South Indian Bronzes

The legacy of the dynasties that once ruled medieval South India is still alive through their monumental temples and metal images that they created. From the 8th to 16th century, mainly, in Tamil regions of Thanjavur and Tiruchchirappalli these images were made.  The early historic and medieval sculptures from south India, including that of Nataraja, Buddha, Parvati, Rama and Jain images were made of copper, bronze, brass, and gilt copper, mostly produced under the patronage of Pallava, Chola, Vijayanagara, Pandya and the  Chalukya kings.  The bronze casting technique and the making of bronze images of traditional icons reached a high stage of development in South India during the medieval time. It is still a live art; the  fashioning of bronze images is practised in South India, particularly in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu.

There are many images of Nataraja in different dance poses. During the Chola period, in Thanjavur, previously the Tanjore region of Tamil Nadu, a wide range of Shiva iconography had evolved. The magnificence of its  symbolism and artistic excellence has amazed the world of art. It combines in a single image, Shiva's roles as creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe and depicts the Indian concept of the endless cycle of time.  Graceful figurines of Parvati have also been sculpted, standing in ‘S’ shaped tribhanga posture which consists of three bends in the body; at the neck, waist and knee. 

The figure is made according to the Shilpa Shastras. The dimensions, the proportions, the pose, the ornaments, the mudras, meaning gesture, and the bhavas, meaning expression of the emotion, are followed very strictly. Clay from a termite-hill is made into a paste and the entire figure is coated with it over and over again until the mould is of an optimum thickness. Then the whole structure is dried. After that the clay-mould with the wax-mould is baked over an oven. The wax model melts and flows out. Now the clay-mould is empty and ready. Bronze is melted and poured into this mould. When the metal has hardened and cooled, the mould is removed by breaking it off. The bronze figure is thus derived. After cleaning, the finer details are added and the image is polished to perfection. Bronze has also been casted hollow and given a gilded finish or repoussed. 

The museum has a good collection of bronzes from all parts of India and from different periods of history. There are bronzes from Tamil Nadu, South India also Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore, also Central India, Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Burma (now Myanmar) and Nepal. However images from South India are more in number and dominate the collection. There are Natarajas and figures of other Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina deities. Some tribal and decorative objects are also part of the collection.

Let us take a look at these beautiful bronze creations and also understand the scope and canvas of South Indian bronzes and metalwork.

Standing figure of a female divinity, Parvati. Eyes seem downcast, her hands are positioned presumably to hold a musical instrument, from Chola period, dated to the 13th century.