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Why is the epic of Rama a beloved tale in many cultures across South and Southeast Asia? Explore how this story and its characters has remained significant in the lives of millions even today.

A time-lapse video of the installation of a vast 10 x 20 foot oil painting of the “Delhi Durbar of 1903” by Roderick McKenzie at the Asian Art Museum. Part of the special exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts (on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 21, 2011–April 8, 2012).

Asian Art Museum Storyteller Amit Pendyal tells a scene from the Rama epic (Ramayana) with the use of artworks in the museum’s collection. Discover more fresh takes on this ageless tale in the exhibition, The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe.

Krishna overcoming the serpent Kaliya, 1400–1500. India; reportedly from Sundaraperumakoil, Tanjavur district, Tamil Nadu state, former kingdom of Vijayanagara. Bronze. The Avery Brundage Collection, B65B72.

Refined Character Type: Arjuna, third of the Pandava (Pandawa) brothers, approx. 1950. Indonesia; West Java. Wood, cloth, and mixed media. From The Mimi and John Herbert Collection, F2000.86.115.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller Miriam Mills tells an excerpt from the Ramayana in the Southeast Asian galleries at the Asian Art Museum with the use of artworks from the museum’s collection.

Artist Joanna Swan discusses India and her work during the during the PechaKucha Night at the Asian Art Museum.

New Delhi-based artist Jagannath Panda lives in the burgeoning city of Gurgaon, which is one of India’s major outsourcing hubs and bases of operation for global corporations. His works illustrate the city’s tensions, as overdevelopment threatens natural habitats and infrastructures collapse before they are completed. Panda’s mix of mythology and realism points to the evolving nature of Indian identity and experience today.

A Maharaja’s magnificent silver and enamel carriage is hoisted into the Asian Art Museum through the large rear windows of the building via crane, and then carefully uncrated and installed for the upcoming Maharaja exhibition. Time lapse video compresses approximately two full days of work into less than two minutes. This carriage was on view during the exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts (October 21, 2011–April 8, 2012).