Rare pieces of history now at National Museum

NEW DELHI: For the first time an array of exquisite artefacts, belonging to periods from the Harappan civilization to modern times, will be displayed to the public at the National Museum. A few tiny Harappan figures, a monumental Naga Deva, an eighth-century Uma-Maheshvara, an animal-headed anthropomorph and a marble tomb of a Mughal lady dating back to the 17th century are part of 'The Body in Indian Art'.

Curated by art historian Dr Naman P Ahuja, the exhibition comes after a favourable reception in Brussels during the art festival Europalia, which concluded recently. "About 20-25% of the 300-odd artefacts in the exhibition have not been shown before and another 60% have an element of surprise as they were lying at museums in small towns and were too fragile to be sent to Brussels," said Dr Ahuja, an associate professor at JNU.

The curator, who has spent years exploring storerooms of numerous small regional museums, said he and his team culled out many objects that were not on public display. Some were in the gardens of museums and had thus escaped the trained eye of scholars. A significant discovery is the boar-headed copper anthropomorph (2nd or 1st millennium BC) which was gathering dust at a storeroom. It was dusted off for the show in Brussels and has now been catalogued. "It has been traced to a period between Harappan Civilisation and Mauryan Empire, and takes the story of Indian gods and goddesses farther back in history than what we had imagined. It is valuable for art historians, archaeologists and linguists,'' said Dr Ahuja.

Equally fascinating are some tiny Harrapan figures hidden from the public eye since they were excavated in 1933. They comprise a steatite Seal (2500-1700 BC from Kalibangan, Rajasthan); a terracotta female figurine with animal horns (2500-1700 BC, Mohenjodaro); and two horned masks, almost identical. All these objects were kept in the cells of ASI at Purana Quila. A monumental Naga Deva, a 9th-century sculpture, has been lent by the Bhopal Museum for public view. This statue is carved from a porous stone and flakes like snakeskin.

National Museum director-general Dr Venu V called the exhibition the most extensive collaboration of collectors across the country. The marble tomb of a Mughal lady, kept at ASI's Red Fort Archaeological Museum, is an example of Islamic art. Its lavish, white marble and fine calligraphy makes it fit for a member of the imperial family. A tiny toe-suckling 'Bal Krishna' in bronze was ferreted out from Chennai Museum. The book Akitoosha-i-ukba (provision for the next world) is made of copper pages with silver calligraphy and has the 99 names of Allah inscribed in it.

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