Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c16.t2: 1-b. Portrait Sculpture
Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c16.t2
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1-b. Portrait Sculpture
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Castings in bronze and brass are largely made in South India. Idols in temples and statues of eminent rulers who made large benefactions for the upkeep of and worship in temples are made and placed in them. Though many of the bornze castings must have been made in the Vijayanagar days also we do not get much information about them. But there are three brass castings in the Tirumalai temple which are of some interest. One of them represents Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya, who was a staunch devotee of God Veṅkaṭēśa and made substantial improvements to the temple.²⁶ The other two represent his two queens Cinnādēvi and Tirumalādēvi. They were apparently contemporary statues. Speaking about them Vincent Smith remarks: "The images although formal in design and defective in expression seem to be executed with great delicacy."²⁷
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²⁶ With this can be compared the stone statue of the king placed in a niche of the northern gōpura of the Naṭarāja temple at Cidambaram. It is a fine piece of workmanship. See frontispiece.
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²⁷ Hist. of Fine Art in Ind. and Ceylon, p. 238. See also fig. 21 in Portrait Sculpture in South India by T. G. Aravamuthan.
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In the Tirumalai temple there is also a copper statue of Veṅkaṭa II (1585-1614). Its workmanship is delicate to an extreme degree and is a good specimen of portrait sculpture. Besides there is also in the temple a group of two statues (husband and wife) carved in stone. It is generally supposed to be a carving of Tirumala I and his wife Vēṅgalāmbā.²⁸ But an old Mahratta inventory of the articles and properties of the temple refers to the group as statues of Acyuta and his queen Varadāji Ammā.²⁹
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²⁸ A.S.R., 1912, p. 189 fn. 3; see also Heras, Aravidu Dynasty. I, plate facing p. 248.
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²⁹ Rep. on Tirumalai Tirupati Devasthanam Ins.. p. 315 and plate 53.
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The Pudu maṇṭapa at Madura gains greater importance and interest owing to the fact that it contains the statues of ten Nāyak kings of the place. The sculptor does not idealise his figures, but the statues appear to be true portraits of the first ten Nāyak rulers of Madura. Many of them wear helmets over their heads, and a cloth round their waists. These statues are perfect specimens of South Indian art.³⁰
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³⁰ See ‘The Statues of the Nayaks of Madura in the Pudu maṇṭapam’ in Q.J.M.S., XV, pp. 209 ff., by Heras where the figures are reproduced; also Gangoly, South Indian Bronzes, Pl. lxxxiv, p. 60.