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Asian Art Calendar of Events

Thursday, March 28, 2024


Exhibition Public - USA & Canada

Puja and Piety: Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Art from the Indian Subcontinent

Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street,
Santa Barbara, California, USA
Apr 17, 2016 To Aug 28, 2016


Detail: This exhibition celebrates the complexity of South Asian representation and iconography by examining the relationship between aesthetic expression and the devotional practice, or puja, in the three native religions of the Indian subcontinent. Drawn from SBMA’s collection and augmented by loans, the exhibition presents some 160 objects of diverse medium created over the past two millennia for temples, home worship, festivals, and roadside shrines. From monumental painted temple hangings to meditation diagrams and portable pictures for pilgrims, from stone sculptures to processional bronzes and wooden chariots, from ancient terracottas to various devotional objects for domestic shrines, this exhibition aims to examine and provide contextualized insights for both classical and popular works of art.

This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an introduction by the eminent art historian and curator Pratapaditya Pal, and accessible essays on each religious tradition by John E. Cort, Stephen P. Huyler, and Christian Luczanits.

Phone No.: 805.963.4364
Fax: 805.966.6840
Contact Email: [email protected]
Site URL: https://www.sbma.net/exhibitions/puja

The Gods Appeal to the Great Devi for Help (detail)
The Gods Appeal to the Great Devi for Help (detail)
India, Kangra, early 19th century
Color and gold on paper
Himachal Pradesh, Folio from a Devi Mahatmya series with Sanskrit text in Devanagari script on reverse. Lent by Narendra and Rita Parson.

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