Whether we’re talking about bodhisattvas in Buddhism, Alvars in Vaishnavism, Nayanars in Shaivism, or pirs in Islam, all South Asian religions have their own version of the ideal devotee, worshipped as saints. In densely Catholic places like Goa, the calendar is marked and built around the celebration of the feast days of saints.
In today’s episode of The Altar of Time, we'll look at the images of two saints, both believed to be blood relatives of Jesus Christ, from the collection of the Museum of Christian Art. We’ll see how the rituals and traditions surrounding their feast days shape Goan Catholic culture.
The year is 1973, and a young first-year theology student from Goa is assigned room number 65 at the Papal Seminary in Pune. There he sees a mysterious object: a pearl-white statuette of an elegant lady, wearing an Indian crown, standing on a lotus, draped in a saree. She appeared to be a Hindu goddess, but for the halo behind her head, and under her feet a crescent moon. This stunning image was the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, with the rising sun behind her crowned head and crescent moon at her feet. This "Nirmala Mata", with her humble vernacular name, represents how Indian Christians were very much part of the transformation of Indian art in the twentieth century. Let's dive in, in Konkani.
The year is 1973, and a young first-year theology student from Goa is assigned room number 65 at the Papal Seminary in Pune. There he sees a mysterious object: a pearl-white statuette of an elegant lady, wearing an Indian crown, standing on a lotus, draped in a saree. She appeared to be a Hindu goddess, but for the halo behind her head, and under her feet a crescent moon. This stunning image was the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, with the rising sun behind her crowned head and crescent moon at her feet. This "Nirmala Mata", with her humble vernacular name, represents how Indian Christians were very much part of the transformation of Indian art in the twentieth century. Let's dive in.
From Europe to Africa to Sri Lanka, Goan ivories are among the most cosmopolitan art objects of this most cosmopolitan region. They also show us, beyond the often-touching stories and devotions that they inspired in their owners, that art never comes from a single place. Join us as we explore their rich, fascinating world.
Elaborately carved in wood, enthroning a great candle, the Paschal candlestand is one of the most important objects in the celebration of Easter. From Italy to India and beyond, we trace out its history and intertwining with the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Over the centuries, a large body of music, art and sculpture has explored the sorrow and pain borne by the Virgin Mary, whose son, Jesus Christ, was crucified in front of her eyes. From Flanders to Goa, we trace out the history of depictions of the Sorrowful Virgin in art, using three magnificent paintings in the collection of the Museum of Christian Art.
Delicate ivory figurines of Jesus, carved on the Malabar Coast using materials from Africa, tell a story of globalisation and the Passion of Christ. Join us as we explore Catholic belief and Portuguese trade using the Museum of Christian Art's Calvary images.
Over the last few episodes of The Altar of Time, we’ve seen richly made textiles, incense boats, and holy water containers, among many other objects. Now we move to perhaps the most recognisable of Catholic art objects: paintings, using a surreal, fiery vision of the heavens.
In two elegant frames are the stories of many lives. One is of wood, one is of silver; one is carved with cherubs, the other enshrines a painting of the Virgin Mary and her child. But there's much more to them than you might think: through them we can understand how Indian Christianity thinks about art, how art becomes an object, and hear the poignant story of a forgotten young bride.
On a silk garment once worn by a priest or deacon is a surprising motif: a pineapple. As commonplace as these fruits are to us, in the world of early modern Goa, pineapples were a sign of globe-spanning contacts expanding from colonial South America to the glamour of the Mughal court. Join us as we explore this fruity history, and the story of how the pineapple came to decorate this elegant garment.
For International Mother Language Day 2023, The Altar of Time team brings to you our first episode in Konkani. We return to the gleaming silver Pelican Monstrance at the centre of the Museum of Christian art. Why does it look exactly like a mythical Indian bird? Join us as we explore the ritual of the Eucharist and how Indians engaged with European Christian mythology in the early modern period.
The waves of the Indian Ocean were once scented with gunpowder. The Portuguese Estado da India established itself in this vast region through its forts on water—galleons. But as successful as their conquests were, they were ephemeral: within decades of the Portuguese arriving in the Indian Ocean, Indian and Arab merchants were building their own galleons, and Portuguese officers and sailors were busy integrating themselves into the culture of the Indian Ocean world. Incense boats in the Museum's collection will allow us to explore this fascinating maritime history.
As in many religious traditions, Catholicism uses sanctified water as part of its rituals. Join us as we trace out its rich history and usage in Goa, and the surprising ways in which one particular holy water font in the Museum of Christian Art is linked to metalware from other Indian traditions.
The silent walls of the Convent of Santa Monica in Old Goa whisper the stories of hundreds of lives. The first major convent for aristocratic Portuguese and Indian Catholic women established in the subcontinent, its history is the history of Goa itself. Join us as we explore the lives of its former inhabitants, century through century.
Gleaming at the centre of the Museum of Christian art is a silver rendition of a pelican—but one that looks exactly like a mythical Indian bird. Join us as we explore the ritual of the Eucharist and how Indians engaged with European Christian mythology in the early modern period.
