Seattle Museum exhibits Ramayana paintings

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Internationally renowned Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Seattle (Washington, USA) is holding an exhibition titled “Many Arrows from Rama's Bow: Paintings of the Ramayana” till December two.

In collaboration with San Diego Museum of Art, this exhibition depicts “scenes and heroes of the Ramayana”. Visitors will “learn the underlying philosophical and devotional meanings of the Ramayana in this presentation of nearly 40 paintings”, a Museum announcement says and adds that “many of which have never been shown before”. A ca. 1700 Pahari watercolor from Kulu depicts “Rama bends his bow”. Museum is also organizing a 30-minute gallery talk every week in which “visitors will become familiar with the major characters and events of The Ramayana”.

Applauding SAAM for organizing Hinduism focused exhibition, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.

Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit scripture that consists of 24,000 stanzas, explores various themes, including human existence, concept of dharma, etc. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

SAAM is part of Seattle Art Museum (SAM) whose traces go back to 1906 and whose Mission Statement points out "SAM Connects Art to Life". SAM’s Chairman and President of Trustees Board are Charles Wright and Winnie Stratton respectively while Kimerly Rorschach is Director.