Room 47b: South Asian Sculpture

Sculptures and devotional objects from the Indian subcontinent form this display. Indian sculpture had its beginnings in the early terracotta female figurines and stone images of nature-spirits. By the 1st century BC, images of gods and goddesses belonging to Hinduism and Buddhism begin to appear. In the following centuries, artists worked in the service of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities. No stylistic distinctions were made between images for these different sects. The deities are identified by their different form, human or superhuman, and by the attributes which they carry.

Room 47b is on Level 1 of the V&A South Kensington.

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