This is the Vrindavani Vastra
It's a nine metre long woven silk textile
and dates from around 1680.
It's made up of twelve originally separate strips of cloth that are now stitched together
and they were first used to wrap and store religious manuscripts.
The richly woven images and texts tell stories of the incarnations of the Hindu God Vishnu.
Now, one of his most important incarnations is Krishna.
Krishna is viewed in Assam as the Supreme Being
and the textile is rich with stories from his early life,
they were written in the form of dramas,
over 400 hundred years ago
by the great Saint Shankaradeva.
Shankaradeva introduced Krishna devotion to Assam
and used the local Assamese language instead of the ancient Sanskrit.
The writing is Assamese,
Assam, where the Vrindavani Vastra was produced is in North East India.
At some time, it was taken to Tibet
where the 12 strips were stitched together and hung in a monastery.
It is immaculately preserved today,
perhaps because smoke from butter lamps and incense protected it from moths.
Finally, in 1904 following a British military expedition,
led by Sir Francis Younghusband,
the textile was taken to England.
Studies of its images, and the stories by Shankaradeva
place it at the very heart of cultural life in Assam.
I thought that was rather remarkable, when you see the great open expanse of the river.
We're in the middle reaches of the great Brahmaputra river,
in the Indian state of Assam,
we're heading for the island of Majuli.
In October every year, monks in the monasteries of Majuli
perform plays celebrating the life of Krishna.
This festival is known as Ras lila.
The environment is still very much as it would have been when the Vrindavani Vastra was made.
Majuli is an important wetland with rare migratory birds
and it's a hub of Assamese religious culture.
In the months leading up to Ras lila
monks prepare for the dramas.
At Samaguri monastery fantastical masks
are produced.
It's just one of the many stories about the early life of Krishna
in the Vrindravani Vastra.
The monks use traditional techniques
and their work is highly prized.
They're experts in the production of masks.
Not only do they make them for their own performances
but they make them to order for monasteries throughout Assam
where the masked drama take place.
Here we see Hem Chandra Goswami
painting the scaly decoration of the serpentine Aghasura.
In the story of Krishna a demon in the form of a snake in this case
is sent by evil King Kansa to kill Krishna.
It's constructed of split bamboo hoops
which are tied together with rope
and they can be manipulated from the far end of the construction
so that the snake can appear to jump forwards and backwards
during the death throes of the demon beast,
it's a rather dramatic moment in the whole story
and children of course adore it when Aghasura appears on the stage.
Shankaradeva married and had children,
as the monks do today at the Samaguri monastery.
From earliest childhood, the life of the entire community is devoted to worship.
This is the text, it's in very old Assamese characters,
there a bit that's on its side, can you see that bit?
The monks as the Samaguri monastery are familiar with the archaic script on the Vrindavani
Vastra.
I'm showing them a verse from Kaliya Daman,
it's a drama by Shankaradeva
and it matches the verse on the textile.
We're examining it online on the British Museum website.
So these are the blocks of text that appear on the fabric,
they're woven into the textile
and we know that they're taken from the drama by Shankaradeva Kaliya Daman.
In addition to drama,
Shankaradeva used crafts such as weaving to spread his message.
It's a legacy that can still be seen centuries later.
Sri Purobi Goswami is here weaving a Gamusa,
that is a presentation scarf.
It's cotton and the main body is white with red borders.
It's decorated throughout with the names of Rama and Krishna
and what we've been watching here is her using a supplementary weft,
that's an additional weft to add in those names.
What you have to do is to count the individual threads,
and of course each time you pass the red thread between the warp and the weft,
you're going to have to count a different number of strands,
so it demands great eyesight and concentration.
Shankaradeva was an important social reformer,
he believed you don't need a high caste Brahmin priest to connect you with God.
Devotees, he maintained should worship Krishna directly.
He famously eschewed the divisions of cast,
he himself was not a Brahmin
and he accepted any member of Assamese society.
Shankaradeva is one of these great teachers
who felt that the Godhead was accessible to everyone.
It didn't have to be because of your position in the caste system, your wealth.
What was ultimately important to him was devotion,
selflessness, commitment to the story of Krishna
and the calling on the name
of God.
After the death of Shankaradeva
divisions emerged among his followers.
In some monasteries the Brahmin caste reclaimed their place in the hierarchy.
Here, at the Dakhinpat monastery, the abbot is now always a Brahmin
and the abbacy always passed from uncle to nephew.
But, in its different forms, Shankaradeva's influence continues.
His principles of access to the Divine for all,
irrespective of caste, gender, age or ethnicity
is still an important element in Assamese society.
At the Samaguri monastery,
Haren Goswami is busy finishing masks in time for Ras lila.
The Ogress Putana is the sister of King Kansa in this story,
and she is sent to suckle the young baby Krishna,
but of course, her being an ogress - her milk is poisonous.
Krishna of course being God realises this
and instead of just being suckled by her,
he sucks all of her milk and then all of her life out
of her.
The full moon in October signals the start of Ras lila.
Once they're made up and on stage,
a magical transformation takes place.
The performers are revered as more than mere actors.
Their presence embodies the very personalities in
the Ras lila.
In the same way, the demons are also brought to life,
seen here at the court of the evil King Kansa.
One by one, the demons are sent by the King to kill Krishna
in a variety of frighting ways.
Many of these demons appear on the textile.
Bakasura the crane demon.
Aghasura the
giant serpent demon.
Kaliya the five-headed serpent.
The good Krishna always triumphs over the forces of evil.
The pilgrims have come in their thousands for Ras lila.
The plays, the textile weaving, the life of devotion as artisans and actors -
these are living traditions.
Some 400 years on the remarkable Vrindavani Vastra continues to inspire
and to give up its secrets.