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The bronzes of India defy age, looking as fresh
today as they would have, just out of the sculptor’s mould, many
centuries ago!
Indian bronzes speak
volumes on the expertise of an art form that was born very long ago
and still holds the strings of continuity in the story of Indian
tradition.
The antiquity of the art
can be traced back to the epic called the Matsya Purana. Later,
amongst the findings in the ruins of Mohenjodara, came the discovery
of the figure of the dancing girl-further reinstating the fact that
sculpture along with the use of metal alloys was well known to people
even then. Of course, all along one was also equipped with an
ancient detailed treatise on iconography- the Shilpashastra. Yet
all this adds to the exciting mystique of traditions when one finds
there is no definite answer to the question of when or at what point
of time the experimentations into this form of artistic expression
actually began. Shilpashastra tells this small story that has come to
capture the quintessence of this art.
There once lived a king
called Vajra. He was a pious and devout man. One day he found himself
standing at the feet of sage Markandeya with a request. Oh! Great
sir, grant me but one wish begged the king. Teach me the art of
iconography so that I may make my own idol for worship, using
devotion as yet another input. Though the sage appreciated King
Vajra’s sentiment, he was forced to ask him a few questions
before handing him the first lump of metal. Do you know how to paint?
Asked the sage of the king. The king did not know painting, but
requested that he be taught the art if it was a prerequisite to
learning sculpture. But for that you need to know how to dance,
instead the sage. To learn dancing, in turn the king was required to
have a rudimentary knowledge of instrumental music which needed a
foundation in vocal music. So the king had to begin with the octaves
to be able to pour his sensibilities into any other material and make
a form! It is no surprise, therefore, that the beauty of Indian
bronze lies in their efficient capturing of all these artistic forms
within the figure created. So close is the association that the
different disciplines also share certain common terminologies like
the word tala. To a sculptor tala means one measure. To a
musician or a dancer it refers to one beat.
This unified aspect of
culture is more than evident when one sees the fluidity of movement
in these static figures. With Shiva (one of the Hindu Trinity)
symbolizing the cosmic forces of nature, dancer becomes the epitome
of life’s rhythmic motion. The sthapathi or craftsman
seeks to capture this motion in bronze. The contours of the legs,
the arms and the whole body of a standing figure have so much
semblance to reality that one can perceive not only the previous
stance but also the following one: a fractional movement captured
from the fluidity of one pose to another seemingly with a lens of an
exposure of 1/500th of a second!
The evolved technique and
the material used in no small measure contributed to the magnificence
of the end product in these bronze figurines. The conventions,
rituals and instructions of measurements etc. are the same old
traditional ones which have come down through the ages.
While bronze iconography
is age-old, it was only around the 10th century AD that
there was large scale revival in the practice of this art form.
Subsequently, within a few centuries, it reached its zenith. At this
time, there was a strong religious fervor in the southern Indian
states following the waning of the influences of Buddhism and
Jainism. The Chola reign saw many temples being constructed. The
presiding deity was constructed in granite. But there was a need for
more idols which could be carried around the village or town on
festive occasions. These figures were called utsavamuthis. Granite
was too heavy for this purpose and so came the alloy of five metals
symbolizing the five elements. The metals are copper, brass, and lead
with a little bit of gold and silver. So effectively was this
combination of metals chosen that they even reflected the figure’s
vitality. The process of making these idols is known as cire
perdue or madhu chistam.
Generally, deities are
made from bronze. The favourate ones being Lord Shiva; Ganesh, the
elephant faced god; Lord Rama; the incarnation of Vishnu and Parvati,
Lord Shiva’s consort. These are, of course the more popular
ones. However, there are innumerable variations upon the same theme
which capture every myth that is associated with the deities. After
the Cholas, the degree of finesse seemed to fade away and was never
carried into subsequent generations but newer styles evolved, almost
as beautiful. The tradition remained unbroken and just as cherished.
It is this aspect that provokes immense wonder: wonder at the
fascinating degree of perfection which is associated with the
universal definition of beauty.
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