Artwork
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
Background information on the Hindu deity, Ganesha, and Hindu architecture.
Video
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.
Video
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.
Artwork
Fresh water jar in the form of a wooden bucket, 1625–1635. Made in China for Japanese patrons. Porcelain with underglaze blue. Asian Art Museum, Gift of Roy Leventritt, B69P95L.
Artwork
Festival of Sumiyoshi Shrine, one of a pair, 1650–1700. Six panel folding screen; ink, colors and gold on paper. Transfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Mrs. Herbert Fleishacker, B69D58.
Artwork
Female Shinto spirit, Heian period (794–1185) or Kamakura period (1185–1333), approx. 1100–1200. Japan. Wood with traces of pigment. Transfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Mrs. Herbert Fleishacker, B69S36.
Lesson
In groups, students will discuss how artists communicate events and characters by observing and describing scenes in the scroll containing stories of Rama’s youth. Students will compare the context of this scroll’s use with those of scrolls illustrating other epics. Then they will create a biographical scroll from the perspective of a character in the Ramayana (The Life of Rama).
Artwork
Decorated pages intended for a Koran, approx. 1500. Turkey. Manuscript page; Gold and colors on paper. Gift of Elton L. Puffer, 2004.67.
Background Information
The photograph shows the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, in the state of Bihar in eastern India. This temple stands next to a descendent of the bodhi tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment. This site is the most important pilgrimage site in the Buddhist world, similar to Varanasi for Hindus or Mecca for Muslims. Learn more.
