Students from India created illustrations for the publication about Sosruko

A creative competition was held at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov. Students from India created illustrations for the Nart epic, relying only on verbal descriptions of the heroes. The best works will be included in the publication about Sosruko in Hindi.

The organizers were People’s Artist of Kabardino-Balkaria Zaurbek Bgazhnokov and Director of the «Treasure of the Narts» Foundation Boris Tazhev. According to the conditions, the children had to create images of the heroes not from finished pictures, but based on the text. The new publication will also include three illustrations created by the Indians a decade ago.

All the children did a brilliant job. Their works convey the spirit of the Nart legends, which is especially valuable, because the illustrations were created through the prism of Indian culture

— noted Bgazhnokov.

The author of the project also thanked the Directorate of the Higher School of International Education of KBSU for their support and proposed to hold a stage of the XVI international art project «Treasure of the Narts» at the university.

The «Treasure of the Narts» Foundation is engaged in publishing and popularization of the Nart epic. Three chapters — «The Birth of Sosruko», «How Sosruko Got Fire» and «How Sosruko Got Millet for the Narts» — have already been translated into 14 languages, including Hindi. The translation was done by KBSU students from India Sharma Arushi, Faeza Zain, Bavane Ksitijaa Anil. Meshram Aryan was involved in computer layout.

It should be noted that KBSU students from India, Jordan, Turkey, and Syria have previously participated in the cultural and educational project «Treasure of the Narts» three times. Some of them received awards from the Moscow House of Nationalities of the Moscow Government, and their works were published in Russian and foreign publications.