Our pot-bellied god of auspicious beginnings and the remover of obstacles presents us with an interesting image to appreciate in this ‘panchaloha’ bronze sculpture. Standing on top of a raised lotus pedestal, Ganesha is in the ‘tribhanga’ posture – with his body twisting at his legs, his waist, and his neck – and holds in his hand his broken tusk and parchment to write on.
This singular visual created by the ‘sthapati’ in the ‘madhuchista vidhana’ image nods to the episode of Ganesha taking down the narration of Mahabharata from Vyasa. As the legend goes, Ganesha, as instructed by Brahma, sat down to write the narrative of the great epic that Vyasa began dictating with ease and no hesitation. Some time during this process, Ganesha realised that his writing instrument was about to break, and not wishing to disturb Vyasa’s thought process, proceeded to break his own tusk and write the remainder of the epic with it.
The way our beloved ‘ekdanta’ or one-toothed god keeps his chin up in this image therefore assumes that he is looking towards Vyasa while he continues to narrate the story of the Mahabharata. The sculpture has been presented in a highly ornate manner, with elaborately detailed jewels adorning Ganesha’s body, a diaphanous ‘dhoti’ held by a girdle with tassels, and a grand ‘mukuta’ as a headgear along with a beautiful ‘prabhamandala’ or halo behind it.
Eternal Brilliance Unveiled: The Mystique of Panchaloha Bronze and Artful Maintenance Rituals
Bronze is a metal alloy that has the primary composition of Copper and Tin. There is also an addition of other metals such as Manganese, Aluminium, Nickel, and some non-metals such as Phosphorus. This composition of several metals and non-metals makes Bronze an extremely durable and strong metal alloy. It is for this reason that Bronze is extensively used for casting sculptures and statues. Since Bronze has a low melting point, it usually tends to fill in the finest details of a mould and when it cools down, it shrinks a little that makes it easier to separate from the mould.
" If you happen to have a bronze statue, simply use a cotton cloth with some coconut oil or any other natural oil to clean the statue. "
A village named Swamimalai in South India is especially known for exceptionally well-crafted Bronze icons of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The skilled artisans of this place use Panchaloha Bronze for casting the icons. Panchaloha Bronze is made of five metals; Copper, Zinc, Lead, and small quantities of Gold and Silver. Zinc gives a golden hue to the finished figure and Lead makes the alloy softer for the easy application of a chisel and hammer. The common technique for producing these statues and sculptures is the “Lost-wax” method. Because of the high durability of bronze sculptures and statues, less maintenance is required, and can still last up to many decades.
Exotic India takes great pride in its collection of hand-picked Panchaloha Statues. You will find the murtis of Gods (Krishna, Hanuman, Narasimha, Ganesha, Nataraja, and Kartikeya) and Goddesses (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Durga, and Parvati), and Buddha statues. You can also buy Ritual paraphernalia (Wicks lamp, Puja Kalash, Cymbals, and Puja Flag) on the website. All these statues and items have been made with a lot of care and attention, giving them a flawless finish. Their fine carving detail represents the rich tradition of India.
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