Permanent exhibition
In a religious experience, it is sometimes fitting to leave your own surroundings and go on a journey. Many people participate in pilgrimages to pilgrimage sites such as Jerusalem or the tombs of Sufi saints, which in South Asia are visited by followers of different faiths. These pilgrimage sites are a connecting point where people of different cultures or faiths come together. They travel for blessings or purification, for better self-awareness or to connect with history and community. People also travel to visit a spiritual person such as a monk or yogi. These spiritual teachers give guidance and sometimes sacred sites are created around them.
In past centuries, people often collected from a Eurocentric view; collectors saw Judaism and Christianity as religions practiced in Europe. Therefore, they did not consider it relevant to collect in West Asia.
Today, the museum is trying to make collections related to religion more diverse. This room has been redesigned to make visitors think about how people in West, Central and South Asia practice and experience religion in their daily lives.
The redesigned hall is again open to the public.
If you want to browse the online Asia collection, click here.
