Museums- Asian Art Musuem, San Francisco

San Francisco is densely populated city of northern California and is a leading financial and cultural center. It is one of the top tourist destinations of USA. Cool, cloudy city filled with glamour has much to offer for every tourist! During my stay here I visited most of the beaches, heritage buildings and museums.

Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. A posh building displaying ancient art from Asia. Museum has an entrance fee. On first Sunday of the month entry is free but, expect a big crowd. As you see in the picture, art and artifacts from Japan, Korea, china, Cambodia, more South East Asian countries and also India are displayed. And :) you might have guessed already ... it looked like a Buddhist Museum! Most of the artifacts were either related to Buddha or Hindu Mythology except for few.

I wasn't aware that Jadeite is so hard gemstone that it cannot be chiseled. It has to be shaped by abrasion only. It is a laborious process and needs a lot of patience. I was amazed by the intricacy of those delicate artifacts made of Jade. Japanese and Chinese galleries displayed beautiful paintings with nature depicted. I didn't understand anything about the script, may be the messages are as beautiful as those paintings. There was Indian gallery too with some of the stone sculptures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. In the picture is four faced linga from Central India.

Interesting was to see Buddha in different moods. I had seen Buddha to be very peaceful. Some pictures where Buddha seen being angry, worried! Also Buddha being sheltered by seven hooded serpent something similar to Indian mythology that Lord Vishnu is always sheltered by Adishesha, the King of snakes. And in the below picture is Simhavaktra Dakini from China. She is ferocious and a sky walker! 

Most of the times there are floating exhibitions, so having a year-long membership will be helpful. One such floating exhibition was "Afghanistan- Hidden Treasures from National Museum, Kabul". The gold ornaments excavated from 5 tombs at Tallya Tepe were on display. It was interesting to read the story on how did the archeologists find this treasure and how did the ornaments look like on the remains of a namadic woman (of course a picture). Most of the jewelry was made of fine gold and in few of the artifacts there was inlaid turquoise. Really, too much of gold to wear ...

There were more artifacts like sundials from Afghanistan on display too. Most of the artifacts showed the signs of Indian and Greek influence. It was nice to witness what we had studied in our high school history classes ... Alexander the Great ... Kanishka, the great Emporer of Kushans who ruled his empire from Kashmir to Bactria ... Asoka the Great, the great Emperor of Mauryan dynasty ... etc ... who might have influenced the Indian and Greek art and culture ... Unforunately photography is not allowed in changing exhibitions :)

Well, museum has a cafeteria too. I had a Japanese puffed cake with American coffee while I had a funny-crappy conversation with my friend. Museums are always my favorites though I forget many things as soon as I get out! One good thing about the museums in USA is that they allow (no flash) photography for no additional charges.

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This post is linked to Our World Tuesday.

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