Hindu Group Upset By Renowned Prado Museum Not Including Hindu Gods In ‘The Gods’ Exhibition

Hindus are disappointed at “Museo Nacional del Prado” in Madrid, Spain, one of the top art museums of the world, for totally cold-shouldering Hindu gods in its Bicentenary exhibition “The Gods in the Prado”.

This travelling exhibition funded by Prado, which is continuing till January six, showcases themes of various religious traditions. “We regret to inform you that gods of Hinduism are not present in this exhibition”, response to an email enquiry stated.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that it was inappropriate for the government funded Prado completely ignoring Hinduism in its Gods exhibition.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth. If Prado was serious in displaying fairness and respect; it would have routinely loaned paintings-sculptures-artefacts related to Hindu deities from other museums, in case of non-existence in its permanent collection, according to Zed.

Many Hindus call Spain the home. It is hurtful for the devotees when they see apparently belittling attempts like this at Hinduism, which offers a rich philosophical thought, Rajan Zed said.

Although Prado stressed “the need to attract social groups that traditionally are not attracted by the collections, to encourage gender and minority research studies”, but this episode clearly displayed that Prado did not seem to be serious about its stated directives, Zed added.

Currently, this Gods exhibition, which includes paintings, sculptures and objects from the mid-1st century BCE to the late 18th century; is showing in Cádiz in southwestern Spain. It claims to present “different representations of gods” and forms part of Prado’s Bicentenary (1819-2019) celebrations.