South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c9.106

c9.106

There is another class of images which does not belong to the cult of Siva, Vishnu or Rāma. They are very frequently represented and seem to be associated with cult of the Surya or sun god.¹ They are the representations of the planets Rāhu, Ketu, Sukra, Chandra, Budha, Sani and Brihaspati. A very representative group is illustrated in Plate LXXXI. The representations of the Vaishnavite *Alwars* have afforded plenty of work to the bronze-workers but the images of these saints have not produced such striking work as the statues of the Saivaite saints. A representative collection will be found in Plate LVII. Some Jaina images in bronze have been discovered and reported on by the Archæological Survey Department, Mysore, but they do not seem to disclose any new type or any specially artistic peculiarity. The only importance of these finds lies in the fact that some of the images bear inscriptions giving the names of the artists a comparatively rare occurrence in Indian Art. We reproduce here one example of a Jaina image in bronze from the collection of the Madras Museum (Plate LXI).