Astrological Signs New

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One of the most important pieces of this collection is the armour of Mughal emperor Akbar. Vandana Prappana, the curator of the museum says, “This piece is indeed very interesting. First, it is interesting to see the engravings of the zodiac signs on the armour. According to Islam, one is not supposed to make figurative artworks. But Akbar was known to be interested in astronomy as well as astrology and the same is portrayed in this precious piece. Another thing that can be learned by seeing this armour is that Emperor Akbar was a thin and a lean man. We usually perceive him as a bulky man but the armour says that he was rather slim.”

Another masterpiece is a sword in crystal encrusted with rubies that belong to the Mughals. “It is very difficult to work with crystal as it is a very hard substance. And here we have an entire sword made of crystal,” exclaims Vandana.

The Japanese and the Chinese art in the collection is the best in the world asserts Vandana. “People from all over the world come to see and study these paintings to our museum. It is indeed has some of the best and historically very important art works of Japan and China, especially paintings,” she says.

Vandana is also ecstatic that this collection contains paintings of artist Nanisukh — an artist in Kashmiri King Balwant Singh’s court.

“His style was unique and phenomenal. It is said that only 65 of his paintings survive. And out of which nine are in this collection,” she ends. The exhibition starts on April 18.