Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, 10028, New York City

July 1, 2026 – June 27, 2027

*Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930* explores the rise of Hindu chromolithographic devotional prints in India and their role in everyday worship. In Hinduism, *darshan* the act of seeing the divine is central, traditionally taking place in temples, but also within the home shrine dedicated to a chosen deity. Before mass printing, such spaces were served by small clay or metal icons. In the mid-19th century, photography and especially chromolithography made vivid, affordable images of Hindu gods available to a much wider public, allowing even modest households to display colorful devotional pictures. The exhibition is the first comprehensive presentation of these prints from major studio presses in Calcutta, Poona, and Bombay. Featuring about 120 works, including prints, paintings, and portable triptych shrines, it shows how these images shaped religious practice and Indian identity during a period of social change and the early Independence movement.