Teak Indian sculpture

The tradition of Indian sculpture is the oldest in the world, dating back to the Indus Valley civilisation. The ancient tradition of sculpting is still preserved in all its glory, and at the same time, artisans have innovated and introduced new forms of sculpting, working with diverse materials and exploring myriad themes.

Indian craftsmen have always been fascinated by figures from mythology and religion. Sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses or other Hindu figures like heroes, images of Buddha, and figures from Christianity and other religions have been woven into their work. In addition, they have tended to carved beautiful statues and sculptures inspired by everyday life, as well as court life. India boasts of sculptures of animals, birds, and human figures and the walls of religious and court buildings, both interior and exterior are generally covered in huge exuberant sculptures using teak and gilding to give bright surfaces.

In India, sculptures have been made of all kinds of raw material. While some of them have been created out of a single solid chunk of the material, others have been crafted in parts, and then joined together. Teak images have been highly weather and time resistant and are particularly used for images of Shiva because the Hindu belief is that when the dancing Shiva lowers his foot the world will end - therefore an almost indestructible wood is used to create Shiva sculptures as it would be extremely bad luck for a sculpture to fall!

Indian sculpture photograph by Xenia Antunes, used under a creative commons attribution licence

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