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Posts Tagged ‘Painting’

We have seen an entire series on the horsemen of the Sesharaya Mandabam in Srirangam, so time now to start with another one.

Horses have always held the imagination of men, warriors, artists, sculptures. The horse rider is an embodiment of valor and its not surprising that the Pancing horse inspires many creations of art ( and cars!!). The energy of the horse, flowing through its every muscle, bone, sinew, waiting for the rider’s clue to gallop away at top speed, the feel the wind against your face is a sure rush of blood ( today’s youth who haven’t experienced it can compare to riding a 500 cc Bullet) - the sheer power between your legs ( no pun intended) is exhilarating. The charging cavalry with their outstretched lances would have sent many an enemy scampering. Many a kid would have gone to sleep hearing the heroics of valiant horses of benevolent heroes - be it Bucephalus of Alexander, Chetak of Prithiv Raj Chauhan or steeds of tamil folklore - Ori of Valvil Ori, Panchakalyani of Raja Desingu - the tok tok tok tok would have been the lullaby to many being heard long into their sleep in their dreams.

Today, we are going to see one such amazing horse rider, in a town and temple that is famous for a greater miracle involving horses ( we will see that in a seperate post) - thanks to artist Mr Jeeva, we are going to Aavudayar temple ( Tiruperundurai).

An amazing artist, Mr Jeeva ( www.jeevartistjeeva.blogspot.com) is sharing an exclusive digital art of the horse for us. So before we see the sculpture lets see his amazing work.

horse
the horse

Temples built around this period ( late 14th C onwards - Nayak / Vijayanagar style) abound with such depictions. Sadly, visitors don’t even stop a minute to drink in the beauty of these marvels in stone.

Lets look at the beauty of this creation in more detail. The saddle, the stirrup, the reins, the designs of the riding pants … how did they manage to sculpt this in stone.

avudayar koil horserider 1
avudayar koil - detail of stirrup and riding pants
avudayar koil - detail of the harness
detailing 1
detailing 2 - a double knot
looks like two iron rings anchor the reins
the designs
the detailing

The weapons of the rider, the beauty of the lance. Its hard to believe that they are all of the same stone.

from the other side
other weapons
the lance
the saddle with sword

Not just the same stone as the sculpture, but part of a large stone that is the pillar.

one piece of stone

Truly, mind blowing.

Photos: courtesy Mr . Kandaswamy

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Thanks for all your encouraging comments on the previous post on sittanavasal. Today we are going to see another special from Sittanavasal, sadly in total ruin. Viewers are advised caution as the last couple of photos may not be suitable for general viewing ! meaning to the uninitiated as it contains some nudity ( a bit more than a previous one).

Before i present this beautiful maiden, would like to clarify a few points. First of all what you are seeing is not a religious motif but more a piece of art, so please see it as an art form and appreciate it for its artistic beauty and intrinsic value . Appreciating Nude Art is quite a controversial subject but you got to keep in mind that this is not something new or recent. So please differentiate it from Pornography and vulgarity. Nude art has been there since time immemorial and finds pride of place in many cultures and not necessarily Indian art alone - you can find ample evidences in Greek, Roman civilisations as well. Its got nothing to do with the darker side and unfortunately not too many people differentiate between the two. Art is something that transcends the frontiers of mind / soul / heart /class/religion/ intellect - it defies logical reasoning, so much so that its a feeling - an emotion. Nude art thus is something that provokes emotional sensuality and not erotic sensuality. Seeing the human form in its pristine glory is a sublime feeling and the female form with its aesthetically pleasing curves is its finest expression.

That an artist had scaled to this peak one thousand years ago in sittanavasal leaves me spellbound. Now with this introduction, i take you on a tour to savor this bewitching beauty - who despite years of neglect, thanks to help from Ashok, chooses to dance before us once more.

As usual we start with some long shots to show you the location ( and damage}, slowly zooming in

sittanavaasal dancer3
sittanavasal dancer2
sittanavaasal dancer 23
sittanavaasal dancer234
sittanavaasal dancer 23435
sittanavasal dancer 23456

I can hear you guys yelling, what is there? - remember the first post ! do you see the scratch marks - yes wanton vandalism, What was there….here she is

sittannavasal_dancer

adding some colors

artist impression

The youthfulness of her body, the graceful extension of her right arm slightly held up with the palm bent down, the lilting tilt of her head, the nonchalant smile, the bewitching eyes, the balance in her right hand, the slender waist - accentuating the euphoric feeling. The assortment of Ornaments, adding highlights without hiding the supple curves, leave you in raptures.

But that she is gone forever leaves you sick at heart, a tear drop forms in the corner of the eye, we have left this wonderful art to fade away…

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