I is for....Images... Idols ... n ... Intricate...

Here’s Inner Sanctum, a thrash metal band form Bangalore, with a track called Ikarus. Followed by Indian Ocean – they were one of the pioneers of fusion rock way back in the 90s, playing live in Dhaka – a track called Bandeh. Enjoy!

Image. Idols. Intricate.

This is a digital image of a photograph of an image being made. I took it in 2014, at the Bahrain National Museum, in an exhibition titled India Through the Lens. It showcased the life and work of one of the pioneer photo-journalists of India – T. S. Satyan (1923-2009). The original photograph is titled Sculpting Gomateshwara and was taken in 1972. It shows a sculptor chiselling the left eye of a colossal sculpture. A spiritual figure much revered in Jainism. The statue measures 39 feet and was installed in a place called Dharmasthala in Karnataka, South India in 1973. The oldest statue of Gomateshwar is dated to the tenth century. 


Indians have always been super fascinated with images and idols, and consequently sculpture has been a very highly developed Indian artform from the earliest times. The earliest sculptures come from the Indus Valley sites in the form of small figurines. There are pretty sophisticated ones in stone and terracotta. And also metal  which I've talked about earlier in this series. The Indus Valley peoples did rather a lot of woodworking as well, safe to assume that they used wood for carving figurines too. But that's an organic material and doesn't endure as well as terracotta, metal or stone. Today I'm taking a closer look at stone sculpture, especially in the context of Indian temples.


The first religious sculptures on a large scale date from the Buddhist period - Buddha lived and preached in the 6th/5th centuries BCE roughly. Remember Ashoka the Great (ruled 3rd Century BCE) and how he set up edicts and stone pillars on dhamma - the righteous path, or in other words, plain living and high thinking? The Ashoka Pillars are among the first sculptural objects within the subcontinent of India. 

Divine couple Parvati and Shiva at music.

Temple interior panel, Odisha, 1200s. 

British Museum.

But before that, the invasion of Alexander, his generals and interactions with Bactrian kings brought Greek style sculpture influences to places like Gandhara (Kandahar in modern Afghanistan) in the Mauryan empire, which seeped into works representing Buddha. Rock cut caves with Buddhist elements also start putting in an appearance around this time - the oldest one is at Barabar, Bihar dated to the 3rd century BCE. By the time the Common Era's rolled around, several more rock cut Buddhist temples have popped up along the coastal areas of Maharashtra. By the end of 7th century, work on the Ellora Cave temples has been started, the classical age of the Gupta arts is roaring past, Sanchi, Amravati, Mathura have emerged as major centres of sculptural excellence. Another 500-odd years and Odisha has acquired a thousand temples. The Khajuraho temple complex, famous for its intricate erotic sculptures, is built between 950-1050 by the Chandela dynasty. From the tenth century, ornamentation of temple walls in tiers becomes common - three levels from the plinth to the roof. Scenes from everyday life get sculpted onto temple panels, apart from mythological motifs.

Trimurti, Elephanta Caves.  5th-6th century. Maharashtra.

The oldest surviving, rock cut temple and stone sculpture in South India can be dated to around 7th century,  being built in Mahabalipuram during the reign of Narasimhavarman. South Indian, or Dravidian, temple architecture features a typical stepped, pyramidal style spire or shikhar, and an elaborately sculpted gopuram or gatehouse. The style developed from the 7th century and reached its full and final form in the 16th. Various dynasties have built entire temple complexes, from the Chalukyas in Badami, Aihole and Mahakuta, the Hoysalas in Halebidu and Belur, the Cholas in Thanjavur and Kumbakonam, the Rashtrakutas in Ellora etc, and each has contributed elements of style or tweaked it to suit their times and tastes. 

Detail exterior wall. Konark Sun Temple. 

13th century. Odisha.

But what about free-standing sculptures? And what about secular images, do they exist? What does contemporary Indian sculpture look like? I have just this name for you - Ramkinkar Baij. Read about this modernist father of Indian contemporary sculpture here. More about him later. 


Did you know terracotta images of the Indian deities are immersed back in the river where the clay came from, after the ritual worship is over? Images of stone or metal remain in temples and in household shrines. The oldest Hindu temple in continuous use dates back to 635 CE, is located in the Eastern state of Bihar and is dedicated to Mundeswari Devi, or a form of Shakti, who is always present along with her consort Shiva.

The pick of the day from the blogs visited: Ruth Blogs Here

A-Z Challenge 2020