ahmedabad om considered the first sound in hindu cosmology is held dear by hindus and indians as a holy word and beginning of mantras in vedas and other religious scriptures in ancient times when indian culture went overseas and influenced neighbouring regions om also travelled to those areas and assumed an identity of its own depending on the local script and interpretation of religions such as hinduism and buddhism which used it as sacred it was this transformation and usage that attracted bhavna maru a 53yearold artist based in rome italy maru an ahmedabad native is holding a threeday exhibition on oms various manifestations across the world at cn institute of fine arts from thursday i left india with my husband in 2000 and moved to the netherlands there i started taking a keen interest in oriental languages and art and started calligraphy and ikebana while i had roots in spiritual knowledge in childhood and adulthood i started finding a similar theme and ethos when i learnt mandarin and japanese i then travelled widely across asian countries and came across the many forms of om universally used as a good omen she said her exhibition has om in 78 languages such as tibetan dongkha ume chinese limbu lao burmese sarada thai mongolian brahmi khmer and sinhali along with most indian languages she said that the exhibition will also go to russia later this year