Great Art of Tamils: Stucco sculptures

Siva Natraja Temple gopuram Chidambram

India is a vast land inhabited with flourishing human culture from earliest times of human civilization. It evolved a unique amalgam of religions,social and cultural space that we call Indian. Since it is a vast and more varied land India has remarkable differences in the art and culture in different parts. The influence of Aryan Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism provided a new composite culture in art specially temple art. The highly imaginative Tamil artists excelled in every form of expression--sculptures  in stone, bronze, wood, murals and paintings, architecture and stucco art. Though stucco has a long history in India and it flourished during Gandhara period it is in Tamil temples it acquired new heights of creative expression. The new architectural ideas of Pallavas that led to monumental gopurams in Chola period became the space on which to create massive narratives of stucco sculptures. Tamil stucco is created in stages. The gopuram stucco sculptures are in first stage made with bricks. Next  with a mortar of sand and lime is applied to the structure. In the last stage fine mixture of ground marble powder is applied and details of the sculpture are created. The sculptures are painted when the surface is dry. Most sculptures are painted in very vivid colours but some temples have a tradition of  painting in  simple cream white colour. When you appreciate the artistic beauty of a Pallava, Chola, Pandya and Chera temple you find art at every step, every nook every corner. The lower part of gopurams generally have stone sculpture  and higher up are very colourful stucco sculptures in great numbers.

thus Tamil temples had stone, bronze, stucco sculptures, metal reliefs, murals and wood carvings.

In art is Eternity, if you have the vision

yes

The Cultures and art of the East--India

"Some day the history of colonization and slavery of the world would be written by the progeny of the sufferers or by disinfected intellectuals of white race. Jesus who himself was not of white race would have felt pained  and distressed in soul that in His name innocent humanity would first be demonized as heathen, barbarian and then  be  ‘civilized’ through a  demonic clergy, colonial master act and  slave trading ‘Christians’ for 500 long years." (page 107) excerpts from the book

 Painting by Viktor vijay from book  Mona Lisa does not smile anymore

Compare Indian Art and European art

Black Mona Lisa Viktor Vijay, Indian art compared with European art

Mona Lisa does not smile anymore- art of India

In Goa and Portugal history and development the authors Charles Borges and Hannes stubbe argue that conversions were not done by violence and threat. (Page 292). All the armed guards with the missionaries roamed Goa villages to capture and convert Hindus were not on a picnic. The laws and conditions made Hindus and Muslims to live in utter deprivation and discrimination; it was force of a subtle kind used against Hindus and Muslims to die or to convert. Hindus who had to pay very high taxes hypothecated their lands to church proxies. They also went to neighbouring states and cultivated the lands of Muslims to avoid pauperization resulting from discriminatory tax policies on Hindus. Many of these Hindus were killed in Inquisition for going to work in a neighbouring state.

The writings of missionaries are replete with words like heathen, barbarians, and proselytizing was the reason for deprecating all that was Indian culturally and in religion. It was a fresh assault on India and its culture and religion that would last till the year1947.

On all graves howsoever old flowers grow

But do not forget those, who lie beneath

So called Renaissance brought tremendous suffering, relocation, destruction of ways of life, culture, death, loss of freedom, disease, insults, loss of economic means of survival, for Asia and others.

The number of people killed and those who lost their freedom were in millions and the mercantilist greed and religious bigotry of Christendom of the time played an important and decisive role in the tale of horror.

artists and their art In present--good bad and indifferent

" Even in art many desire the linearity of the familiar. There are artists who feel satisfied to repeat, for it puts no burden of searching in dark. Their works toss in the muddy water of superficiality and are akin to a brand. Collectors try to recognise the signature style more than the soul of art work. What pity, are we as artists cocooned to be Sisyphus. Picasso worked in different styles all his life. Gerhard Richter the German artist was criticized for what is called sailing in two boats. He paints very abstract works and at the same time makes cataract-eye-view photo-realist portraits. Do we have only one sided possibilities as humans and are doomed to act in one particular fashion? Are we one dimensional man? Are we artists a factory machine, destined to produce similar products?

Why do some artists feel snug in painting by a mould?"

excerpts from the book on Indian and Western art Mona Lisa does not smile anymore (ISBN 978-81-8465-512-4)

Why Picasso has his finger on the 21st century's pulse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/9875527

My comment on Picasso's relevance for Modern art in the Link above.

Indian art a fresh look--Mona Lisa does not smile anymore

'The art of India sought inspiration in philosophy of non-violence and inclusiveness. West instead suckled on the grandeur of the highly regimented war mongering Roman Empire. The art of Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Budhists and the Jains in India is far superior to the works of so called Renaissance Europe. This book presents a case of how Human context of art was predominant in Indian art while art of Europe was based on a slave owning, colonial and racially charged society.' Viktor vijay in Mona Lisa does not smile anymore