Puja and Piety

Puja and Piety celebrates the complexity of South Asian representation and iconography by examining the relationship between aesthetic expression and the devotional practice, or puja, in the three native religions of the Indian subcontinent. This stunning and authoritative catalogue presents some 150 objects created over the past two millennia for temples, home worship, festivals, and roadside shrines. From monumental painted temple hangings and painted meditation diagrams to portable pictures for pilgrims, from stone sculptures to processional bronzes and wooden chariots, from ancient terracottas to various devotional objects for domestic shrines, this volume provides much-needed context and insight into classical and popular art of India. Featuring an introduction by the eminent art historian and curator Pratapaditya Pal; accessible essays on each religious tradition by Stephen P. Huyler, John E. Cort, and Christian Luczanits; and useful guides to iconography and terms by Debashish Banerji, this richly illustrated catalogue will provide a lasting resource for readers interested in South Asian art and spirituality.
 
Published in association with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
 
Exhibition organized by Susan S. Tai, Elizabeth Atkins Curator of Asian Art

Exhibition dates: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, April 17–July 31, 2016

Pratapaditya Pal has been affiliated with many prominent museums and universities as a curator and a teacher. He has organized numerous groundbreaking exhibitions on the arts of Asia; has written more than sixty books and catalogues on the ancient art and culture of India, Nepal, and Tibet; and was the general editor of Marg, a journal of art and culture published in India. His publications include Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure,Indian Sculpture (2 vols.), and Art of Nepal.