South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c10: Chapter V

South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c10

Language: English

c10.2 — 6 parts

Chapter V

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THE one outstanding character of this school of sculpture which unquestionably constitutes the *bella epoca* of Indian Art is its absorbing religious motive. It is an essentially hieratic art exclusively devoted to the governing themes of South Indian Saivaism and latterly to themes from Vaishnavism, themes which turn upon the sacred person of Siva and Paramesvara, Vishnu and their various manifestations and all the array of saints, apostles and quasi-divine personages, *e.g.*, the Alwars and the Sivayogins subordinated as types or witnesses to the central personage. The primary interest of this class of statuary would seem to be its appropriateness for the religious function which called them into existence and could thus only be studied and judged, from the point of view of the faithful, by the standard of the religious dogma defined and circumscribed by the texts which they were intended to illustrate. To the eye of the faithful worshipper such images have a meaning and significance which are quite distinct from their artistic values. For, according to that well-known Japanese saying, “Even the head of a herring, if worshipped in true faith, will emit a ray of light.” The ray of light which the artist infuses into his subject is quite independent of what is attributed to it by the eyes of pious devotion. All great art however is expression. And if the artist has succeeded in giving expression to the idea with which he is for the time being saturated, be it a personal and transient emotion, or a great philosophic truth, a spiritual symbolism or a narrow religious dogma, his production fulfils the highest function of art. Judged by such a standard these icons of the South Indian image-makers, the hieratic manifestations of religious faith, have fulfilled their purposes and as such are works of art of very high merits. Apart from their religious significance the productions of these bronze-workers also conform to those universally accepted standards by which the sculptures of all countries in all ages have been judged and appreciated. Let us first consider the relation in which this school of bronze stands to the other Indian schools of sculpture and its position with regard to the other manifestations of Indian art and then it may be convenient to take a wider standpoint to realize the position it takes in the great body of art that belongs to mankind as Man.

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In the first place this manifestation of Saivaite art (from the 8th to the 14th century) constitutes an organic development wholly and absolutely distinct from the purely Buddhistic tradition which gradually died away in South India about the middle of the seventh century A.D. The reign of Buddhism in the preceding centuries had trained the hand of the Indian craftsman to exquisite cunning which was left as a great artistic asset to the South Indian iconographers who utilised and developed the same to a highly rich and articulate expression which culminated in productions never before attempted by the Buddhist predecessors. Except in a few Mahayanist bronze images mainly found in Nepal, Ceylon and Java, Buddhist sculpture was almost exclusively confined to the treatment of figure in repose, and the merits of Buddhist sculptures are almost confined to their static qualities. Saivaite art on the other hand with its many dramatic conceptions recorded in the *pauranic* legends with such wealth of imagery has afforded endless materials for the study of figures in action and movement and has called from the sculptor a greater mastery over anatomical forms than that required for Buddhist art. The figure representing the *Gajhāmūrti* of Siva (Plate XIII) by far supersedes all representations of Natarāja in its dynamic quality.

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It will be difficult to find in the whole array of Indian Buddhist sculpture such beautiful examples of power and action suggested in the rythmic spring and sweep of the body rendered in terms of a generalised and refined anatomy from which all superfluous details have been eliminated. It challenges comparison with Kon-go-ya-sha, the great Japanese representation of Vajrayaksha¹ or the Greek Lacöon. The representation of the female form is also a characteristic feature of the South Indian school of bronzes which has introduced many new types never attempted by the Buddhist sculptors. The various images of Tara with its numerous *tantric* developments which one finds scattered throughout the whole field of Buddhist art hardly suggested any types to the South Indian sculptor for the representation of the innumerable conceptions of Pārvati and other female deities which people the South Indian Pantheon. Images such as that of Siva Kāma Sundari (Plate XXXIII), Pārvati (Plate XXXIV) and Ādhārasakti (Plate XLII) are original contributions to the figure sculpture of India made by these Saivaite artists of the South. Mr. Havell’s observation that “it is often difficult to distinguish between Mahāyāna sculptures of the 8th and 9th centuries and those of the Saivaites,” generally applies to the representation of the male deities rather than the female conceptions.

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For although the images of Buddhist and Saivaite conceptions have many points of resemblance due to the idealistic treatment of the figure which is a common tradition in all schools of Indian art, the parent inspiration of the South Indian sculptors of the 8th to the 14th centuries must be sought for in the bas-reliefs at Mammallapuram which were executed probably between the 6th and the 8th centuries. The school of bronze workers executed a majority of their works between the 8th and the 15th centuries when, as we have found, the style flagged and entered into a period of degradation. Side by side with the works of the bronze image-makers there grew up a school of stone sculpture which culminated in a new stylistic development which we find recorded in the temples of Avadaiyar kovil, Korang-anadham temple at Srinivasnallur (Trichinopoly) and Tadpatri in the 16th century and the temples and their connected structures at Madura in the 17th century. The latter school displayed a freedom of style and conception which is quite different from the formalistic productions of the bronze workers unable to get over the stiff un-yielding immobility of types which the iconological formulas imposed upon them. The stone sculptors who decorated the *gopurams* and the exterior of the temples with statues and bas-reliefs illustrative of the various *pauranic* legends were less handicapped by any special forms of images prescribed in the text.

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The bronze workers who cast their images for the special rituals, and the cults, the subject of worship in the temples, had less freedom of interpretation and had to conform to the code of laws laid down in the *silpa sastras* and to the series of prototypes sanctioned by the hieratic censorship from which artistic invention could not deviate. The limitations thus imposed on the bronze image-makers had their advantages as well as weaknesses. If one consider for example such vitally rythmic compositions as the Natarājas from the Tanjore temple and the Madras Museum (Plates III, IV and V) one is forced to admit that the pattern prescribed by the text directing the disposition of the limbs and their proportions does not necessarily limit the visions of the true artist and that it is possible to rise to the level of true artistic expression while slavishly adhering to the rules and proportions laid down by the iconographer.

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If we compare for instance all the various examples of copper images of Natarāja of which ten specimens are collected here (Plates III to XII) we find that in spite of the fact that all the artists had to conform to the specialised pattern suggested by the dhyan mantra and the lakhana prescribed for the image, each artist has succeeded in giving an individual interpretation and each of the examples has some noble qualities of its own, notwithstanding the fact that in nearly all the images the hands spread out to the same measured height and the legs are disposed at almost the same inclinations. The latitude given to the artist by the canons seems to be, that so long as the iconographical detail was adhered to and the individuality of the image from the worshippers' point of view was not violated, the artist could have his own way. Indeed one text distinctly lays down that the measurements for the images enjoined by the śāstras are general rules for the guidance of the artist, who could, subject to those general rules, follow his own discretion in shaping the image. The fixation of types which the sculptors' canon and the dhyan mantra of the priest ensured in the representation of these images was the product of an attempt to perpetuate the conception of a master-craftsman as a precedent to be followed by succeeding generations of artists.

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For it will be apparent in many of the best specimens of this class of images, that in spite of the clumsy and crude technique they reveal a conception which is far superior to the manner of its execution. The reason no doubt is that many of them “reproduce the conception of men more gifted than the actual makers of the statues.” These fixed types in which the ancient master-sculptors visualised the iconographer's sketch of the image and have set noble precedents for their disciples to follow, may be very well compared to the musical modes or ‘raginis’ prescribed by the Indian musical texts, which, while they enjoin on the musical performer the necessity of confining himself to the particular keys which give the rough image of the particular rāga, afford ample scope to each performer for individualistic treatment in the way of improvisation. Thus the same rāga when rendered by different artists at different times while it recalls and invokes the rough outline or the taswir of the rāga differs in innumerable ways according to the moment of the inspiration or the fancy of the particular musician.

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¹ *Vide* plate No. 2553, *Catalogue des oeuvres d'art et de Haute curiosite de la Chine et du Japon de la collection Gillot*, Paris 1904.

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¹ E. B. Havell, Ideals of Indian Art, page 135.

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Effect of the Canons. It may be urged on the other hand that the patterns furnished and the rules laid down have for ever reduced the art of the Indian sculptor to a formula, and whatever precedents and traditions these canons succeeded in carrying and transmitting to the later generations of artists, the real effect of these canons was to stifle the true spirit of art by subjecting it to as dogmatic a rigour in design as in heiratic doctrine.

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In the first place whatever may have been the value of these artistic devices and the graceful poses suggested by the rules of proportions and measurements, when repeated by the inferior craftsmen who were unable to enter into the feeling of these artistic motifs and to understand the rationale of the original inventions, the conception of the master-sculptors was bound to degenerate when couched in slovenly technique, which was unworthy of the idea which it sought to express; and it would have been infinitely preferable for the less talented artist to express his own humble ideas in his own way than to strut along the grooves of conventions which he could not understand, interpret, or use as his own. Besides, having regard to the subject-matter of these sculptures, the artist was not allowed to be the interpreter of his own ideas but was set to work upon the ideas imposed by the priests and iconographers of the temple; and the task of interpreting the ideas of others is much more difficult than to interpret one's own. It is evident therefore that, however excellent a training these canons afforded to the apprentice in craftsmanship and design, they tended now and then to paralyse the freedom of expression of the less gifted craftsman. For while their original object was to secure a fixation of the types for these cult-images, by forbidding experiments on new lines, they succeeded also in many cases, in fixing and circumscribing the limits of individual artistic expression.

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Indian and Greek Sculptures If we now turn for a moment to examine the nature of the artistic performance of these schools of craftsmen we find that in the best examples they have upheld qualities which, the world have agreed, constitute the greatest art. It is unquestionable that in the types which they represent and in the treatment of the figure which they show they are different and sometimes antagonistic to the examples of ancient classic sculpture in Europe. As may be seen that the only school of sculpture to which these Indian bronzes may be said to bear any affinity is the great school of Egyptian sculpture. Even then the monumental quality of some of the Egyptian Pharaohs and the intense realism of such portrait-statues as that of the Lady Naphret (Cairo Museum) are lacking in the best examples of the Saivaite apotheosised saints. On the other hand, as pictures of gods and super-human types, the studies of the Saivaite imagers, however mechanically they have been produced are infinitely superior to any religious art with which we are familiar in Greece, Italy or Egypt. The Greek conception of life for ever circumscribed the Greek sculptors' conception of form and has confined the Greek artist's vision of gods to a perfectly developed healthy human body. The "beautiful humanities" of the Greek Olympus, those finely handled "flesh-forms," are not in any real sense religious conceptions. Their gods are but grand and beautiful men. For Greek sculpture was after all the finest expression of Greek life—"a sensuous open-air, well-ordered life, largely spent between the gymnasium and the temple."

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In their love and care of the human body they created an image of man hardly superior to man himself. Even in the statues of the Greek gods of the early periods, apart from their attributes, there is hardly any attempt to distinguish gods from men. "Perhaps the earliest class of statues in which we find any attempt to give artistic expression to super-human power is that in which we see the god in vigorous action, often striking with his characteristic weapon: Zeus with his thunderbolt, Posidon with his trident or Athena advancing rapidly with brandished spear and shield advanced. But even these figures, apart from their divine attributes, show no essential distinction from human combatants. It is a significant fact that it is still a matter of dispute whether one of the most famous statues of the early fifth century "the Choiseul-Gouffier Apollo" represents a god or an athlete. Such a typical or normal human form is, in fact, the logical expression of anthropomorphism in its most literal sense—the making of gods after man's image." For the ordinary Greek believed that the gods actually existed in human form and even in their characters, passions and moods were like human beings.

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¹ "Religion and Art in Ancient Greece." By E. A. Gardner, 1910, pages 72 73.

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So in the Homeric hymns we find the same human interest is given to the gods, their sufferings and adventures. They had little about them of the mysterious or the unearthly. They were "human, all too human." The vocation of the Greek sculptors was not "to bring the people nearer to the gods—to the conceptions of the super-human, as in India—but to bring the gods nearer to the heart of the people by making their images in human shape". It must be remembered that the Dyonysian spirit or the philosophy of Plato had no influence in Greek sculpture. In fact in the plastic arts of Greece no attempt has been made "to peer through the shadows of the real things that which we do not see". The Indian outlook on life—as embodied in its religious philosophy, has been always a search for the infinite—a desire to escape the limitations of individuality, time and space. And naturally in the service of that religion Indian art and particularly Indian sculpture has used form "less for its own sake than as a manifestation of something more changeless and eternal". It was not possible for Indian art to create a type that captivates and charms: it was not sensuous. On the other hand it was essentially super-sensuous and curiously metaphysical, carrying the mind beyond the object represented to a world of abstract ideas—a world of mystery and exultation.

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As we have seen the contemplative verses, the *dhyanas*, are the roots and the starting-points of the Indian sculptor. In the Agipurana (ch. 43) the image-maker is enjoined on the night before beginning with his work and after ceremonial purification, to pray; "O thou Lord of all gods, teach me in dreams how to carry out all the work I have in my mind."' It is only when the mental image has sufficiently defined itself that the painter or sculptor begins to paint or mould.² The resultant of such mental or spiritual image could be ill represented in terms of a physically perfect healthy human body. It could be only symbolised in an ideal type and by *forms not strictly in accordance with known physiological laws but rather* by forms which transcend the limits of ordinary human body. The Indian Sculptor had therefore to devise certain artistic conventions and a special system of anatomy for the purpose of suggesting and intimating “something beyond the forms of things.” He had set himself “to create beyond himself,” as Nietzche puts it : to suggest and evolve the type of the super-man. The Indian image-maker in depicting the images of gods was not therefore circumscribed, like his Greek brethren, by the limitations of human bodily form but was free to deduce his forms from non-human existences as well. Hence we meet in Indian sculpture with forms which are many-handed, some times polycephalous, sometimes zoomorphic and some times the grotesque and the terrible, for the so-called distinction between physical beauty and ugliness has no place in these divine conceptions.

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¹ Dr Coomaraswamy "Aims of Indian Art."

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² This practice reminds one of the séances of the modern master-sculptor Auguste Rodin which he undertakes to get into the spirit of his subjects, vide *Modern French Masters*, by Marie Van Vorst, 1904, p. 78.

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Creation, preservation and destruction are equally the functions of the Divinity. His image may be now beautiful, now terrible—but is always suffused with “that living quality which transcends all limited conceptions of beauty and ugliness.” As Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore has put it, ‘its beauty has a quality which overwhelms all the beauty of created things’ (*Samastha Viswēr rūp dobāna rūp*). The Indian conception of the Divine has uplifted the human form out of the realm of the merely physical and has transfigured it with a spiritual meaning. It will be futile therefore to contend that the statues of the Indian *sthapathy* fall short of the physical idealism of Greek sculpture or that they have transgressed the rules of human anatomy. The forms devised, and the generalised and sometimes conventionalised anatomy worthily represent the ideas they seek to express and are therefore appropriate for their purpose. At the same time they display some artistic values of a novel order.

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To the ordinary spectator the first feeling which is produced by the contemplation of such images is the “strangeness of intellectual landscape” which hovers about these conceptions. The various forms of the images of Siva which these Indian *sthapathis* have communicated to bronze will leave the average modern spectator cold. Like some of the Egyptian sculptures they will appear “cruelly distant and strange, terribly remote and uncommunicative.” You feel that what you have seen *does not belong to your world* and that it is utterly and completely separated from you. It is not the tale of a “glorified ideal of human powers” which Hellas has told in its animated marbles. It is a peep into the Indian Olympus peopled with actual gods and super-human beings, *not* with the athletes from the gymnasium posing as deities. "It is the adoration of the unknown force which maintains the universal laws and which preserves the types of all beings; it is the surmise of all that in nature which does not fall within the domain of sense—of all that immense realm of things which neither the eyes of our body, nor even those of our Spirit can see"—(RODIN).

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Apart from its spiritual appeal, the examples of Indian bronzes we have been considering, in spite of their formalism, possess the universal elements which the artists and connoisseurs appreciate in the art of figure sculptures For notwithstanding the differences in superficial aspects due to a different racial impulse and a strange religious motive they answer to the supreme tests of great art. And apart from their symbolic meanings and the religious ideas with which they are saturated their appeal in their artistic elements is unquestionable. As studies of line, pure and consummate (Plate I and Frontispiece) as exquisite examples of the values of movement (Plates XIII and III) as embodiments of force, with power and ability in every line (Plates XXII, LXXVIII), in their nervous gestures (*vide* Diagrams A to Z), as in the tranquillity of their poses in the various flexions, these images display qualities of everlasting nobility which unquestionably constitute a full-fledged school of vital sculpture. In the perfect tenderness of feeling expressed in such figures as the Chandeswara, in the grace and rythm in the dancing figures of Krishna, or in the most marvellous examples of power, action and life manifested—without the slightest sacrifice of sculpturesque quality—in the conceptions of Natarāja, they take their place amongst the masterpieces of the world.

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Kālāri or Kāla-kālamūrti of Śiva

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(Lit. Śiva the destroyer of Kāla or Death) Brihadeśvara Temple Collection, Tanjore. Date: circa 11th century.

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DHYĀNA

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Bandukābhām trinetram vṛṣavṛṣa-yutam candra-cūḍam udhṛtya haste Savyetunkam suthangstrang bidadhatam ugra-rūpam su-pāṇim A-kincit-kuncit-anghrim mjapadakamal-ampadam udhṛtya-kālam Bidhbhangs-in-turhonam bhitimum-madunam-vayet-vid-dhatum

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TRANSLATION

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Kāla-kāla, the bestower of gifts (bhitimum) should be thus contemplated.

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He having a complexion like the *bandhūka* flower, with three eyes and four hands, carrying the *śūla* (weapon) with a sharp-edged *ṭaṅka* (axe) in his right hand, with the *sucimudrā* (vide Plate XXI and diagram 1) at the other (right hand), his own lotus foot slightly bent at the ankle and raised in the act of trampling (destroying) Kāla (Time).

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There is some confusion as to the symbolism of the lower right hand which is tentatively identified as the *sucimudrā*. The position of this hand as indicated in another text seems to correspond to the figure *Vīra-sūtram samam suci*—the *suci hasta* shall be on the horizontal line through the navel. This verse does not mention the weapon of the second left arm which is missing in the figure itself. According to the text of *Kāśyapa* quoted below the lower left arm indicate *utpāsa*. The verse is however corrupt and difficult to follow but more accurate in its description of the image:

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Atha bakhsye biseṣena kālāri-mūrti-lakṣaṇam Devasya dakṣiṇam-pādam padma-pīṭhe-pratiṣṭhitam Prathamam nṛtyamityastu (?) dakṣiṇam-sthitapādalatā (?) Vāma-pādam-tumudhṛtya kuncitam-til-unudhrutam Anguṣṭha-mudhitāgitu-kālsava-hṛdaye-nyaset Sudangtrasya-tinetranca jaṭāmukuṭa-manditam Catur-hasta-samāyuktam asthi-hasta-mathapiba Dakṣiṇe-purba-hastantu sulam-kunant-umudhritam Dakṣiṇatata-hastantu parsum-buradam-tatha Bimetua-hastantu bismay-un-pankalpayet (Kāśyapa: Kālārimūrti-lakṣaṇam)

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TRANSLATION

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Now the peculiarity of the image of Kālāri is spoken in detail.

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The right leg of the god should be resting on the lotus pedestal; the left leg is used with the foot drawn up and with the toe lifted up should be placed on the bosom of Kāla. The god should have a face with beautiful teeth, three eyes and a crown of jaṭāmukuṭa (vide p. 46) with four hands or with eight hands. The first right hand should have the *śūla* used up to the end of the ear; the other right hand should have the *paraśu* (axe) or the gift-betowing symbol; the other left hand should suggest surprise.

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The text further goes on to describe the little demon at the foot as having two hands with the head erect.

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The image is sometimes conceived with eight hands as will appear from the following dedicative verse:

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Nīlāvam raktanetram-jwalita-kacavanam kṛtam-dangstrasuvimam-tu Sulam-bāṇam-ca-kaḍgam-parsum-pidhamu-khetakam-pasamiddun Suci-hastanca-sabye-bara-kara-mkarat-bibhṛatam-kālakanthe Dvangsad-bāminglum-padman-munyuna-bhutihanam-kadakālintikam-namanu

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The earliest example of this image occurs in the famous Pallava stone panel in the upper rock cut cave at Trichinopoly wrongly described as Naṭarāja (vide fig. 158 Vincent Smith's History of Fine Art page 222). A later example of the Chola period is illustrated in figure 14 which is iconologically a different conception of the same subject.

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the Roman world, and the most important events of the reign of Antoninus Pius, are related by his biographer, and the reader will not be sorry to find them here in a more concise form. The reign of Antoninus Pius is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is only another mode of saying that its happiness was complete. During the twenty-three years of his administration, the Roman empire was governed by the same invariable maxims of justice and peace. The natives of a vast extent of country were protected by the same laws, and enjoyed the same privileges. The frontiers were defended by the same legions, and the same spirit of moderation and equity prevailed in the councils of the emperor. The death of Antoninus was lamented as a public calamity; and the memory of his virtues was preserved by the gratitude of his subjects, and the imitation of his successor.

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The reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, which followed, was a period of great activity and of great events. The empire was attacked on all sides by the barbarians, and the emperor was obliged to spend the greater part of his life in the camp. He was a man of a mild and philosophical temper, and he would have preferred the quiet of the study to the tumult of the field. But he was a prince of a high sense of duty, and he did not shrink from the task which was imposed upon him. He defended the frontiers with vigour, and he defeated the enemies of Rome in many a hard-fought battle. His death was a loss to the empire, and it was felt by all classes of his subjects. He was the last of the good emperors, and with him the golden age of the Roman empire may be said to have terminated.

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The character of the Roman government, under the Antonines, was that of a mild and paternal despotism. The emperor was the source of all power, and his will was the law of the land. But he was restrained by the influence of the senate, and by the force of public opinion. The senate was still a body of great dignity and importance, and its members were the principal officers of the state. The emperor was careful to consult them on all matters of importance, and he was always ready to listen to their advice. The public opinion was also a powerful check upon the actions of the emperor. The people of Rome were still a proud and independent race, and they were not afraid to express their dissatisfaction with the measures of the government. The emperor was aware of this, and he was always careful to avoid any act that would be likely to give offence to the people.

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The administration of justice was one of the most important duties of the emperor. He was the supreme judge of the empire, and he was always ready to hear the complaints of his subjects. He was assisted by a council of jurists, who were the most learned men of the age. The laws were administered with impartiality, and the rights of the citizens were protected. The taxes were moderate, and they were collected with fairness. The public works were carried on with vigour, and the cities of the empire were adorned with magnificent buildings. The trade and commerce of the empire were encouraged, and the people were prosperous and happy. The Roman empire, under the Antonines, was a model of good government, and it was the envy of the world.

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Umasahita or Uma maheswara murti. Rijk Ethnographisch Museum, Leiden Date Circa Sixth Century

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DHYANA

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"Padmasthāna sukhāsanam-trinayanam-sudhista gauri mukha loka-smera mukham-jatā-mukuta yuk khundendu moulim sit am Bimrthngita bāmamanya karwostankam mrigam bivratam Se hun Sabyakutivyapradamunī yuktam Mahe-sambhajat"

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(Kāsyapa) [See page 55]

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Another verse descriptive of the image is thus quoted Dhabalāva sukhāsana Devi yutam Haram mriga tanka vaya baradun Sumukhi kara mutpala dhrik jatilam Umāvi abadeva swarupamidum

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(Kāsyapa)

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TRANSLATION

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The white-complexioned one seated with the goddess in the easy pose of sukhāsana (the hands bearing and representing) the deer, the tanka (weapon) abhava and barada wearing matted locks (jata) the beautiful faced goddess carrying the lotus in her hand—such is the image or representation of the god with Umā (Pārvati)

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This conception of Siva and Parvati is also sometimes called Gauri Vilasamurti

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"Hrista trivakhyayutam-prabālākiranam-raktotpalam kundalam Lankam krishnamrigāvayam-ca dadhatam Gourim mjoru sthit am Alingayā sthita-bāma pada kamalenaitan-mukhāswāditan Sodyāne (2) gagane bunana sahite Gouri bilasām bhajet the Roman world, and the most important events of the reign of Antoninus Pius, are related by his biographer, and the reader will not be sorry to find them here in a more concise form. The reign of Antoninus Pius is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is only another mode of saying that its happiness was complete. During the twenty-three years of his administration, the Roman empire was governed by the same invariable maxims of justice and peace. The natives of a vast extent of country were protected by the same laws, and enjoyed the same privileges. The frontiers were defended by the same legions, and the same spirit of moderation and equity prevailed in the councils of the emperor. The death of Antoninus was lamented as a public calamity; and the memory of his virtues was preserved by the gratitude of his subjects, and the imitation of his successor.

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Plate II

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Natarāja or Nateśa. Brihadeśvara Temple Collection, Tanjore. Date: Ninth Century.

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DHYANA "Ekasyantu caturbhujam trinayanam bāne tu dhustūrakam Candram patra śikhi prasānta karam udhampadam kuñcitam Sābye svastika mandalam damarukam gangā bhaye (1) (pite; Bivratam Bande kuñjatun Nateśamani mapasmāra dehe sthitam" (Kāśyapiya)

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TRANSLATION. Having one face, four hands, three eyes, having the *dhattura* flower at his left side and the moon on his head, having one hand spread out, the upraised leg bent at the knee, having the rim of fire on his left hand, and the drum and carrying the goddess Ganga on his matted locks, I pray to the wise Nateśa with his locks fluttering about and standing on the body of the demon.

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The verse descriptive of the spiritual function of the conception is quoted in the description of the next plate. The mermaid figure of Ganga referred to in the above verse is rendered in a miniature image on the halo above the drum but is more legibly represented in the images on plates VII and IX.

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The dancing figure of Nateśa is distinguished under 18 different classes, the most important being that of Muni-tāndaba, Kāla-tāndaba, Agni-tāndaba and Ānanda tāndaba.

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The arch with the fringe of fire at the back of the figure which forms a sacred halo (*toraṇa*) is said to symbolise the mystic syllable "Om".

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Madras Museum Collection Date Circa Tenth Century

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This image was discovered in the courtyard of a house at Velanganni in the district of Tanjore in 1872 (Indian Antiquary 1872, page 104).

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DHYANA

c10.78

"Lokānuhava sarbān damarukamīdu ghoram sansṛti magnān Datwāvitim dayalu pranatvavaharam kunotam pad padmam t dhutyedam bhukterayanamiti-ka īdd usay in prutvayaratham Bivrad bahunm sayīvīm kalayatinatanamyasya pāvinnate"

c10.79

TRANSLATION

c10.80

"Calling by the beat of the drum all persons engrossed in worldly affairs, the kind-hearted one who destroys the fear of the meek and gives them reassurance, and points by his hand to his upraised lotus foot (bent at the knee) as the refuge of salvation, and also carries the fire, and who dances in the assembly hall (univocally) let that Lord of Dance protect us."

Linked texts (10)

Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Kāśyapaśilpa — Sanskrit
Indian Antiquary
Kāśyapadharmasūtra — Kaśyapa, Sanskrit
Kāśyapīya — Kaśyapa, Sanskrit
Perur
Polonnaruwa
Brihadishwara Temple
Rameswaram
Sakalādhikāra — Agastya, Sanskrit

South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c10: Chapter V

Contents

Chapter V

Linked texts (10)