Karttikeya, The Son of Lord Shiva

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A magnificent work of wood craft this temple wood carving, elaborately carved and brilliantly painted, represents Karttikeya, the eldest son of Shiva and the supreme commander of the army of gods. He is also known as Kumara, Skanda, Subramanya, Shanmukha and Muruga; Subramanya is used specially in South, and Muruga, meaning God, more often in Tamil Nadu. Popularly Karttikeya is venerated as Parvati’s son by Shiva. Karttikeya is a term contextual to Krittikas that were the first to see the child as soon as he emerged. Krittika is one of the twenty-seven planets and consists of a group of six stars. Later Puranas personified Krittikas as six goddesses, and sometimes as the daughters of six different kings, who were the first to find the new-born child. The moment they saw the child milk began oozing from their breasts and they all wished to feed him first. Accomplishing their wish the child grew six faces and all six Krittikas fed him in simultaneity. In North in all visual representations he is hence represented as six-faced, though as usually in South his images have a normal one face.

 
Shiva’s son had his emergence for annihilating the mighty demon Taraka that with a boon from Brahma had become invincible. As is the mythological tradition, a demon by the name of Vajranga, fed up with his demonic form and nature wanted to get rid of it. With such objective in mind he entered into long penance and pleased Bramha who granted his prayer. However, when back in human form, he found his wife missing. He searched her around and found her wandering in the forest. After he heard from her how in his absence Indra, the king of gods, harassed her over and again, he re-immersed in penance and succeeded in winning from Brahma the boon of a mighty son who would defeat all gods. The boon was granted. This son was named Taraka. When just seven days old, Taraka himself resorted to penance for getting immense power. Brahma appeared in his vision and granted that he would not be killed except by someone just seven days old. Hence confident that no one could kill him Taraka, now demon Taraka or Tarakasura, began inflicting all kinds of atrocities on gods and even evicted them of Vaikuntha. When approached, Brahma revealed on gods all about his boon.

 
Under a curse from Parvati all gods were childless. Hence, on Brahma’s advice they approached Shiva who deep in grief over the death of Sati, his wife, was lost in meditation. Gods nominated Kama to rouse sexual passion in Shiva’s mind. Kama succeeded but also enraged him and Shiva burnt him to ashes. On the other hand Parvati was performing penance for obtaining Shiva as her husband in which she succeeded and Shiva married her. Soon after Shiva engaged into sexual intercourse with Parvati which went on for a hundred Divya years – about a thousand human years. When gods approached Shiva he agreed to their prayer but with Parvati not able to hold his semen he asked gods who among them would hold it. Agni agreed but could not hold it for long and put it into the womb of the earth. The earth, unable to hold it, handed it over to Ganga that deposited it into a grove of reeds where it transformed into a child that Krittikas were first to find. Hearing the news all gods assembled, worshipped the new-born and nominated him as supreme commander of their army. On the seventh day from his birth the child confronted Tarakasura and his army and killed him. 

     
 
Though different from illustrating this legendary form, or even his form as the chief battle-god of the Hindu pantheon, this wood sculpture represents Shiva’s son in a static posture. Except his four arms he has a normal anthropomorphic form – anatomy and appearance, an oval face, moderate figure height, highly balanced and proportionate body with normal build – everything according to norms in regard to divine images as laid down in the Shilpa-shashtra and early traditions. In the upper hand on the right side he is carrying thunder-bolt, and in that on the left side, a dagger with blade as saws. His normal right hand is held in ‘abhay’ – protection against every kind of fear, and the normal left, in ‘varada’ – accomplishment of the desired. Around his left hands there is his essential attribute a large spear – detached and unlike the rest of the statue. There is behind him his mount an elegantly carved and brilliantly painted peacock with pride revealing into its entire demeanour. The image has been installed on an oval seat consisting of conventionalised lotus motifs and floral medallion in front. It is laid over a plain rectangular moulding which is also the base of the ‘prabhawali’ – fire-arch. The ‘prabhawali’ is raised over beautifully designed dwarf-pillars and has a characteristic Shrimukha motif over its apex. 

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.