National Museum, New Delhi

The National Museum in New Delhi, also known as the National Museum of India, is one of the largest museums in India.

Established in 1949, it holds a variety of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art. It functions under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The museum is situated on Janpath.

The museum has around 200,000 works of art, mostly Indian, but some of foreign origin, covering over 5,000 years.

It also houses the National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology on the first floor which was established in 1983 and has been a university since 1989, running master's and doctoral level courses in art history, conservation and museology.

Entrance to the National Museum. The museum is situated on Janpath, New Delhi.

National Museum Building. The current building of the National Museum was designed by the architect Ganesh Bikaji Deolalikar, and the foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on May 12, 1955. Once the building was ready, the new museum was inaugurated by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Vice-President of India, on December 18, 1960.

Rock Edicts of Ashoka. The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. These inscriptions proclaim Ashoka's adherence to the Buddhist philosophy. The inscriptions show his efforts to develop the Buddhist dhamma throughout his kingdom. Although Buddhism as well as Gautama Buddha are mentioned, the edicts focus on social and moral precepts rather than specific religious practices or the philosophical dimension of Buddhism. These were located in public places and were meant for people to read. See more at Edicts of Ashoka - Wikipedia.

Gallery of Harappan Civilization

Indus Valley Civilisation. The Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area from much of Pakistan, to northeast Afghanistan, and northwestern India. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The term Harappan is sometimes applied to the Indus civilisation after its type site Harappa, the first to be excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab province of British India and is now Punjab, Pakistan. See more at Indus Valley Civilisation - Wikipedia.

Priest Head, Male Torso and Dancer. The Priest Head is made of lime stone, from Mohenjo-Daro. The Male Torso and the Dancer are made of jaspe stone, from Harappa, c. 2700-2000 BCE.

Dancing Girl. Dancing Girl is a prehistoric bronze sculpture made in lost-wax casting about c. 2300–1750 BC in the Indus Valley civilisation city of Mohenjo-daro (in modern-day Pakistan), which was one of the earliest cities. The statue is 10.5 centimetres (4.1 in) tall, and depicts a nude young woman or girl with stylized ornaments, standing in a confident, naturalistic pose. Dancing Girl is highly regarded as a work of art. See more at Dancing Girl (sculpture) - Wikipedia.

Priest-King. Reproduction of the Priest-King, in Pakistan often King-Priest, is a small male figure sculpted in steatite found during the excavation of the ruined Bronze Age city of Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, Pakistan, in 1925–26. It is dated to around 2000–1900 BCE, in Mohenjo-daro's Late Period, and is "the most famous stone sculpture" of the Indus Valley civilization. It is now in the collection of the National Museum of Pakistan. It is widely admired, as "the sculptor combined naturalistic detail with stylized forms to create a powerful image that appears much bigger than it actually is," and excepting possibly the Pashupati Seal, "nothing has come to symbolize the Indus Civilization better." See more at Priest-King (sculpture) - Wikipedia.

Urban culture. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilisation, making them the first urban centre in the region. The civilization's cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-residential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). See more at Harappan architecture - Wikipedia.

Lingam from Harappa. Archaeologist MS Vats found this lingam during the excavations at Harappa (1930s).

Bull racing. Bronze Late Harappan figure from Daimabad hoard, c. 2000 BCE.

Harappan burial from Rakhigarhi. Objects placed with this skeleton in the burial indicate that the Harappans believed in afterlife. The pottery items placed in the grave unearthed from cemetery H in Harappa reveal the funerary customs prevalent during the period. Post-cremation burials are inferred from urns having wide-open mouths; two such specimens are on display.

Gallery of Maurya, Shunga and Satvahana Art

Maurya Empire. The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia based in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The empire was centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain; its capital city was located at Pataliputra (modern Patna). See more at Maurya Empire - Wikipedia.

Wheel of Dharma (Dharmachakra Pravartana). Stupa casing slab, showing worship of the Buddha symbolized by the Dharma wheel on a throne. Amaravati AP, Satavahana. 1st-2nd c. CE. 95 x 118 cm. The Dharma Chakra or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism. In Buddhism, the Dharma Chakra is widely used to represent the Buddha's Dharma (Buddha's teaching and the universal moral order), Gautama Buddha himself and the walking of the path to enlightenment, since the time of Early Buddhism. See more at Dharmachakra - Wikipedia.

Buddha in preaching attitude (symbolic). Amaravati AP, Satavahana. 1st-2nd c. CE. 78 x 86.5 cm.

Fragment of Torana. Fragment of a Torana (arched gateway) with a Griffin, 1st Century BCE, Satavahana. From Sanchi Stupa. The Satavahanas, also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late second century BCE and lasted until the early third century CE. The Satavahana kingdom mainly comprised the present-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. See more at Satavahana dynasty - Wikipedia.

Gallery of Kushana (Gandhara and Mathura schools) and Ikshvaku Arts

Kushan Empire. The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath, near Varanasi, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great. See more at Kushan Empire - Wikipedia.

Yaksi drunken figure. Yaksi drunken figure, 2nd century, excavated from Mahory, sandstone. It came to be called this because it looks like a drunken yaxie.

Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva. Gandhara. 2nd - 3rd century AD. Origin unknown. Schist stone. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools, as well as modern Theravāda Buddhism, bodhisattva refers to someone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so. See more at Bodhisattva - Wikipedia.

Gandhara stucco heads.

Buddha. Buddha, 87.1153. Schist. Provenance Unknown. Gandhara, 2nd century CE. Ht. 133.0 cm, wd. 51.0 cm, dep. 21.0 cm. A life size stone image of Buddha is standing in abhayamudra. In his left hand he holds the hem of his garments. The present sculpture is typically Gandhara in style - marked by long flowing drapery placed loosely on the body with heavy schematic folds. The robes cover both the shoulders. He bears an urna mark on the forehead. The wavy hair is arranged in top-knot fashion.

Preaching Buddha (center). Gandhara sculpture, 2nd - 3rd century AD.

Buddha. 2nd century Greco-Buddhist statue of standing Buddha from Gandhara. Greco-Buddhism is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Gandhara, in present-day north-western Pakistan and parts of north-east Afghanistan. It was a cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into the Indian subcontinent from the time of Alexander the Great. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka would convert to Buddhism and spread the religious philosophy throughout his domain, as recorded in the Edicts of Ashoka. Within its borders, the Greek fondness for statuary produced the first statues of the Buddha, leading ultimately to the modern tradition. Mahayana Buddhism was spread from the Gangetic plains in India into Gandhara and then Central Asia during the Mauryan Era, where it became the most prevalent branch of Buddhism in Central Asia. See more at Greco-Buddhism - Wikipedia.

Buddha. 2nd-3rd century. Gandhara. Schist stone. 56 x 24 x 14 cms.

Lakshmi as the Mother. Lakshmi as the Mother (front side). Kushana period, 2nd c. CE, Mathura. Lakshmi (lit. 'she who leads to one's goal') is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with Maya ("Illusion"). Along with Parvati and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi of Hindu goddesses. Within the goddess-oriented Shaktism, Lakshmi is venerated as the prosperity aspect of the Mother goddess. Lakshmi is both the consort and the divine energy (shakti) of the Hindu god Vishnu, the Supreme Being of Vaishnavism; she is also the Supreme Goddess in the sect and assists Vishnu to create, protect, and transform the universe. See more at Lakshmi - Wikipedia.

Kushan Chaturmukha Linga. A second century Chaturmukha, or four-faced linga, found in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Sculpted from mottled and unpolished red sandstone, the linga measures seventy-two centimetres in height, thirty-six centimetres. The features of the linga are characteristic of the Mathura school of art. The top of the sculpture is rounded to resemble a human phallus with a distinct partition in the stone to mark the head of the phallus and represent the organ accurately; additionally, four faces are carved on the lower half of the sculpture. The Chaturmukha linga is a type of mukhalinga (Sanskrit, meaning “linga with a face”), as it was carved to show human faces rather than a simplified phallic form. The faces represent the five aspects of Shiva, the Hindu deity associated with linga worship: Vamadeva, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Sadyojata and Isana. The number of faces carved into the linga likely corresponded with the number of doorways in the shrine where the linga was situated. According to art historian Stella Kramrisch, the combination of the vertically-pointed linga (urdhvalinga) and the human face create a Tantric symbol of human creativity: the upward-moving “seed” (or inspiration) climbs up the spine and is retained in the brain. The mukhalinga thus signifies the ascendance and transmutation of sexual energies into creative power.

Adoration of Stupa. Adoration of Stupa. Ikshvaku Dynasty. 3rd Century AD. In Buddhism, a stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as sarira – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. Circumambulation or pradakhshina has been an important ritual and devotional practice in Buddhism since the earliest times, and stupas always have a pradakhshina path around them. See more at Stupa - Wikipedia.

Buddha with Naga Kalika. Gandhara, 2nd century AD. Provenance Unknown. Stone. Loan from Meyo College Museum, Ajmer. The Nagas are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least 2,000 years. One naga, in human form, attempted to become a monk; and when telling it that such ordination was impossible, the Buddha told it how to ensure that it would be reborn a human, and so able to become a monk. See more at Nāga in Buddhism - Wikipedia.

Gallery of Gupta Art

Gupta Art. Gupta art is the art of the Gupta Empire, which ruled most of northern India, with its peak between about 300 and 480 CE, surviving in much reduced form until c. 550. The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak and golden age of North Indian art for all the major religious groups. Gupta art is characterized by its "Classical decorum", in contrast to the subsequent Indian medieval art, which "subordinated the figure to the larger religious purpose". See more at Gupta art - Wikipedia.

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Gupta Dynasty, 5th century. Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. Stone. In Buddhism, Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva who contains the compassion of all Buddhas. He is variably depicted, described, and portrayed as either male or female in different cultures. Guanyin is one of the female depictions of Avalokiteshvara usually seen in East Asia. See more at Avalokiteśvara - Wikipedia.

Parvati. Parvati - goddess of divine energy and wife of Shiva – with her son, Skanda, in stone, 6th century. Parvati, Uma or Gauri is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. In her complete form, she is a physical representation of Mahadevi, also known as Adi Shakti, the primordial power behind the creation of the universe, the creator and destroyer. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is the reincarnation of Sati, the first wife of Shiva who immolated herself during a yajna (fire-sacrifice). See more at Parvati - Wikipedia.

Vishnu. Vishnu, E. 6. Stone. Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Gupta, 5th century CE. Ht. 109.0 cm, wd. 67.0 cm, dep. 22.0 cm. This is a standing figure of Vishnu whose upper part of the body is nude, except that he wears an elaborate crown with mauli-mani on the head, a necklace of large pearls and another composed of beaded multi-strings armlets, ear-pendants, yajnopavita and a beautiful vanamala, passing behind the shoulders and over the arms near the elbows. The lower half of the body is clad in a waist-cloth with loose folds, secured by a cord. Traces of a halo around the head are visible.

Ekamukha Sivalinga. Ekamukha Shivalinga. Gupta. 5th Century AD. Khoh, Madhya Pradesh. In Hindu iconography, Mukhalinga or Mukhalingam (literally "linga with a face", mukhalinga) is a linga with one or more human faces. The linga is an aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva. The one-faced mukhalinga is called eka-mukhalinga, "linga with a single face". The face is created in high relief. He wears his hair piled on his head like a bun, while longer hair flow over his shoulders. He may also wear earrings and a necklace and have the crescent moon on his head and the third eye on the forehead. The faces of Shiva are carved generally from the ear onwards, emerging from the linga. See more at One-faced Mukhalinga - Wikipedia.

Standing Buddha. Standing Buddha. Sarnath. Gupta period, first half of the 5th century. Sandstone. 97×50×19cm.

Leogriff with rider. Leogriff with rider. Buff sandstone from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. 5th century.

Mother Goddess. Mother Goddess. Gupta. Early 7th Century AD. Vardhana, Madhya Pradesh.

Dwarf Shiva (Shiva Vamana). Vakataka Dynasty. 5th century Mansar, Maharashtra. Stone. A rare representation of Lord Shiva as a dwarf. Rich facial expressions, luxurious hats and accessories. He has four arms, three of which are holding flowers, rosaries, and lotus stems, and the fourth is on his lap. Long pendants of pearls, necklaces set with precious stones, large round earrings, elaborate bracelets, and headdresses.

Goddess with sword and trident.

Mother Goddesses. Sculpture of the Mother Goddesses, circa 6th-7th century CE. Shamlaji, Gujarat. Gupta Period.

Chaturmukh Shivalinga. Chaturmukh Shivalinga. 6th Century CE. Gupta. Stone Sculpture. Uttar Pradesh. Ht. 93.5 cm; Wd.36 cm. This is an image of Chaturmukhi Shivalinga showing Brahma, Shiva with shulapurusha, Surya, and Vishnu on each face. All the deities appear along with ayudhpurushas except Brahma.

Gallery of Gupta Tarracottas and Early Medieval Art

Gupta Terracotta Sculpture. The earliest terracottas datable to the Gupta period appear under the Western Satraps at the Buddhist site of Devnimori in Gujarat circa 375–400 CE, representing the southern extension of Gandharan influence to the subcontinent, which persisted locally with the sites of Mirpur Khas, Samalaji or Dhank, a century before this influence would further extend to Ajanta and Sarnath. The Gupta period saw the production of many sculptures in terracotta of very fine quality, and they are similar in style across the empire, to an even greater extent than the stone sculpture. Some can still be seen in their original settings on the brick temple at Bhitargaon, where the large relief panels have almost worn away, but various heads and figures survive at higher levels. The very elegant pair of river goddesses excavated from a temple at Ahichchhatra are 1.47 metres high. See more at Gupta Art, Terracotta sculpture - Wikipedia.

River goddess Ganga. Terracotta statue of the river goddess Ganga, from Ahichchhatra, Uttar Pradesh, 5th century AD. From the Gupta period onwards the two sacred rivers of North India, the Ganga and Yamuna, are often presented as river goddesses flanking the entrance to many Hindu Temples. Symbolising fertility, abundance and untamed energy, Ganga is represented here as a bejewelled and beautiful young Goddess, standing on her aquatic vehicle (makara, or crocodile). Standing at a height of 1.7m, this is a pair of Ganga sculptures excavated from the remains of a large brick temple at Ahichchhatra.

Gallery of Bronze Sculptures

Bronze Sculptures. Chola dynasty bronzes (850-1150), the largest mostly about half life-size, are some of the most iconic and famous sculptures of India, using a similar elegant but powerful style to the stone pieces. They were created using the lost wax technique. The sculptures were of Shiva in various avatars with his consort Parvati, and Vishnu with his consort Lakshmi, among other deities. Even large bronzes had the advantage that they were light enough to be used in processions for festivals.

Door guardian (Dvarapala). Door guardian (Dvarapala). 17th Century, Nayaka, Tamil Nadu, South India. A Dvarapala or Dvarapalaka is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, usually armed with a weapon - the most common being the gada (mace). The dvarapala statue is a widespread architectural element throughout Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina cultures. See more at Dvarapala - Wikipedia.

Goddess Uma. Goddess Uma, consort of Shiva. Vijayanagar period, c.1500. Tamil Nadu, India. Dimensions 95 × 39.4 × 28.4 cm (37 3/8 × 15 1/2 × 11 3/16 in.) The name Uma is used for Sati (Shiva's first wife, who is reborn as Parvati) in earlier texts, but in the Ramayana, it is used as a synonym for Parvati. In the Harivamsa, Parvati is referred to as Aparna ('One who took no sustenance') and then addressed as Uma, who was dissuaded by her mother from severe austerity by saying u mā ('oh, don't'). Parvati, Uma or Gauri is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. In her complete form, she is a physical representation of Mahadevi, also known as Adi Shakti, the primordial power behind the creation of the universe, the creator and destroyer. See more at Parvati - Wikipedia.

Goddess (Devi). Chola. 13th Century. South India.

Chandrashekhar. Chandrashekhar. 15th – 16th Century, Kerala. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the name comes from the Sanskrit words candra, meaning "moon", and sekhara, meaning "crest" or "crown", which is an epithet of the Shiva. See more at Chandrashekhar - Wikipedia.

Bala Krishna or Sambandar. Bala Krishna or Sambandar. 15th – 16th Century. Vijayanagar, South India. Sambandar was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an oeuvre of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (bhakti) to the Hindu god Shiva. He is depicted as a dancing child or a young teen with his right forefinger pointing upwards, reflecting the legend where he credits Parvati-Shiva for what he has. See more at Sambandar - Wikipedia.

Poet-saint. Poet-saint. 14th Century. Vijayanagar, South India. Saints were a popular subject with sculptors. They symbolised the ideal human being—devoted, poetic, and selfless—and were moulded into bronze figures for worship in home-shrines.

Tripurantaka. Shiva as Tripurantaka. Early Western Chalukya. 8th Century. Aihole, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India. Tripurantaka or Tripurari and Pashupati is a manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva as Tripurantaka is accredited with destroying three cities of the asuras. Out of eight legends narrating Shiva's role as the destroyer of evil, the Tripura-samhara (Destruction of the three citadels) legend relates to the destruction of the three evil cities Tripura by Shiva. See more at Tripurantaka - Wikipedia.

Subrahmanya. Subrahmanya. Vijayanagar. 15th-16th Century. South India. Kartikeya, also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha and Murugan, is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha and a god whose legends have many versions in Hinduism. See more at Kartikeya - Wikipedia.

Nataraja. The most iconic Chola dynasty bronze is the bronze figure of Shiva as Nataraja, the lord of dance. In his upper right hand he holds the damaru, the drum of creation. In his upper left hand he holds the agni, the flame of destruction. His lower right hand is lifted in the gesture of the abhaya mudra. His right foot stands upon the demon Apasmara, the embodiment of ignorance. See more at Nataraja - Wikipedia.

Goddess with sword and shield sitting on lion.

Indra. Indra. 15th century. Brass. Nepal. 26.3 x 24.2 x 12 cms. Indra is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. He is celebrated for his powers, and as the one who killed the great evil (a malevolent type of asura) named Vritra, who obstructed human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys Vritra and his "deceiving forces", and thereby brings rains and sunshine as the saviour of mankind. See more at Indra - Wikipedia.

Gallery of Late Medieval Art

Late Medieval Art. Although Islamic conquests in India were made as early as the first half of the 10th century, it wasn't until the Mughal Empire that one observes emperors with a patronage for the fine arts. Emperor Humayun, during his reestablishment of the Delhi Sultanate in 1555, brought with him Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad, two of the finest painters from Persian Shah Tahmasp's renowned atelier. During the reign of Akbar (1556–1605), the number of painters grew from around 30 during the creation of the Hamzanama in the mid-1560s, to around 130 by the mid 1590s. According to court historian Abu'l-Fazal, Akbar was hands-on in his interest of the arts, inspecting his painters regularly and rewarding the best. It is during this time that Persian artists were attracted to bringing their unique style to the empire. Indian elements were present in their works from the beginning, with the incorporation of local Indian flora and fauna that were otherwise absent from the traditional Persian style. The paintings of this time reflected the vibrancy and inclusion of Akbar's kingdom, with production of Persian miniatures, the Rajput paintings (including the Kangra school) and the Pahari style of Northern India. See more at Indian art, late Medieval Period - Wikipedia.

Shiva riding a bull. It was made in the 13th century. Nandi is the bull mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Shiva. He is also the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Almost all Shiva temples display stone-images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine.. See more at Nandi (Hinduism) - Wikipedia.

Varunani. A 13th-century sculpture of Varunani. Konark, Odisha, Eastern Ganga. Dimensions: height: 73 cm (28.7 in); width: 41 cm (16.1 in); depth: 23 cm (9 in). Varuni is the name of multiple goddesses associated with the Hindu god Varuna — his wife (also known as Varunani), his daughter (the goddess of wine), and the personification of his shakti (A matrika or mother goddess). Sometimes, these goddesses are identified as one deity. In this context, she is the goddess of wine, who emerged during the Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean) and chose Varuna as her consort. The term Varuni also refers to an alcoholic drink. See more at Varuni - Wikipedia.

Vajra Tara. Sculpture of Vajra Tara. Gahadavala Dynasty. Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. 11th c. AD. Tara is an important figure in Buddhism, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. She appears as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, and as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. Various forms of Yellow or Golden colored Taras, sometimes associated with wealth and prosperity including "Yellow Cintamani Tara" ("Wish-Granting Gem Tara") holding a wish granting jewel, eight armed "Vajra Tara" and golden "Rajasri Tara" holding a blue lotus. See more at Tara (Buddhism) - Wikipedia.

Mughal painting. Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It emerged from Persian miniature painting (itself partly of Chinese origin) and developed in the court of the Mughal Empire of the 16th to 18th centuries. Battles, legendary stories, hunting scenes, wildlife, royal life, mythology, as well as other subjects have all been frequently depicted in paintings. See more at Mughal painting - Wikipedia.

Garuda. Garuda – the winged vehicle for Vishnu – in adorned wood, 19th century. Garuda is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is described as the king of the birds and a kite-like figure. He is shown either in a zoomorphic form (a giant bird with partially open wings) or an anthropomorphic form (a man with wings and some ornithic features). Garuda is generally portrayed as a protector with the power to swiftly travel anywhere, ever vigilant and an enemy of every serpent. See more at Garuda - Wikipedia.

See also

• National Museum, New Delhi - North India Tour 2020
• New Delhi
• Taj Palace

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Sources

• National Museum of India - Wikipedia
• National Museum, New Delhi

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Location