Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.202

v2.c74.s2.202

Our canonical and iconographical literature not only directs the Indian artists to express in art ‘certain symbolic representations of the nature of a particular god or goddess but to show, through their chisel work, extremely subtle poses of the image, to show unmistakably the various moods, either grim or mild or meditative or grave or some other kind, in which deities were to appear before the worshipper. This presumably led to the psychological foundation of Indian art’. It is from this cardinal angle of Indian art that Indian Images possess such a variety of expressive postures not only of the face but of the whole body—the hands and feet, etc. All these peculiarities of Indian art have thus a tradition both in manuals and monuments alike. There is no better designation of this element of Indian Iconography than the word ‘Mudrā’.