Ambika Soni

BEIJING: Marking the closing of the India-China friendship year, an exhibition of ancient Indian sculptures will be inaugurated here on Tuesday by Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni.

The exhibition will showcase a wide-ranging selection of 100 antiquities that represent Hindu, Buddhist and Jain art and date between 3rd century BC and 18th century AD.

This is the first time that an exhibition of Indian antiquities of this scale is being organised in China. According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director Amarendra Nath, this is also one of the largest exhibitions organised by the ASI outside of India. Most of the pieces have never been displayed abroad.

The exhibition titled the `Treasures of ancient India: exhibition of Indian civilisation,' will be on show for two months at the Capital Museum. The exhibition will later be held in the cities of Zhengzhou, Chongqing and Guangzhou for two months each.

Speaking at a sneak preview for the media here on Monday, Mr. Nath said the purpose of the exhibition was to further cultural cooperation between India and China and a first step towards greater cooperation.

There was considerable interest among the Chinese mediapersons present regarding the stone sculptures of Hanuman. One of China's most celebrated mythological figures is the Monkey King, a character in the 16th century novel by Wu Chen'en called ``Journey to the West.'' This novel is based on the seventh century Buddhist monk Xuan Zang's (Hieun Tsang) 16-year-long travels to India, and is a story that continues to exert much fascination in contemporary China. In fact, the Monkey King was even a candidate for the 2008 Olympic Games mascot.

There has for long been much speculation that the Chinese Monkey King and Indian Hanuman are one and the same, but Mr. Nath told reporters that there was no conclusive research to that effect.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail