The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c16.s2.94

v2.c16.s2.94

Under the influence of Śaktism the organizations of dancers and musicians attached to the Brāhmanic temples developed both in magnitude and artistic qualities during the medieval period (eighth to thirteenth centuries), and large numbers of most lovely dance-poses may be seen on the exteriors of temples in the Deccan. The Great Temple at Pālampet, which was built during the reign of the Kākatīya king, Gaṇapati, in A.D. 1213, has figure-brackets representing female dancers in characteristic attitudes.¹ Four of these sculptures, which are of black stone of a close-grained variety, will be described here. Emotional gestures, which are an essential adjunct of the art of dancing in India, are shown with much effect in these representations. In Plate XXXVIII *b* the curves of the body alternate rhythmically; the loop made by the right arm, which is raised, is balanced by the curve of the left arm, which slants in the opposite direction; similarly the curve of the right leg, which has been made by raising the foot, is matched by the outward inclination of the hip on the left side and the bend of the left leg. The exquisite manicured fingers with their delicate movements, suggestive of an emotional temperament, and their symbolic bendings, add to the artistic effect of the pose; and the attitude of the body appears to have changed at each step taken by the dancer.