An Exploration Of Spiritual Devotion

Ghiora Aharoni’s sculptural media installation Make Me a Temple Within (The Ghau Series) comprises a collection of vintage portable Buddhist shrines—or ghaus—retrofitted with small video screens.

Replacing the traditional glass meant to encase a sacred object, the screen displays a video montage the artist created of Buddhist monks prostrating as they circumambulate pilgrimage sites. The video is interwoven with ambient sound and other devotional rituals. It plays in a continuous loop, echoing the peaceful, meditative quality of the circumambulation. 

The series title was inspired by a phrase in the Hebrew Bible: “Make me a temple so I will dwell inside you.” Rather than suggesting a physical structure, it is an invocation to manifest  spiritual energy within oneself.

The Ghau Series is on view at Sundaram Tagore Madison Avenue (at 82nd Street) through October 2.