South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c8.161

c8.161

The *Prava-torana* or *prava mandala* the 'halo' or the 'gateway of radiance' originally used for the ring of fire' in which Siva is represented as dancing his perennial dance, has now become a *sine qua non* for all South Indian figures. It is made of a separate piece of metal and is attached by the pegs of the lower ends of the arch into two sockets on the pedestal of the image. In the case of the Vaishnavite images the form of the flames are modified into other decorative devices as in the figure of Krishna in plate LX. Sometimes this decorative arch has a dragon-head as in the figure (in plate XLII) which has a marked affinity to the well-known architectural device known as the *Kirtimukha*.