Beliefs

Hindu temples are numerous in form, and probably evolved from a variety of sources, including the worship of natural sites, mounds, trees, due to the need for a place to conduct ritual practices and house images of deities. Learn more.

Guru Nanak’s meeting with Praladh, from a manuscript of the Janam Sakhi (Life Stories), 1800–1900. India or Pakistan; Punjab region. Opaque watercolors and gold on paper. Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Kapany Collection, 1998.58.26. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Guru Nanak converses with Muslim clerics, from a manuscript of the Janam Sakhi (Life Stories), 1800–1900. India or Pakistan; Punjab region. Opaque watercolors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Kapany Collection, 1998.58.22. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Guardian king of the west (Gwangmok cheonwang), 2002-2003, by Jae-u (Korean, born 1966). Ink and mineral colors on cotton. Gift of Jae-u, 2004.10.

Virudhaka (Japanese: Zochoten), Buddhist Guardian King of the South and Dhritarashtra (Japanese: Jikokuten), Buddhist Guardian King of the East. Heian Period (794-1185), approx. 950-1000. Japan. Wood and pigments. The Avery Brundage Collection, B6S318+.

This Goddess image appears in a niche on one side of the main structure of the great Shiva Nataraja (Dancing Shiva) a temple in Chidambaram, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Learn more.

Background information on the Hindu deity, Ganesha, and Hindu architecture.

Inspired by the British Museum’s video Hajj Stories, staff at the Asian Art Museum asked Bay Area Muslims who have performed the hajj to share experiences of their journeys.