fbpx
We rely on advertising revenue to support the creative content on our site. Please consider whitelisting our site in your settings, or pausing your adblocker while stopping by.

Get the Magazine

The site itself is spectacular. The Statue of Belief is a 82-metre-tall monument to Shiva – the world’s tallest – in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India. In its base building, Sanjay Puri Architects has crafted a marvellous, multi-faceted venue that seeks to move people in more ways than one. The firm describes the Aatma Manthan Museum as a place to “evoke self-analysis, bringing together a holistic combination of the soul (aatma), mind (mana), and body (tann).”

Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum features a sinuous entrance interior in all grey.

Measuring 1,672 square metres, the Aatma Manthan Museum is divided into a series of rooms that lead visitors on a spatial and spiritual journey, while connecting them to nature – and outer space – via immersive displays.

Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum features a curving wall of digital photography
A zig-zagging mirror wall at Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum

Sanjay Puri Architects sets the scene in the foyer, a “fluid volume” of voluptuously curved surfaces, from the bulbous ceiling and mushroom columns to the smooth-edged bench seating that appears to organically emerge from the walls and melt into the floor. All of these elements are finished with a thin layer of sound-absorbing foam concrete; the result is a luxurious blanket of monotone grey that makes the entire setting seem sculpted. The only detail that feels as though it’s been added to the interior are the segments of semi-circular track lighting that follow the ceiling’s curves.

The mirror wall at Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum transforms into an immersive setting with a cosmos display

When they exit this striking welcome area, visitors embark on a voyage through 18 sequential zones, including the “zone with elements,” the “semi-immersive zone,” the “fully immersive zone,” and the “transition zone.” From an undulating corridor that projects digital images of the making of the museum, the rooms unfold with various themes amplified by sound and wall-to-wall visuals.

One of these immersive A/V installations depicts a geological landscape that fully envelopes visitors. In another space, museum-goers are confronted with their own reflections, multiplied by a zig-zagging mirror wall and a floor polished to icy perfection, or – when this same space morphs into a visual spectacle – the awesomeness of the cosmos, with the planets suspended before them.

Lava visuals on a wall of Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum
Conical installation at Sanjay Puri's Aatma Manthan Museum

There are also smaller spaces and nooks where visitors can enjoy intimate experiences that bring them in communion with nature and with their own inner worlds. Sanjay Puri Architects’ Aatma Manthan Museum is a stunning space with a captivating program of immersive experiences that will doubtless cajole people away from their smartphone screens – to take in the marvels of the universe.

Sanjay Puri Unfurls a Spiritual Journey in Rajasthan

At the base of the Statue of Belief is a stunning museum experience that promises an escape from the everyday.

We rely on advertising revenue to support the creative content on our site. Please consider whitelisting our site in your settings, or pausing your adblocker while stopping by.