Guide to the British Museum: Room 33 – Asia: South Asia

Guide to the British Museum: Room 33 – Asia: South Asia

Room 33 of the British Museum is the gallery of China and South Asia, featuring a series of magnificent exhibits that tell the story of the greatness and mystery of Chinese and South Asian civilizations.

The gallery is divided into two sections. The right-hand section displays Chinese history from 5000 BC to the present day, along with China's rich artistic and material culture, including paintings, prints, jade, bronzes, lacquerware, and ceramics. The left-hand section presents the history of South Asia in chronological and regional order, covering the development from the emergence of early humans to modern civilization.

Geographically, South Asia spans India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with a history dating back 1.5 million years. The region boasts numerous ancient and modern languages, such as Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and Urdu. Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam have given people unique perspectives on life, under whose influence magnificent works of architecture, sculpture, painting, literature, and music were created. Highlights of the exhibition include seals from the Indus Valley Civilization, exquisite South Indian Shiva sculptures, and a statue of the goddess Tara from Sri Lanka. In addition, exquisite court paintings and objects from the Mughal Empire, as well as 20th-century paintings including works by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, are also on display in this gallery.

This bronze statue of the Buddhist goddess Tara was made between 700-750 AD, cast in bronze and gilded. Discovered on the east coast of Sri Lanka, it serves as evidence of the existence of Mahayana Buddhism during the medieval period.

Shiva Nataraja

This Shiva Nataraja statue from Tamil Nadu, southern India, dates to around 1100 AD, cast in a copper alloy, and is depicted as the Lord of Dance within a ring of fire. Nataraja, also known as the Cosmic Dance or Dance of Destruction, is a form of the Hindu god of destruction, Shiva, who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and prepare for the creator god Brahma to initiate the creation process.

This steatite seal engraved with a bull and an inscription was discovered in the 1850s in the town of Harappa, Pakistan, and played a key role in the excavation of the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the earliest urban societies. This Indus Valley seal bears an animal and a brief inscription and was likely used for trade and administration, although its script has not yet been deciphered.

Welcome to book guided tours of the British Museum with Yiyu UK.