The Hindu works frequently deal with religious subjects. But these two directions often merge or co-exist in a bracing tension. A painting in which many women are taking part in a festival ''melee'' is the kind of chronicling of an event that identifies the Islamic tradition, but Mr. Kunzman said practical evidence like facial types has to be considered, and these women are clearly Hindus ''having a paint fight'' as they throw powdered henna, which is a hair dye. The goddess is multi-armed, but the artist has composed the action as a tangle of sinuous lines and repetitions of the sword she holds. The image looks like a study in motion, as if one arm is seen in successive phases.
Eroticism is present in the exhibition but in a remarkably discreet way.
Life in a harem fosters closeness, and ''A Special Friendship,'' in which two women stare at each other relates this in a rudimentary way. A fragment featuring large-scale figures, ''Shiva and Parvati Share the Intoxicating Datura Fruit,'' not only portrays the intimacy between the god and his consort through looks but also through seemingly meaningful gestures. They each hold up the potent thorn apple, and though one might not know anything precise about the incident, it produces a small frisson. Cameo Portrait of Queen Mary,'' the monarch who shared the English throne with William of Orange in the late 17th century when England was extending its colonial domination of India. The portrait and its format are remarkably Westernized.