During Kalayjian’s travels in 2005, when exhibiting the Ray of Creation Series in Yerevan, he visited many remote villages, ancient churches and monasteries in his homeland of Armenia, where Christianity began more than 1,700 years ago. The Karahoonj series was inspired by his visit to Karahoonj, Armenia’s “Stonehenge.” There he meditated for hours, connecting with the ancients who erected these great stones. He created this series based on the premise that the stones have intelligence and can speak to him. The name Karahoonj itself is derived from the words “kar”, meaning “stone”, and “hoonj”, meaning “voice” or “sound”.
Karahoonj is located in the Southern mountains of present-day Armenia near the town of Goris, and is thought to be the first ever observatory. The site shows the ancient’s understanding of the universe and the Armenian alphabet. Some believe there is a connection between this observatory in Armenia and Stonehenge in Britain, as the two are equidistant from the Sphinx in Egypt. Kalayjian attests that his meditation at Karahoonj was similar to the vision questing he experienced at stone sites in the Western United States.
The series began in 2005, but wasn’t finished until after 2006, when he visited the Khali temple in Northern India on a business trip. The deep dark feminine energy of his Khali experience ignited something within him and the Karahoonj series came alive.
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