The Hindu Vision: Forms of the Formless (Art and Imagination)

To the Hindu, the entire universe is a living being, and through the visual arts - ritualistic, compelling, often stunningly beautiful - that holistic awareness is made available to all. Long rejected by the West as alien and bizarre, Hindu imagery speaks a language that is at last beginning to be understood. Its extraordinary symbolism - elephant-headed and multi-armed deities, fierce demons and fabulous creatures - is a sophisticated iconography conveying universal religious truths. Uniting sensuousness and spirituality, passion and detachment, Hinduism celebrates the fullness of life, and teaches the indivisibility of body and soul, time and eternity.