British Museum highlights Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions in UK context

The British Museum’s Ancient India: Living Traditions is among the most significant displays for Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists living in the UK.

Eastern Eye was given a tour of the exhibition by its curator, Dr Sushma Jansari, the Tabor Foundation curator of South Asia at the British Museum, and Kajal Meghani, the project curator, who has completed a PhD on the contributions of South Asian collectors to the museum.

A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Highlights in the exhibition include: Ardhanarishvara, “lord who is half woman” – Shiva and Parvati combined in one deity – dated about 1790–1810; the Bimaran casket, about 1st century; Gaja-Lakshmi (“Elephant Lakshmi”), goddess of good fortune, about 1780; Ganesha made in Java from volcanic stone, about AD 1000–1200; the head of a grimacing yaksha, about second or third century; Naga, about 17th century; a sandstone figure of Ganesha from Uttar Pradesh, about AD 750; a seated Jain enlightened teacher in meditation, about AD 1150–1200; and a silk watercolour painting of the Buddha from China, about AD 701–750.

Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Jansari said one of the aims of the exhibition was to connect the figures with visitors, especially practitioners of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism in the UK.

She said: “Most of them don’t know a great deal about Indian religions, so (this is) just to say that these might be ancient images, but they are and have always been under veneration. People do venerate them. This isn’t all about just one religious tradition. It’s about three of the indigenous religions of the subcontinent. You’ve got the Buddha, Ganesh and a Jain enlightened teacher (in close proximity).

A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

“It was important for me, as a member of the South Asian diaspora, that I didn’t want to split up these traditions. I wanted very much to look at our collections and ask, what are the commonalities between Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

“What are their artistic origins? Just as we live alongside each other, it was the same in the ancient past. It was even more fluid because you didn’t subscribe to just one particular religion. You would venerate at different shrines. You’d subscribe to different aspects of these different religions.”

ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

She stopped at one point: “We wanted you to feel the atmosphere of ancient India. We’re in early India, maybe about the second century BCE. Most of the population live in the countryside. There are obviously some amazing cities as well, but we’re looking at the countryside.

Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

You’re living in an agrarian society. The failure of your crops means famine, and the success of your crops means you are likely to survive another year with your family, and you will prosper. And we’re just trying to evoke that.”

In Indian mythology, a yaksha is a class of supernatural beings, often nature spirits or deities, that can be benevolent, mischievous, or even malevolent. They are frequently associated with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure, and wilderness. Yakshas are often depicted as guardians of places or treasures and can be found in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, as well as in temples throughout South and Southeast Asia.

“You can hear the sounds of nature,” continued Jansari. “Maybe you’re walking through a dappled forest, and then you encounter the yakshas, the yakshis and the (snake gods) nagas and the naginis. And these are some of the earliest images of deities in the subcontinent, shaped in human form, which is incredibly important, but it doesn’t mean that they’re consigned to the past. This is not ancient and long gone, like an exhibition of beautiful Greek or Roman art, but those deities are no longer under active worship. These have a long continuous life.”

NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The yakshas and the yakshis were “not all lovely, happy figures,” said Jansari. “Actually, they need to be placated. You’ve got these grimacing yakshas here, and they’re clutching sacrificial animals.”

She pointed out a figure of “a voluptuous woman draped in jewellery. There’s lots of floral imagery. You are thinking about fecundity and plenty. But then you look a bit more closely at her hair, there are weapons emanating out. These are powerful, independent goddesses with a martial quality.”

The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Jansari spoke about snakes and why in many societies in India, particularly in rural parts, they tend not to be killed.

She explained: “The nagas and the naginis were independent, really powerful gods. And in a society where the monsoon is incredibly important for the success or failure of your crops, the snakes are vital. You’ve got lovely plenty of water, which means your crops are growing, which means there are more rodents and frogs. So having lots of snakes around is a really healthy sign. They were venerated. They were not killed. It was considered very bad karma to kill a snake. And even now, you still don’t kill snakes. Within nature spirits, it’s not only yakshas and yakshis and nagas and naginis it’s also animal-headed deities.” She talked about the genesis of the exhibition: “I really wanted to show the connections between this ancient religious art and nature, but also the religions themselves. There are so many similarities. There are also key differences. I wanted to make sure that this exhibition is not seen as ancient objects from abroad which have no meaning or purpose here in the UK. They absolutely do for large portions of our society. This is very much part of British culture. That’s how Belgrave Road (in Leicester) happens.”

Meghani looked at “how these faiths and the practices travelled, not just from India to the UK, but there is this weaving through East Africa and other places, and how these traditions change and are adapted to these spaces, how it allows people to maintain a sense of connection with their families and also their faith.”

The curators had consulted places of worship in the UK. They included the Buddhapadipa temple in Wimbledon, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden in north London, as well as the Oshwal Association of the UK in Potter’s Bar in Hertfordshire.

Meghani said: “This is one of the films we created with a community partner in Potter’s bar. Manjula Shah, who volunteers at Potter’s Bar, wakes up at the crack of dawn to get to the temple for 7 am. She’s preparing sandalwood paste, and she’ll use that in the ceremony.

“And we wanted to include sites in the UK to show how South Asians are still carrying on their veneration practices within Britain today.

” In Ancient India: Living traditions is at the British Museum until October 19, 2025.