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| Browse South Asian & Himalayan Art |
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SACRED
ART AND COURTLY SPLENDOR OF SOUTH ASIA
The arts of South Asia and the Himalayas are closely intertwined
with the subcontinent’s many religious traditions. This region,
which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan,
and Tibet, is the birthplace of three major religions: Hinduism,
Jainism, and Buddhism. The Islamic kingdoms that were established
in South Asia in the twelfth century brought new visual traditions
to the subcontinent. The galleries’ South Asian and Himalayan
collections illuminate these richly diverse sacred traditions as
well as the secular arts of the Mughal and Rajput courts.
SOUTH ASIAN AND HIMALAYAN COLLECTION
Number of objects: more than 1,200
Historical range: First century B.C.E. to present
HIGHLIGHTS
• A Gandharan frieze illustrating the life of Buddha (late
2nd–3d century)
• A small but superb collection of Chola bronzes (Hindu temple
figures from the 10th–14th century), including an image of
Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi as the Goddess Parvati
• Exquisite paintings made for the Mughal and Rajput courts
of North India (16th–19th century)
• The Freer Ramayana, an illustrated manuscript of the great
Hindu epic painted for a Mughal nobleman
• A significant collection of 12th–19th-century Buddhist
art from Nepal and Tibet, including a larger-than-life Nepalese
wooden bodhisattva and a Tibetan thangka
• Company School works (drawings and paintings by Indian artists
for British patrons, 18th–19th century)
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Online Exhibition
South Asian and Himlayan Exhibitions
• Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas
• Sculpture of South and Southeast Asia
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