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Northwestern University
Stained glass window with an image of Vishnu.left

Weinberg Lens: Scholarly Protector

Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, watches over students as they seek the enlightenment of knowledge in the Martin Reading Room at Deering Library.

“As the guardian of order, Vishnu has a special relationship with dharma, or sacred law and duty,” explains Assistant Professor Mark McClish, who studies classical Hinduism. “As such, his image communicates to students the importance of fulfilling their dharma: to work diligently and do their best.”

The stained-glass medallion is among the 68 created for Northwestern in the early 1930s by G. Owen Bonawit, an artist whose work also adorns the libraries of Yale, Duke and other universities. 

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