Batik work by the Indian Lutheran theologian and artist Solomon Raj on display at the Municipal Archives

Solomon Raj (1921–2019) was an influential Protestant theologian, theological writer and pastor of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society, based in Guntur, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also active as a professor of communication, a poet, a sculptor and a creative artist. Solomon Raj gained particular renown as a Christian artist specialising in batik. One of his artworks is now on display at the city archives to accompany the exhibition ‘A Friend of India’. The philologist Friedrich Max Müller (1823–1900) from Dessau can be seen in the city archives. It is a batik work from 1996 in which, as in his entire artistic oeuvre, Raj uses traditional Indian cultural symbols to convey biblical themes. The artwork depicts lotus blossoms, symbolising Indian Christians, rising from darkness into the light, towards two doves as symbols of the Holy Spirit. The large-format batik piece is on private loan from a resident of Dessau who got to know the artist Solomon Raj personally when she was the India representative for the Leipzig Mission Society.

The exhibition on the philologist Friedrich Max Müller, who was born in Dessau in 1823 and achieved worldwide renown as a professor at Oxford, through his research into Sanskrit and numerous seminal publications, can be viewed until 21 April 2026 at the Dessau Archive Network, Heidestraße 21 (Old Water Tower).