A feat of daring imagination, highly innovative, and hence as much rare, this cedar wood sculpture represents a vision of Lord Vishnu with ten additional faces, his own being eleventh, From a workshop at Trivandrum, in Kerala, now a seat of master artisans especially skilled in carving cedar wood sculptures worldwide known for their elegance, great distinction and unique quality, the statue has the flavour of earlier Mysore sandal images. Relatively a large size statue, 33 inches tall, 14.5 inches in breadth and 6.5 inches thick – not common dimensions for a cedar wood statue – as the cedar wood itself is quite expensive, it represents Lord Vishnu in his cosmic form – Vishnu in his wholeness.

In iconographic tradition images of Lord Vishnu are conceived mainly in two postures, one in ‘khadgasana’, that is, standing position, and other, in ‘sayanasana’, that is, leisurely reclining. The ‘khadgasana represents him as cosmic commander in readiness to proceed either to protect a devotee or to redeem one from some calamity; usually his images as cosmic commander are in ‘abhay-mudra’. When at leisure he is represented as reclining in Kshirasagara – the ocean of milk, on the coils of the great serpent Shesh, and Lakshmi, his consort, massaging his feet. While his image in standing posture manifests Lord Vishnu’s active aspect, his ‘sayanasana’ image represents his auspicious presence by which he pervades the cosmos. In ‘sayanasana’ he is represented as stretching over the body of the great serpent. In iconographic and metaphysical traditions the great serpent Shesh is seen as symbolizing cosmos. Thus by pervading the body of the great serpent Vishnu pervades the cosmos with his auspiciousness. As the two aspects could not be synthesized in one form, the artist has used the pedestal’s face for representing his ‘sayanasana’ image and thus his auspicious aspect. The two hexagonal sides of the pedestal have been used for representing the images of tall turban-wearing Vamana and the flute-blowing Krishna, the fifth and the eighth of Vishnu’s ten incarnations.

Besides representing these two aspects : Vishnu, ready to act, and Vishnu, an auspicious presence pervading the entire Creation, the artist has revealed in the statue Vishnu-related other contexts too. The Rig-Veda often alternates Vishnu with sun – Surya. Traditionally Surya moves in a chariot driven by seven horses. Though the inclusion of a three horse-driven chariot in Lord Vishnu’s iconography is an absolutely new element and sounds strange, it is certainly not meaningless. This feature is indicative of Vishnu’s oneness with Surya. Vishnu as Krishna was Arjuna’s charioteer in the Mahabharata. He is believed to have delivered the entire Gita when atop his chariot. The presence of the chariot reveals this context too. Besides that the great serpent Shesh is a regular feature of Vishnu’s iconography, canopying his ‘khadgasana’ image with its hood is complete deviation from the established tradition. The great serpent had unfurled its hood over the new-born Krishna when in torrential rains his father Vasudeo was transporting him across the river Yamuna under devastating flood. Inclusion of Shesh unfurling its hood over his image might have been made also for revealing this context. 

Except in his manifestation as Baikuntha Vishnu, in which form his images have been conceived with three faces Lord Vishnu’s images are conceived with a normal single face though with four arms, not normal two, giving him Chaturbhuja name. A bold imagination this image has been modeled with eleven faces, his own in the centre while five on either side. These faces bereft of attributes that reveal each divine figure’s identity appear to be sage Bhragu, Narsimha – his fourth incarnation, Ganesha, Shiva’s son whose ‘agra-puja’ Vishnu had himself prescribed, Rama, his seventh incarnation, and Shiva on the right side, and Balarama, his ninth incarnation, Hanuman, his devotee and servant in his incarnation as Rama and also otherwise, Yama, the presiding deity of death that Vishnu commanded, Parashurama, his sixth incarnation, and a Shaivite saint. Thus, with Krishna and Vamana carved along the pedestal and Narsimha, Parashurama, Rama and Balarama – all of his incarnations in human form, forming the part of his face, the statue represents Lord Vishnu in his totality. The image, raised over a tall hexagonal podium with a dark brown base unit, has been conceived with sixteen arms; except the normal right and left held in ‘abhay’ and ‘varad’, in other fourteen hands the image holds various divine weapons.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet.

Sculpting Serenity: Unveiling the Art of Crafting Wood Statues

Wood has been a preferred material for sculptures and statues since ancient times. It is easy to work with than most metals and stones and therefore requires less effort to shape it into any desired shape or form. The texture of the wood gives an element of realism to the sculpture. The selection of an appropriate wood type is necessary for carving. Woods that are too resinous or coniferous are not considered good for carving as their fiber is very soft and thus lacks strength. On the other hand, wood such as Mahogany, Oakwood, Walnut wood, Weet cherry wood, etc., are preferred by sculptors because their fiber is harder. A wood sculptor uses various tools such as a pointed chisel in one hand and a mallet in another to bring the wood to the desired measurement and to make intricate details on it. A carving knife is used to cut and smooth the wood. Other tools such as the gouge, V-tool, and coping saw also serve as important tools in wood carving. Although the wood carving technique is not as complex and tough as stone carving or metal sculpting, nonetheless, a wood carver requires a high level of skills and expertise to create a stunning sculpture.

1. Selecting the right wood

The process of wood carving begins with selecting a chunk of wood that is required according to the type and shape of the statue to be created by the sculptor. Both hardwoods and softwoods are used for making artistic pieces, however, hardwoods are preferred more than softer woods because of their durability and longevity. But if heavy detailing is to be done on the statue, wood with fine grain would be needed as it would be difficult to work with hardwood.

2. Shaping the wood

Once the wood type is selected, the wood carver begins the general shaping process using gouges of various sizes. A gouge is a tool having a curved cutting edge which is useful in removing large unwanted portions of wood easily without splitting the wood. The sculptor always carves the wood across the grain of the wood and not against it.

3. Adding detailing

When a refined shape of the statue is obtained, it is time for making details on the statue using different tools. This is achieved by using tools such as a veiner to make and a V-tool to create decorative and sharp cuts.

4. Surface finishing

Once finer details have been added, the sculptor is ready to smoothen the surface and give it a perfect finish. Tools such as rasps and rifflers are used to get a smooth surface. The finer polishing is obtained by rubbing the surface with sandpaper. If a textured surface is required, this step is skipped. Finally, to protect the statue from excessive dirt accumulation, the sculptor applies natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil all over it. This also brings a natural sheen to the statue.