Reflections of Indian Consciousness

The present exhibition entitled Reflections of Indian Consciousness has been mounted jointly by the Archaeological Survey of India and National Museum. There are seventy six exhibits representing Hindu, Buddhist and Jain pantheons. The exhibits portray the Indian sprit and sensibility. These have been selected from the excavated sites of Bharhut, Khajurhao, Nachna Kuthara, and Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Ratnagiri and Udayagiri (Orissa), Nalanda and Bodh-Gaya (Bihar), Sarnath, Deogarh, Mathura and Ahichchhatra (Uttar Pradesh), Pitalkhora and Mansar (Maharashtra), Hampi (Karnataka) and Akota (Gujarat). Representative metal images of Tamil Nadu have been largely selected from the collection of the National Museum, New Delhi. The exhibits range from the 3 century B.C. to the 18 century A.D. However, the exhibits are not necessarily mounted in a chronological order in the gallery. The text of the entries and the plate numbers coincide with the display numbers. Apart from the textual details of each entry, the catalogue provides a short title, provenance, name of the museum, chronology, material, size and accession number of each exhibit. The epigraphical inferences and other vernacular words are written in conformity with English transliteration. A few exhibits of Buddhist origin are inscribed with the Buddhist creed which may be read as under – ye dharma hetu-prabhava hetum tesham Tathagato hyavada tesham cha yo nirodha evam vadi Maha-shramanah. 'Tathagata (i.e. Buddha) has revealed the cause of those phenomena which spring from a cause and also (the means of) their cessation. So says the Great Monk.' The text entries of the exhibits from Ratnagiri have been transpired from the writings of Dr. Debala Mitra.