sculptures. I have alway been keen on trying a hand at Indian sculptures and fascinated by the beautiful designs on Indian temples. So Shrishti Gurukul class seemed like a great opportunity when my wife first spotted it on facebook. The whole experience was very delightful right from the very first interaction with Venu. An awesome instructor whose passion for the art shows up in every aspect of the class. The coursework definitely needs dedication and Venu provides all the help and encouragement as needed. There were times when I was on the verge of giving up for lack of time (office work surged) but due to Venu's persistence, encouragement and lots of help I was able to complete. If you are dedicated and passionate, Venu will do everything he can to help you. In the classes, Venu also provides relevant history/anecdotes/theory/math related to the sculpture which was quite interesting. The course material content is quite educational. I liked the format of the course - the theory and drawing sections get you familiar with the 3D perspective, axis etc; early sculpting exercises like sculpting hands (mudras) based on the earlier drawn versions solidify the understanding and ultimately leading to projects. I completed Intermediate Part-1 of the course and I'm eagerly waiting for the Intermediate Part-2 to start. Attached is a picture of one of my completed projects (the one that I was about to give up). So happy the way it turned out."