Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture

The **Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture** is a museum run by Krithika P. Shah located in Atlanta, Georgia, which houses a wide variety of relics that relate to ancient India. The flat above the museum serves as Krithika's apartment, where she lives with her daughter, Aru Shah. Notably, the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture contained the Diya of Bharata, which contained the imprisoned Sleeper for 12 years before Aru released him.

## Description

The Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture is a large museum with multiple wings. It is seated on a grass lawn with multiple myrtle and elm trees, as well as a red Japanese maple tree standing outside of the museum.

### Entrance

The entrance of the museum contains a large stone elephant, which was nicknamed Greg by Aru. A large glass chandelier that was handcrafted by a local glassblower hangs above the museum lobby.

### Hall of the Gods

The Hall of the Gods is the museum's most popular exhibit. It contains a hundred statues of various Hindu gods, with mirrors behind them so that visitors can see the statues from all angles. Some of the statues include Lord Indra wielding a thunderbolt, Lord Krishna playing his flutes, and the Buddha. The Diya of Bharata is also housed in this wing of the museum.

### Theater

The Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture also has a theater where visitors can watch a film about the history of India. The theater has also been used by Aru to watch Lord of the Rings movies.

### West Wing

The West Wing of the museum houses a four-hundred-year-old statue of a sea dragon. Aru regularly hides a stash of candy in his mouth and refers to him as Steve.

### Apartment Above the Museum

The apartment above the museum is where Krithika and Aru live. The apartment is rather cramped and has two bedrooms. The floors are normally covered by books and mugs.

## The Pandava Quintet

### Aru Shah and the End of Time

Aru lets her classmates Poppy Lopez, Arielle Reddy, and Burton Prater into the museum to show them the Diya of Bharata, which she told them was cursed. They walk through the museum, with her classmates occasionally imitating the statues. When they reach the diya, her classmates force Aru to light it, which results in releasing the Sleeper and everyone inside the museum being frozen, except Aru. Later, Aru and Mini Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez return to the museum, where they prepare a trap for the Sleeper and engage his forces in a fight. The museum lobby is partially destroyed, but repaired by Boo after the battle is over.

### Aru Shah and the Song of Death

Aru returns to the museum to get ready for another quest, where she packs her supplies and says goodbye to her mother. At the end of the book, Aru has a small birthday party in the museum with Brynne Rao, Mini, and Hira. They watch a movie in the museum's theater.

### Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Aru gets ready for the Pandava's unofficial quest to find Kalpavriksha at the museum, where her mother gives her a necklace to protect Aru.

### Aru Shah and the City of Gold

Aru returns to the museum after escaping from the Sleeper's lair with Kara. Later, Brynne and Kara battle in the museum lobby, which results in it getting a little scorched and messy. At the end of the book, Aru has her 15th birthday in the lobby, which was decorated like the inside of a fairy-tale carnival tent. When the Sleeper arrives, a battle ensues and the museum is destroyed yet again. Yakshas later come to fix it.