Batak Chiefs Graces

Lake Toba

Sumatra, Indonesia

Kampung Laut Old Mosque

Malay

Boys House of the Purba Clan

Bupaya

Pyu Culture

8th century

Emerold Buddha

Bangkok Period

Thailand

19-20th century

Guruda at Royal Palace

Bangkok Period

Gawdawpalin Temple

13th century

Kampung Kling

Malay

Kampung Laut Old Mosque

Kota Bharu

Kudus Mosque

Malay Culture

Indonesia

Masjid Agung in Banten

Malay Culture

Indonesia

Placing Tautau in a Cliff

Sulawesi??

Tautau in cliff

Sulawesi

Thai Spirit House

Thailand

Toraja Chiefs House

Toraja

Toraja Funeral Procession

Toraja

Blue Hmong Girls

Hill Tribes

Hmong Story Cloth with Scenes of Coming to America

USA

Paj Ntaub

Hill Tribes

Masjid Baiturrahman

Malay Culture

Indonesia

Masjid Rau Rau

Malay Culture

Indonesia

Paj Ntaub

Hill Tribes

Wat Po Buddha

Thailand

Sukhothai Period

Bon Chiang Pottery

Bon Chiang Culture

Thailand

Batak Chiefs Graves

Indonesia

Dong Son Drum

Dong Son Culture

Vietnam

Boys House of Batak

Batak Culture

Emarld Buddha in Winter Wear

Thailand

Bangkok Period

Padaung (Sub branch of Karen)

Thialand

Karen Woman with Backstrap Loom

Myanmar

Burmese wearing Longyi

Myanmar

Indus Seal

Ancient South Asia

Period: 2550-2000 BC

This seal was found in the 1870s and led to the discovery of an ancient civilisation in the Indus Valley. It was probably used to close documents and mark packages of goods. This suggests that the Indus civilisation was part of an extensive long-distance trading network. The animal on this seal was originally mistaken for a unicorn but is now thought to be a bull. The seals carry the oldest writing in South Asia. It has yet to be deciphered.

The earliest civilisation in South Asia developed along the Indus river and India's western coast. The Indus civilisation produced writing, built large cities and controlled food production through a central government. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus civilisation was not dominated by powerful religious elites. No temples were built and no images of state gods or kings have been found. Deforestation, climate change and a series of invasions all contributed to the Indus civilisation's decline in 1500 BC.

Pillar of Ashoka

Ancient South Asia

Period: 238 BC

This fragment comes from one of the pillars erected throughout India by the Emperor Ashoka around 240 BC. The type of writing used for the inscription is known as 'Brahmi' and forms the basis for all later Indian, Tibetan and South-East Asian writing. This inscription outlines Ashoka's personal philosophy ? a system similar to Buddhism ? on how people should live their lives. In this pillar, Ashoka speaks of how the greatest conquest is over one's personal morals ? not over other people or lands. 

Ashoka was the most famous king of the Mauryan Empire ? one of the largest empires in the history of South Asia. At their height, the Mauryans controlled most of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. As a young man Ashoka was renowned for his hedonism and cruelty. However, later in life he felt intense remorse triggered by a massacre that occurred during one of his conquests. This inspired him to renounce violence and follow dharma ? a self-defined path of righteousness that guided him through life.

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

Culture: Buddhist World

Period: 2-3 century AD

This is one the first images of the Buddha ever created. It shows him in an enlightened state, wearing monk's robes and seated in the lotus position. The position of his hands indicates that he is revealing the dharma, the 'way' of his teaching. This statue would have sat in front of a stupa - a domed structure that enclosed the Buddha's ashes. Pilgrims used statues like this to contemplate the Buddha's teachings before they visited his relics.

Images of the Buddha were not created until over 500 years after his death. The Buddha was an Indian prince who lived around 400 BC. He became a Buddha - an 'Enlightened One' - through comprehending the roots of human suffering while living an ascetic life. Buddhism spread from India along the Silk Road and by sea, but it was not until AD 0 - 100 that the first images of the Buddha were created. Before that the Buddha was represented by symbols such as his footprints.

Gold Coin of Kumaragupta I

North India

Culture: Ancient South Asia

Period: 415-450 AD

This coin was created to commemorate the Gupta horse-sacrifice or asvamedha. During this ritual a stallion was released to roam for a year. The royal court followed the wandering stallion and prevented him from mating. At the end of the year the sexually-frustrated horse was looked after by the royal women, before being sacrificed by the king using a golden dagger. King Kumaragupta I is said to have completed this ritual twice in his lifetime.

The Gupta Empire dominated the Indian subcontinent from about AD 320 to 550. During this period the old Vedic rituals like the asvamedha began to die out. They were replaced by a templebased religion that we would recognise today as Hinduism. As well as a belief in reincarnation, karma and the caste system, Hinduism saw the old Vedic gods merge with an array of popular and native gods. The goddess Sri-Lakshmi on this coin became the consort of the supreme Hindu god Vishnu.

Statue of Tara

Culture: Ancient South Asia

Period: 700-750 AD

This statue of the Buddhist goddess Tara combines the spiritual and the sensual. The sculpture would have been used as a focus for meditation on the qualities Tara represents ? mercy and compassion. Originally the sculpture would have been placed in a temple alongside a statue of her male companion, the bodhisattva, Avalokiteshevara. Bodhisattvas are beings who have reached enlightenment but have turned back from it, out of compassion so that they can still help mankind escape from the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering.

When this sculpture was made, Sri Lanka had been predominantly Buddhist for about 1,000 years. It was then a hub for Indian Ocean trade and the sculpture may have been made by one of the Sri Lankan kings. Tara appears as a goddess in both Hinduism and Buddhism, as both religions share a common Indian cultural background. The earliest Buddhist deities were conceived as male and Mahayana Buddhism may have incorporated female deities, like Tara, to attract more female worshipers.

Borobudur Buddha Head

Culture: Buddhist World

Period 750-850 AD

This head of the Buddha originally comes from a statue in Borobudur in Java. Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist monuments in the world, containing around 500 statues of the Buddha. The monument was built between AD 780 and 840 to resemble a mandala - a wheel-shaped symbol of the cosmos. Walking up the monument replicates the path to enlightenment, beginning at the base in the realm of desire and ending with the realm of formlessness at the top.

The style of the Buddha's head is similar to sculptures made in India and Sri Lanka. Both Buddhist and Hindu monuments were built in Java at the time of Borobudur and the Indian language of Sanskrit was used on inscriptions. Buddhism and Hinduism came to Indonesia and other parts of South East Asia from India. There were long established trading contacts between South East Asia and India, reaching back before AD 1, with merchants trading spices and other goods by sea. This trade also linked Java with China.

Shiva and Parvati Sculpture

Culture: Ancient South Asia

Period: 13 AD

This statue of the divine Hindu couple, the great god Shiva and his wife Parvati, would have probably been placed above a door to a temple. Hindu worshippers used sculptures to develop a close relationship with the gods depicted. Gods would only inhabit a perfectly made statue and sculptors had to ritually purify themselves before they commenced carving. Such statues were primarily for beginners. Experienced worshippers were expected to commune with the gods through prayer and meditation without images.

This statue comes from Orissa on the East coast of India. The arrival of Islam in North India in the 1200s caused the centre of Hinduism to shift to south and central India. Orissa was associated with the god Shiva and tantric Hinduism focussed on esoteric teaching and hidden rituals. Shiva represents contrasting values ?both lust and purity, peace and destruction. When depicted together with his wife, Parvati, he represents the union of male and female and marital fidelity.

Shadow Puppet of Bima

Culture: Hindu World

Period: 1600-1800

This shadow puppet is at least 200 years old and is one of the oldest surviving shadow puppets in the world. It represents Bima the hero of the great Hindu epic The Mahabharata. Puppets like this are still used in the shadow theatres of Java. Plays are performed through the night by a single puppeteer. The central theme of a shadow theatre is the battle between good and evil and it was believed that during the performance the audience were protected from all evil things. 

Islam spread to South East Asia in the 1500s through maritime trade routes, and often through the conversion of Buddhist and Hindu rulers. Islam adapted, rather than suppressed, elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and ancient Indonesian traditions like the shadow theatre. In Java, for example, it is believed that the faces of shadow puppets were distorted to avoid the Islamic laws forbidding the creation of images of humans and gods. In contrast the shadow puppets of the Island of Bali, which remained Hindu, retain realistic human features.

Miniature of a Mughal Prince

Cutlure: Islam

Period: about 1610

This miniature painting depicts an Indian Mughal prince and his attendants meeting an aged Muslim holy man in a garden. A scantily-clad worshipper kneels in front of the holy man. His lack of clothes indicates that he has rejected the trappings of everyday life. The miniature was probably painted under the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who was known to have often visited both Hindu and Muslim holy men as he travelled around his empire. 

The Mughals were a Sunni Islamic dynasty that ruled Northern and Central India from 1526 to 1858. The early Mughal emperors successfully ruled the largely non-Muslim population of their empire by encouraging a culture of religious tolerance. Jahangir and his father Akbar promoted Hindus and Shi'ite Muslims to prominent roles in government and allowed people to worship freely. The art of miniature painting, which combined elements from Iran, Central Asia and India, was practiced by both Hindus and Muslims alike and encapsulates this multicultural society.