Working as a professor at Chicago’s Art Institute, Shaurya Kumar, 43, enjoys a ringside view of sorts. He can see how visitors engage with artefacts in the Chicago Art Museum, especially the Indian Gallery. One Ganesh Chaturthi, he saw a group of women huddled around a Ganesh idol they felt they could recognise from their village. “They were about to pray to the statue, but the guard stopped them. He said what they were seeing is a stone sculpture, not their god.” Kumar has seen similar scenes in Sarnath and Sanchi, too. These encounters made him ask: what happens to temples after their gods leave?
This story is from the December 19, 2022 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the December 19, 2022 edition of India Today.
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