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Neasden Temple Named Community Partner in British Museum Exhibition on Ancient Indian Sacred Art, London, UK

19 May 2025 to 19 Oct 2025

Ancient India: living traditions

Ancient India: living traditions is a new exhibition at the British Museum, exploring the origins of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art and its spread beyond the subcontinent

A special community event to launch the exhibition was hosted in the British Museum’s Queen Elizabeth II Great Court

Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, Director of the British Museum, welcomed the guests and introduced the exhibition as one of the first in the world to look at the early devotional art of India from a multi-faith, contemporary and global perspective

The Rt Hon George Osborne CH, Chair of the British Museum’s Board of Directors, also lauded the exhibition’s role in raising awareness about the rich heritage of India’s sacred art

Mr Osborne added that the exhibition had been developed in collaboration with an advisory community panel of practising Hindus, Buddhists and Jains

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London, has been acknowledged by the curators as a community partner for the exhibition

As a part of the inauguration of the exhibition, a volunteer from Neasden Temple chanted Hindu prayers from the Upanishads and Satsang Diksha

He conveyed the best wishes of everyone at Neasden Temple for the growing awareness of Hindu art and spirituality

A leading member of the British Jain community offered prayers from Jain texts

Monks of the Buddhist tradition also offered traditional prayers for the exhibition

A sitar- and tabla-player further embellished the atmosphere with classical Indian music

The exhibition aims to highlight the provenance of each artefact on show, examining their stories from creation to acquisition

The Mandir also features in the exhibition’s accompanying publication as an example of India’s ancient art living on today in active places of worship

Kayte McSweeney, Community Partnerships Manager at the British Museum, showed volunteers from Neasden Temple some of the 180 objects on display in the exhibition

At another inauguration event, Kajal Meghani, Project Curator for the exhibition, again appreciated the contributions of Neasden Temple in helping raise awareness about Hindu art and architecture, citing their many visits and consultation sessions