South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c7.22

c7.22

The Chola kings have done for South Indian art what the Pandyan kings have done for South Indian literature. It was early in the 9th century that the Cholas emerged as the ruling power in the South. Between 846 and 1135 A. D. Chola power was practically supreme. Of the long list of rulers, the kings who specially distinguished themselves as patrons of art are (1) Tondman Ilandiyam, (2) Parantaka (907-947), (3) Raja Raja, (4) Rajendra Chola (1011-1042), (5) Rajendra, II (1052), (6) Kulottunga III (1178-1215). The majority of the Chola princes whose master passion was for building temples which they endowed with lavish gifts have lent an impetus to South Indian art which is in some sense remarkable. It cannot be said that they were the pioneers of the worship of Saiva images in the temples. For, it cannot be doubted that the worship of the images of the various forms of Siva existed several centuries ago and the Natarāja temples of South India are anticipated in the image of Siva conceived as Natarāja in the Badami and the Ellora caves and also in the Pallava temples. The work on *Silpasastras* and iconology used by the image-makers of the south are all written in Sanskrit and must be attributed to the period of the composition of the Sanskrit *purānas* in South India. Besides, the practice of image-making which was confined to a special caste of artificers known sometimes as Kammalar, Sthapathis, Visvakarmas and Rathakarikas, points to a high antiquity; for considerable time must have elapsed before the craftsmen who took to their profession specialised in their arts and emerged as a distinct ethnical type having a special place in the social structure. The history of this artistic caste in South India has been very ably set forth in Dr. Coomaraswamy’s “Indian Craftsman.”