Presented by Raseel Gujral Art Legacy at Bikaner House’s Arzaani Atelier Privé, the acquisition-led exhibition ‘Dakhin | Dilli – A Sacred Dialogue’ gathers devotional works and ritual objects from North and South India, tracing centuries of exchange along pilgrimage routes, temple networks, and itinerant artisan traditions.
Some of humanity’s earliest creative expressions were objects made in devotion. Religious figurines, ritual vessels, amulets, talismans, shrines, temple idols, and icons — these objects emerged across ancient civilisations as a way of giving form to the divine. In the Indian subcontinent, too, the histories of art and devotion are deeply entangled. This is the foundation of ‘Dakhin | Dilli – A Sacred Dialogue’, an exhibition presented by Raseel Gujral Art Legacy at Arzaani Atelier Privé in New Delhi.
Spanning the Tanjore and Mysore paintings of the Deccan and the northern Pichwai tradition, the acquisition-led exhibition brings together works from across North and South India, exploring how devotional imagery has shaped the subcontinent’s visual lexicon over centuries. Originating as temple backdrops, Pichwai is a hand-painted art form featuring the Hindu deity Krishna in various moods, festivals, and pastoral landscapes. The cows, forests, and ponds represent beauty and purity, evoking a celebration of nature and emotion inspired by the Bhakti movement.
The exhibition also includes oleographs after Raja Ravi Varma, whose mass-produced prints democratised sacred imagery in modern India. By placing Lakshmi, Saraswati, and epic heroes in middle-class homes, Ravi Varma helped create the visual vocabulary through which millions came to imagine gods in the 20th century.
“Through this curation, we explore the visual language of faith where the precision of the South meets the lyrical devotion of the North. It is a celebration of the ‘Sacred’ not just as a subject, but as a living, breathing aesthetic that continues to shape our cultural identity.”Raseel Gujral Ansal, founder, RGAL
In a global art scene dominated by secual contemporary art, ‘Dakhin | Dilli’ is a timely reminder that devotion has never been peripheral to Indian art history. It has been one of its primary engines. Across terracotta idols, temple murals, miniature paintings, prints, and contemporary objects, spirituality and religiousity have continuously generated new forms, materials, and aesthetics. Running until 10 May 2026 at Bikaner House, the exhibition is a survey of how faith has shaped Indian life, and in turn, Indian art.
‘Dakhin | Dilli: A Sacred Dialogue’ is on view from 11 AM to 8 PM until 10 May 2026, at Arzaani, Bikaner House, New Delhi.
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