stone carving

8/6/2019 Stone Carving

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By

Swarna

080628


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Stone Carving

The beautifultemplesthat dotthe South Indian

state ofTamil Naduhavelentthestatethe

sobriquet of"land oftemples". The glory ofTamil

templearchitecture reachesitspinnaclein the

Meenakshitempleat Madurai. Thetemple withits

profusion ofsculptureand magnificentproportions,

thethousand-pillared mandapasand thepillars of

stone,towering gopurams (gateway) and larger-than-life-sized reliefsspeakhighly ofthe

architecturalskills oftheTamilsculptors.


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Thesculptorsfinesense ofbalanceand skillis

also displayed in the othertemples ofthestate. At

Chidambaram, onefinds beautifulpanels depictingthe 108 karanas ofthe Natya Shastra while

Kanchipuramhousesa number ofthetemples

starting fromtheearliest Pallavatimesto the

Nayakperiod and even later. Theartistic

achievements oftheTamilsculptorsarealso

displayed atthe grand EkambareshwaraTemple

and the VaradaraajaTemple.


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The granite carving in Tamil Naduis

confined to theareaaround

Mamallapuram (also Mahabalipuram)

and Chingleput. Thismay beattributed

to thefactthatthe governmenthasset

upthe Mamallapuram School of

Sculpturehere. Justasin bronze,the20th-century sculpturehas not yet

evolved an idiom ofits own and many of

the carvingsare copies oftheearlier

periods.


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Thequality ofthematerialisan extremely

importantpart ofthesculpturalprocess. Justas

the Shilpa Shastraset outthemeasurementsand

techniques ofsculpting,thesculptorsherehavealso goneinto a detail regarding thequality of

stone,itsmaturity,texture, colourand otherthings.

Theartists outhere work withtheindigenous

varieties ofthestoneavailablein thestate,asitis

extremely durablefor construction purposes. Alsothehomogeneity ofthestoneisimportantforthe

stability and durability ofthefinalform.


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Stone carving isan ancientactivity wherepieces

ofrough naturalstone areshaped by the

controlled removal ofstone. Owing to the

permanence ofthematerial,evidence can befound thateven theearliestsocietiesindulged in

someform ofstone work.

Work carried out by paleolithic societiesto create

flinttools ismore often referred to asknapping.

Stone carving thatis doneto producelettering ismore often referred to aslettering.


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Stone carving differsfromstoneasin marblequarrying in

thatitistheact ofshaping orincising thestone, whereas

quarrying istheactivity ofacquiring usefulstone,usually in

blocks,from geologicalsources.

Thetermstone carving is ofparticularsignificancetosculptors being a referenceto aparticular way ofproducing

sculpture,as opposed to modelling in clay or casting. The

termalso refersto theactivity ofmasons in dressing stone

blocksforusein architecture,building orcivilengineering. It

isalso aphraseused by archaeologists,historians,and

anthropologists to describetheactivity involved in making


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Stone carving from Orissa

Thesearethe beautifulstone carvings ofOrissa

exhibited in the Crafts Fairheld at Surajkund inHaryana. Itisan annualfair organized by Haryana

Tourismto promote Indian handicraftand

handloomtradition and forthe craftenthusiasts;

thisfairisamust-to-be-included itemin theirtravelplan.

Stone carving isamajorhandicraft ofOrissa. The

craftsmen ofOrissaspecializein making figures

and icons ofsoapstoneand granite. Many ofthecarved figuresarethose ofgods, goddesses,

Buddha, nymphsand motherand child. Along with

these,various beautiful danceposesarealso

carved fromthesestones.


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Stone carving in india

The geologically old land ofRajasthan, richin differentkinds ofhard rockslike granites,marbles,quartzite,slates,and other

metamorphic rocks,has been astone-carver'sparadise. Rightfrom

themedievaltimes,the ready availability ofhigh-quality stone (the

use ofbrick wasalmostunknown) madeiteasy forthe Rajasthanibuilderto constructstrong and beautifulforts,palaces,and temples.

Thesculpturesfound in theancientand medievaltemples of

Bharatpur, Baroli, Ramgarh, Nagda, Ajmer, Chittor, Mandore,

Jaisalmer, Bikaner,and Udaipurspeakhighly oftheartistic skills of

the Rajasthanistonecutters. Apartfromtemple carvings,thestone

carvers ofRajasthan are noted fortheirjali (latticework) carvings.Mostancientpalatial buildings ofRajasthan sportjali work on their

doorsand windows. Thejaliscreens,sculpted from bothsandstone

and marble, werefrequently used in the windows ofthezenanas

(women'squarters) enabling the women in purdahto view the

events ofthe courts without being seen. Thescreensalso offered

protection fromtheelements whileallowing thepassage offreshairthroughtheintricate geometric patterns.


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Stone Sculpture Carving in India

Thereisalot ofvery difficult workthat goesinto the carving ofone ofLotus Sculpture'sgranitestatues. In thissection we will out

linetheprocess ofcarving and how we getfroma raw piece ofstoneto one ofourmagnificentstonesculptures!

Theprocessismainly in threeseparate

parts; 1. Acquiring and cutting ofthestone2. The rough cut ofthesculpture3. andcarving and filing ofthe details ofthepiece.


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Acquiring and Cutting the Raw Stone

Theartistsmustfirst obtain alargestone by going to thestone

quarry wherethelargestonesareharvested. Itisvery difficult

to find alargeenoughstoneto carvealargepiece ofover 6

feet. Mostlargerpieces ofstonein thequarry have cracksin

them.

The originalstoneforthis raw stone which willeventually bea 6 foot Buddha weight


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Ifa crackisundetected by an artistand thecarving isstarted thesculpture will often breakduring the carving process.

Thislarge 7 footpiece ofstone was going tobeastanding Hanuman statue. There wasacrackthat wasundetected atthetop ofthepieceand thetoppiece broke offthestoneasyou can see by the outline ofthe Hanuman

statue on thestone.


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The raw stoneusually weighsabout 2.5 timesthe

amount ofthefinished sculpture. For a Buddha

statuethat weighs 4000 pounds when completed

the raw stone weighsapproximately 10,000

pounds. Thusalarge craneisused to movethe

stone. The cranesare rented by theartist by the

hour.


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Notallsculpturesare 6 feettall! When theartists

need to cutthestoneto makesmallerpiecesthey

usemany small chiselsinserted into carved holes

in thestone.

They then usealargesledgehammerto gradually

hammerin each ofthesmall chiselsinto the

stone. Thiseventually causesa crackin the

stone.


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Oncetheartisthasthe raw piece ofstoneitis

shaped into a blockthat can be worked with. They

uselarge cutting chisels designed to break off

large chunks ofrockto shapethe rock.

Click here to go to the nextstep oftheprocess;


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Stone Carving in India

Thestone-carving tradition in Indiais one oftherichestin the world. Guilds ofmasonsand stonecarvershaveexisted heresincethe 7th century B.C.Theskills werehanded down asfamily lorefrom

fatherto son,apractise prevalentin someparts ofthe country even today.

The classicaltradition ofstone carving was closelylinked witharchitecture. Allmajortemples of India-beit Puri, Konark, Khajuraho, Kailash Temple, orthe

ShoreTempleat Mahabalipuram-illustratethe richtradition of Indian stone carvings.


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The geologically old land ofRajasthan, richin differentkinds ofhard rockslike granites,marbles,quartzite,slates,and othermetamorphic rocks,has been astone-carver'sparadise. Rightfromthemedievaltimes,the ready availability ofhigh-qualitystone (theuse ofbrick wasalmostunknown) madeiteasy forthe Rajasthani builderto constructstrong and beautifulforts,

palaces,and temples. Thesculpturesfound in theancientandmedievaltemples ofBharatpur, Baroli, Ramgarh, Nagda, Ajmer,Chittor, Mandore, Jaisalmer, Bikaner,and Udaipurspeakhighlyoftheartistic skills ofthe Rajasthani stonecutters. Apartfromtemple carvings,thestone carvers ofRajasthan are noted fortheirjali (latticework) carvings. Mostancientpalatial buildings ofRajasthan sportjali work on their doorsand windows. Thejali

screens,sculpted from bothsandstoneand marble, werefrequently used in the windows ofthezenanas (women'squarters) enabling the women in purdah to view theevents ofthe courts without being seen. Thescreensalso offeredprotection fromtheelements whileallowing thepassage offreshairthroughtheintricate geometric patterns


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Rajasthan continuesto be one ofmajorcentres ofstone carving in the country. Thecapital city Jaipuristhe centre ofmarble

carving in Rajasthan. Here one can seeartisans creating marbleimages ofthedeitiesas wellas domestic utensilssuchasbowlsfor grinding spicesand kneadingdough. At Ajmer, Udaipur, Jodhpurand

Bikaner, one comesacrosssomevery fineexamples oftheintricatejali work done onscreensand panels ofthe royalpalaces


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Thefinequality ofmarbleand sandstoneextractedfromthe numerousquarriesin thestatehad givenriseto atradition ofstonemasonsand sculptors. Thequarriesat Makrana arequitefamous,foritisfromthesequarriesthatthemarbleused in theTaj Mahal

wasmined. Also builtusing marblefrom Makranamines weretheexquisite Dilwara Jain templesat MtAbu. Rupbas (near Agra) and Karauli stillproducethe red sandstonethat wasused by the Mughals tobuild theirfortsand palacesat Agra, Delhi,andFatehpur Sikri. In east Rajasthan, Kotaproduces

grey stoneforfloormaking, Barmerproduces yellowmarblefor delicate carvings,and Ajmerproducesgranites.


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Thesoft chromatic stonemined fromthequarries ofDungarpurareused by thestone carvers ofthestatefor carvingimages ofthe deities. Thestone becomes

black when oiled. Asthesubjectmatter oftheseimagesis divine,thesculptorsarerequired to workaccording to theguidelineslaid down in the Shilpa Shastra,an ancient Hindutreatise on sculptureand

architecture.


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The religiousthemesare carved in stoneall over

thestate. One can seethelifelikeimages being

skilfully sculptured in differentvarieties ofstone

acrossthestate. In Jaipur, whitemarbleisused for

carving outstatues ofgodsand goddessesas well

asanimaland human figures.

stone carving

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