Hindu Temple Architecture
Nagara, Dravidian, Vesara: Temple Styles of India
“You can’t visit Hampi in a day”
Respected art historian of the Vijayanagara empire, Dr (Sr) Anila Verghese illustrates what makes the art and architecture of the era unique. Through objects from the Sarmaya collection, she points us in the direction of secrets and stories hidden in plain sight at Hampi
Read more ...Forgotten City of Joy
In a collaboration between Sarmaya and India Lost & Found, we admire the fading beauty of Mandu, home to the delicate Malwa style of architecture
The Lure of Lost Kingdoms
We hope this Spotlight will leave you feeling intrigued and wanting to know more about the glorious, ambitious, farsighted, but ultimately, fallible personalities who once ruled India
Read more ...Age of the Empires
The thrill of serendipity, the awakening of the imagination, the inevitability of being devoured heart and soul by a world you didn’t even know existed until this moment. In a way, being a student of history is like being an astronomer. Especially if the subject of study is an ancient or forgotten kingdom. Click to… Read more »
Read more ...Brick by Brick: The Built Legacies of the Gujarat Sultanate
The Sultans of Gujarat built a lasting cultural legacy that lives on through the incredible mosques, tombs, palaces and shrines they left behind in Ahmedabad, Cambay, Patan and Champaner. Let’s go on a tour of the Sultanate through rare photographs from the Sarmaya collection
Read more ...Rock & Ruler: Golconda’s Trail of Diamonds
Empire of Faith: Into the realm of the Buddha & the Mauryas
Most Indians are familiar with the great emperors and exploits of the Mauryan empire. But until a few hundred years ago, their legacies lay buried in ruins, their faith forgotten by time. This is the story of a remarkable resurrection
Read more ...reimagine I
‘reimagine’ is an ongoing Instagram-exclusive series through which we make connections across the Sarmaya collection and examine the extent to which our ways of seeing — and an object’s own meaning — are informed by time, space, and context
Of Silk and Spice: A Tale of Two Empires
Sometimes rulers are remembered in song, sometimes in the clinking of coins. Let’s explore the empires of the Cheras and Kushans, whose greatness is echoed in the trade routes they forged
Read more ...Untitled (Gond Art)
Book of Kings: Early Mughal portraits in Muraqqa’s
Sarmaya x Museum Rietberg
Metal Head: Royal Portraiture on the Ancient and Medieval Coins of India
The rulers of a bygone India put their likenesses on coins to announce in unambiguous terms their absolute dominance over the land. What else do these tiny metal portraits tell us about the subject in question? Let’s peel back the layers
Read more ...Family Portraiture: An attempt at reading a personal album
We dive into a study of family portraiture with a set of three albums belonging to John Sinclair, the First Lord Pentland, and the Governor of Madras between 1912 and 1919—and draw out the themes that emerge from this treasure trove of 20th-century photography
Read more ...Parallel Histories: Personal Photos as a Political Statement
Think Small: Carte de Visites, Cabinet Cards & Travelling Portraits
The invention of Carte de Visites and Cabinet Cards made photography affordable and accessible to the masses—and this changed the very nature of the beast. Through Sarmaya’s priceless collection, we present a history of portable portraits
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