Thrissur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Jasna Salim, an artist with brilliant painting skills at Guruvayur on wedbesday.

PM Modi was simply overwhelmed after meeting Jasna and he truly admired her unquestionable devotion for Lord Shri Krushna.

At Guruvayur, I received a Bhagwan Shri Krishna painting from Jasna Salim Ji. Her journey in Krishna Bhakti is a testament to the transformative power of devotion. She has been offering paintings of Bhagwan Shri Krishna at Guruvayur for years, including on key festivals. pic.twitter.com/pfrFcXEShX

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 18, 2024

Jasna Salim, a native in Koyilandy and a homemaker, has done over 500 paintings of little Lord Krishna. She has been offering paintings of Bhagwan Shri Krishna at Guruvayur for years.

She has been highly praised for her excellent creativity so far and has a large number of buyers in and outside the state.

 She has been gifting the portraits of little Krishna to the famed Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple in Thrissur but tradition and customs have not allowed her to go inside the shrine or present it in front of the sanctum sanctorum.

As non-Hindus are not permitted inside the ancient temple, she would either place her painting near the hundi in front of the portal or hand it over to shrine staff on Vishu and Janmashtami days every year.

Jasna Salim

There is an amazing fact that all her paintings, whether done on canvas or glass, are of only one theme - infant Krishna with his butter pot.

Salim said that she could draw only little Lord Krishna with such perfection and she failed to do other themes with such grace.

"I do not know the reason; I am actually an accidental artist and have no professional training. I started painting all of a sudden six years ago when I was pregnant and was under bed rest after an accident. I can paint only Lord Krishna with perfection," Salim said.