India - Expo Osaka 1970
The history of India is the history of a civilisation which, despite many internal changes and vicissitudes, has retained its identity for 5000 years and given birth to many religions and philosophies.
In the context of its long and valuable culture, India's projects in its pavilion presented an image of a country pulsating with modernisation. It showed India as it is at the time of the Expo: old and new, vast and diverse, colourful in arts and crafts, rich in heritage and traditions.
The India pavilion was of sophisticated composition on three levels, which represented the different planes and dimensions of development in an isometric pattern. The basic structure was in the form of truncated cones with a roof that let in a continuous filtered light.
Entrance was through a series of stepped terraces flanked by mud walls and semi-traditional structures representing India's rural base and recent past. Visitors entered through the highest level where the traditions of Indian arts and crafts were projected, resplendent with colour, richness and variety.
The middle level presented the emergence and impact of Buddhism and the coexistence of religions. Sculptures, paintings, arts and crafts created an atmosphere of beauty, serenity and harmony. The ground level offered a glimpse of India's internal dynamism, its new desires for development and progress, its efforts to mobilise the resources of nature and acquire the sophistication of industry and science.
Among the many interesting exhibits was a replica of the Taj Mahal. The pavilion also offered the renaissance of the arts in India through dances, music and other presentations.