Lord Shiva with Parvati Seated on Nandi

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This wood statue, an excellent example of South Indian temple wood-carving, a marble statue like finished and polished, and a miniature like painted, all combined revealing rare aesthetic beauty, represents the four-armed Shiva riding along Parvati, his consort, his vehicle and eternal companion Nandi, the bull. Not only in all major Shaivite shrines a Nandi icon serves as ‘dhwaja’ – symbol of the temple’s Shaivite identity, but the enshrining image of Shiva shall not have the deity’s status unless a Nandi icon accompanied it. With such rare significance of Nandi in the mind the artist has carved the image of Nandi with loving care and most sensitively as if chiseling it out of a mass of translucent moonlight. Carved like an innocent calf in its advancing years Nandi’s contentment is absolute. 

As is the artistic convention for divine images, unlike a horse-riding equestrian representation portraying the rider’s figure in profile, Lord Shiva along Parvati is seated on his mount similar as he would on a formal seat or couch – front-facing and in full view. This sitting posture of Lord Shiva, with his right leg suspending downwards, and the left, folded into half and laid horizontally on the seat’s floor, in this statue the bull’s back, has been classified in Indian canonical tradition as ‘lalitasana’, a sitting mode revealing great aesthetic beauty. His left leg folded into half and doubled affords to Parvati a cushion like space to sit, and more than amour or contentment it is a kind of pride that defines not just her face but her entire being. Besides affording her a cushion-like comfortable space to sit Lord Shiva is also securing her by holding her with his normal right hand. 

The gold-like glistening normal two-armed image of Parvati is relatively small. Except her right hand that with a lotus in it is stretched a bit her entire image is well-composed. The artist has shown great ingenuity in modeling her figure – slender build, subdued belly, voluminous hips, elevated breasts, tall arms, and fine long fingers, and iconography – a face, sharp features, eyes as in trance, well-defined eyebrows and well-fed cheeks. Besides her routine ornaments to include a broad girdle and a towering Vaishnava crown in characteristic South Indian tradition the goddess Parvati is also putting on a well pleated green ‘antariya’ – lower wear. In iconographic vision, anatomical proportions and modeling, ornamentation, and the type of crown the artist has followed almost the same standards as he has followed in chiseling the image of Parvati. With his normal left hand the four-armed Shiva is supporting Parvati, and the normal right hand is held in ‘abhaya’; in other two hands the four-armed Shiva is holding a doe and a ‘damaru’ – double drum, like looking object. As has the mythology, when helpless Saraswati found it difficult to escape Brahma’s greedy eyes, she transformed her into a doe; however Brahma’s eyes detected her but before he could lay hand over the poor animal Shiva rushed to its rescue and upheld it in his hands. Thus, the doe icon emerged into Shiva’s iconography. The artist has attained the same level of perfection in carving Shiva’s figure as he has shown in carving the figure of Parvati.   

The statue, carved out of Bangai wood, one of the finest kinds of timbers used for artistic carving for generations, especially in South for temple wood sculptures, consists of three parts, a base or platform the statue has been raised on, the mount Nandi, and Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. Broadly, the base symbolizes matter – the manifest cosmos, Shiva’s mount Nandi, the life that the Rig-Veda calls ‘pashu’ – animal, and Shiva and Parvati, the timeless imperishable spirit that pervades it. This symbolic thrust of the statue is far deeper and wider. The base or the platform consists of three parts, the blackish bottom is symbolic of ocean or nether region, a narrow glowing band consisting of stylized lotus motif, the earth illumined with the sun’s light, and bluish-reddish top, the ethereal region. The medallion joining the three components into one, otherwise widely different and unlike each other, is symbolic of the cosmic self that unites the cosmos into one thread. The life in the form of Shiva’s Nandi pervades this manifest cosmos. Shiva and Parvati who guide the course of life and keep it to right path symbolize male and female principles and the eternal process of creation.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of ancient Indian literature. Dr Daljeet is the chief curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi. They have both collaborated on numerous books on Indian art and culture.

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.