Museum of Indian Saints

Rashme Sehgal describes a museum in Germany that houses the relics of Indian saints, collected by its head, Swami Vishwananda. A treat indeed for ardent seekers!

- Rashme Sehgal

Located in the beautiful German countryside of Springen is a rare museum devoted to Indian saints. Most of these thousand saints whose relics are displayed in the museum are little known outside India. Swami Vishwananda, heading the Bhakti Marga museum, has painstakingly collected their relics, whether they be objects of their day-to-day use or prayer, and displayed them along with photographs and a short biographical sketch, to provide western devotees an insight into their extraordinary lives.

Divine touch

“Everything that a saint has touched or used is infused with the energy of the saint, and it does not diminish with time. A saint is an individual who has transcended material reality. Everything he holds or uses becomes divine,” explains Swami Vishwananda, who has spent several years putting this collection together.

“Indian saints have given a rich culture to the world. Hindu traditions are based on knowledge given to us by our saints. The richness in our lives comes from them. Sadly, little is known about their lives. When a saint passes away, their relics are often not kept properly,’ says Swami Vishwananda.

An example of this is when Sant Gyaneshwar appeared to Sant Eknath in a dream informing him that the root of an anjana tree was choking him and that he should remove it. Sant Eknath spent two weeks searching for his samadhi shrine. When he finally located the shrine in Alandi, overrun with thick vegetation, he lovingly removed the root of the anjana tree with his hands.