Past Exhibitions
Past Exhibitions
The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal: Ba-Zubane-E-Be-Zabani 6th July to 4th October 2026Special Exhibition Gallery, IInd Flr, Western Wing
Taking a cue from Shah Jahan’s court chronicler Abdul Hamid Lahori who spoke of the ‘mute eloquence’ of what he called the ‘Rauza-i Munawwara’, The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal explores the ways in which the tomb’s design and details speak of the beliefs, aspirations and condition of Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. The exhibition does so, among other ways, through the language of selected quotations from the Holy Quran (the strategically placed inscriptions) and through the language of flowers (the famous pietra dura decoration on the cenotaphs and screen). Curated by historian Rana Safvi and spanning the late 18th to the mid-20th century, The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal brings together 200 remarkable works—including Company School paintings, works by foreign and modern Indian artists, as well as photographs and postcards, providing a comprehensive visual narrative of the Taj Mahal and its complex. These works do more than document the monument: they reflect evolving artistic interpretations of the tomb’s architecture, interiors, gardens and subsidiary monuments. Opening on Sunday, 5th July 2026 at the iconic Salar Jung museum in an institutional partnership, it will remain on view until 4 October 2026.
While Company paintings by Agra-based artists, which offer exquisitely detailed visual records of the monument’s intricate pietra dura inlay work, serve as invaluable documentary evidence preserving the monument’s ornamental details with exceptional precision and artistry, a selection of works by visiting foreign artists, ranging from the late 18th-century views of British artist Thomas Daniell to the elegant 1930s woodblock prints of Japanese master Hiroshi Yoshida and British artist Charles William Bartlett, collectively trace the evolving global fascination with the Taj Mahal revealing how it has been variously interpreted, romanticised, and reimagined across artistic traditions. In addition, works by modern Indian artists including Abanindranath Tagore, L. N. Taskar, S. Bagchi and Jyoti Bhatt offer powerful interpretations of the monument reflecting not only its enduring beauty but also its layered historical meanings and cultural significance in the context of an emerging Indian modernity. A compelling collection of photographs and postcards dating from the 1850s to the mid-20th century, charts not only the evolution of photographic techniques but also the Taj Mahal’s enduring role in shaping visual narratives of India, through the work of a diverse group of acclaimed photographers—from European war and commercial pioneers such as Felice Beato, Samuel Bourne, John Edward Saché, and Thomas Rust, to renowned Indian photographers like Lala Deen Dayal and R.R. Bharadwaj. For the first time, selections from the archive of Albert Edward Griessen, Superintendent of the Taj and Government Gardens (1902–1905), will be on public view. Now part of the DAG collection, this archive—comprising plans, photographs, correspondence, and official reports spanning 1868–1908—offers rare insights into the site.
Ashish Anand, CEO and Managing Director, notes, “Is there anything left to be said about the Taj Mahal? India’s most famous building has inspired a vast range of writing, from paeons of praise penned by court historians and enthusiastic foreign travellers to scholarly analyses and travel agents’ blurb, covering every aspect of its character and history. Artists, too, have responded with a plethora of images, from paintings, prints and photographs to tourist posters. Yet, always the Taj seems to ask for more. Against the commonly uttered remark that ‘words cannot describe it’, we feel the need to make some appropriate added response of admiration. I am confident that as will study the images assembled in the exhibition, you will share my delight in realising that a building that we might be all too ready to dismiss as a cliché has the power to surprise us still.”
“By foregrounding the tomb’s exquisitely inscribed Quranic calligraphy, celestial imagery, and paradisiacal architecture, the exhibition reveals the Taj Mahal as at once a metaphor for paradise in Islamic thought and a testament to imperial grandeur. It also traces the monument’s evolving meanings, from a sacred sepulchral space to its later transformation into a global emblem of love. Through DAG’s paintings, photographs and archival materials, and essays by a galaxy of distinguished contributors, the curation offers visitors a fresh and layered perspective on the Taj Mahal and its architectural and natural settings”, shares curator Rana Safvi.
Ms. Priyanka Mary Francis (IAS), Director of the Salar Jung Museum shared that ‘On the occasion of the 75th year of formation of this significant museum in Hyderabad, Salar Jung Museum is poised to forge important partnerships with other iconic institutions of the country to bring the best of art and scholarship for the people of Hyderabad. This exhibition is a beginning in that direction and we hope to enrich our audiences through similar endeavours throughout the year and beyond. We invite everyone from the city to join in celebrating some of the best and most evocative works of art India has produced in the last centuries all in honour of one of the most important world monuments, The Taj Mahal. Numerous educational programmes, walkthroughs and lectures will accompany the show which will remain for 3 months.’
The exhibition offers a compelling reappraisal of the Taj Mahal—not as a static symbol, but as a dynamic cultural artifact shaped by religious meaning, imperial ambition, artistic practice, and colonial reinterpretation. The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal invites viewers and readers to listen anew to what this marble monument has long conveyed in silence: a deeply layered narrative of devotion, power and collective memory. Through this exhibition, we hope to demonstrate that even a monument so often reduced to cliché retains the power to surprise us still.
Varna Mythri: The Art of Rumale Chennabasaviah15th April to 31st May 2026
As the prestigious Salar Jung Museum marks its 75th year, it opens its doors to Varna Mythri – a landmark retrospective that brings to Hyderabad, for the first time, the work of the late Rumale Chennabasaviah, one of Karnataka’s most remarkable artists. Meaning ‘harmony of colours’ in Kannada, Varna Mythri will be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Telangana Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla on Tuesday, 14th April 2026.
Born in Doddaballapura, near Bengaluru, and shaped by the Indian freedom movement, which he not only participated in but actively helped shape, enduring multiple incarcerations, he went on to live many lives: a nation builder, a politician, an editor, a spiritual seeker, and a cultural and social activist, before eventually returning to art as a self-taught painter at the age of 52. In the decades that followed, he created a body of work that is both personal and timeless. Rooted in a deep love for nature and guided by a spiritual sensibility, his works carry the same quiet intensity he brought to life itself. Painting en plein air, he found his studio in the open – on the streets, in the gardens, and amid the changing light of the day, carefully observing and returning to the same spot to capture flowering trees, parks, rivers, and cityscapes in their fullest expression. Over a lifetime, he created nearly 600 works, some commissioned to document Karnataka’s modernisation, yet it is his intimate, luminous portrayals of nature, Bengaluru’s blossoms in particular, that continue to linger long after one has stepped away.
His current retrospective gathers around 80 of his major works – watercolours and oils from the 1960s to the 1980s. This selection of water colours and oil painting have been drawn from the Rumale Art House in Bengaluru, which, interestingly, also completes 53 years of its establishment. Together, they trace not just the evolution of an artist, but the quiet flowering of a way of seeing. Visitors will encounter Bengaluru as Rumale knew it: its Gulmohars and Jacarandas in full bloom, its gardens breathing in colour, its streets and silences alive with observation. Alongside these are landscapes from Karnataka and Sri Lanka, spiritual sites such as Kudalasangama, and rare portraits, including those of the spiritual gurus who shaped his inner life and guided his craft – Shreeman Tapaswiji Maharaj and Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj.
Archival photographs, personal memorabilia, sketches, and audio-visual material further bring the artist’s life into view, offering visitors a rare chance to encounter not just the works, but the world that shaped them.
Rumale’s work resists easy categorisation. At a time when artists were often divided between the traditional and the modern, he chose his own path – one that was intuitive, inclusive, and rooted in observation. He painted what he saw, but also what he felt. In doing so, he created not just images, but a philosophy: that art and nature are inseparable from everyday life.
Curated by noted artist and critic K. S. Srinivasa Murthy, the retrospective invites viewers to return to the works more than once. As he reflects, “Rumale’s paintings reveal themselves slowly. What may seem simple at first begins to unfold with each viewing, offering new insights into a deeply personal yet universal way of seeing. His art moves beyond style or skill; it connects with people, quietly and profoundly.”
A special highlight of the exhibition is the soft release of Rumale: The Artist in His Words, an English translation of the artist’s autobiographical writings, richly illustrated with rare archival material. It offers, for the first time, an opportunity to hear the artist speak in his own voice… about art, nature, and the life he chose to lead.
As the Salar Jung Museum marks 75 years of bringing art and culture closer to people, Varna Mythri sets the tone for a new chapter. For Hyderabad, this exhibition is not just an introduction; it is an invitation. To slow down. To notice. To stand before a beautiful yesteryear painting and let it unfold, layer by layer.