Exclusive: Photo Exhibition Documents Japan’s Sacred places and Pilgrimages in New Delhi

• It showcases natural and cultural heritages in Japan which were added to world heritage list of the UNESCO
• The photo display of heritage sites are from Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Okinawa, Shimane, and Tokyo
• The photographs are of the spiritual sites such as temples and shrines of Japan

June 26, 2017:

Little Adya is very much interested in learning about art and culture of Japan and wants to know a whole lot about it. So she forced her parents to take her to visit the Photo Exhibition which is being held at the Japan Foundation in New Delhi. Upon entering the photo gallery, Not just her, but her parents too were happy to give in to the wishes of the little one and find it informative and insightful.

The ongoing exhibition at the Japan Foundation in New Delhi includes the photographic collection of a famous Japanese photographer Kazuyoshi Miyoshi and showcases natural and cultural heritages in Japan which were added to world heritage list of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).

The photo display of heritage sites is from Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Okinawa, Shimane, and Tokyo. The photographs are of the spiritual sites such as temples of Japan such as the Horyo-ji Temple in Nara which was built in 607 AD by Shotoku Taishi (Politician from the Asuka period), Saiho-ji Temple in Kyoto which was built by Emperor Shomu and Gyoki (a Buddhist of Nara period) and Ryoan-Ji Temple in Kyoto which was built in 1450 by Katsumoto Hosokawa and Shrines such as Kauga-taisha shrine in Nara which was built in 768 and Ujigami-jinja Shrine in Kyoto.

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The program coordinator at Japan Foundation, Ms Shalini Bisht said to NewsGram, "We have already hosted an exhibition on world heritage sites two years ago and this time we have taken only the sacred places and pilgrimages which are temples and shrines of Japan which are famous and categorized by UNESCO."

"This year is special for the celebration of 50 years of cultural relationship between India and Japan and there is a correlation between the culture of Japan and India. There are a lot of common elements in the way the Japanese and the Indian people worship and there are lot of deities from India but they have a different way of worshipping them in Japan and to bring that correlation of religion and worship, we thought we would bring this world heritage site exhibition in Japan foundation focusing on sacred places" said Ms Shalini.

She also added, "through this exhibition, I understood a lot about the ways of worship, how and when the shrines were built. I got to learn more about the comparative aspect of Indian religion and Japanese religion."

– reported by Sumit Balodi of NewsGram. Twitter: @sumit_balodi