Large Size The Lotus-Seated Goddess Lakshmi

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In many of its verses the Rig-Veda lauded the earth for fertility and for giving abundant food. Despite that she is not classed either as the goddess or as the mother, or invoked as such, the text’s reverence for the earth is very high. Fertility aspect and their power to bestow abundant food being common, the reverence for the earth seems to have subsequently merged with the divine aura of Lakshmi. In subsequent days after Lakshmi was being seen primarily as the goddess representing riches, prosperity and abundance – as the goddess of rich, prosperous and wealthy traders and elite, hardly ever reaching the farmers’ fields, a separate divine form, consecrated as Annapurna, emerged for representing the food-giving divinity. An aspect of Lakshmi, Annapurna developed her own iconography and got a number of shrines, especially in southern part of the country, dedicated to her. Delightfully, this image of goddess Lakshmi incorporates, besides her own cult as the Rig-Veda initiated, also the aspects that the mother-earth and Annapurna manifest.

Perfect in anatomy, modeling of figure conceived with large breasts abounding in rare beauty and absolute womanhood, the statue represents the four-armed Lakshmi in adherence to her form as evolved in Vedic literature, the Rig-Veda and the Atharva-Veda. Enshrining the lotus seat in her own right and with none of the Vaishnava attributes defining her form she reveals the status of an independent divinity, not one of Lord Vishnu’s consort, as subsequently the Puranas attributed to her. As suggests the anatomy of her figure, especially her well developed breasts clad with red and green stana-pata – breast-band, red symbolising energy, green, fertility, and large breasts, her power to feed and sustain, the artist has modeled his figure of the goddess to reveal ultimate motherhood. He has styled the apexes of the lotuses that she is holding in her upper hands like pots, the attributes of Annapurna, the food giving mother, who stored in her pots inexhaustible stocks of food. Further, he has preferred her image to enshrine a large lotus, and another, to support her foot. Both the lotus and the pot in Lakshmi’s iconography are denotative of her dairy-agrarian links that she shared with the earth goddess.

The statue represents the golden-hued goddess seated on a full blown multi-petalled lotus in ‘lalitasana’ revealing ultimate beauty, rare grace and great majesty. Besides the larger lotus she is seated on, she has a tinier one, quite cute as it looks, as the foot-raise under her right foot suspending below. Consisting of five cosmic elements : earth, water, fire, air and space, the lotus represents the cosmos. While seated on it she pervades it and thus symbolically the cosmos, which she upholds and sustains, the essence of her being. Lotus symbolism further continues. In two of her upper hands she is carrying lotuses, while the normal right is held in ‘abhaya’ – assuring freedom from fear, and the normal left, in ‘varad’ – assuring accomplishment of the desired. The upper hands are sometimes interpreted as conducting divine energy that the goddess inherently draws from unseen zones for accomplishing her divine act that her ‘abhaya’ and ‘varad’ granting hands symbolise. In aesthetic merit, craftsmanship, modeling, plasticity, iconographic perfection, fluidity of figure, and symmetrically balanced parts and anatomy, the statue is simply outstanding.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of ancient Indian literature. Dr Daljeet is the chief curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the National Museum of India, New Delhi. They have both collaborated on numerous books on Indian art and culture.

Sculpting Serenity: Unveiling the Art of Crafting Wood Statues

Wood has been a preferred material for sculptures and statues since ancient times. It is easy to work with than most metals and stones and therefore requires less effort to shape it into any desired shape or form. The texture of the wood gives an element of realism to the sculpture. The selection of an appropriate wood type is necessary for carving. Woods that are too resinous or coniferous are not considered good for carving as their fiber is very soft and thus lacks strength. On the other hand, wood such as Mahogany, Oakwood, Walnut wood, Weet cherry wood, etc., are preferred by sculptors because their fiber is harder. A wood sculptor uses various tools such as a pointed chisel in one hand and a mallet in another to bring the wood to the desired measurement and to make intricate details on it. A carving knife is used to cut and smooth the wood. Other tools such as the gouge, V-tool, and coping saw also serve as important tools in wood carving. Although the wood carving technique is not as complex and tough as stone carving or metal sculpting, nonetheless, a wood carver requires a high level of skills and expertise to create a stunning sculpture.

1. Selecting the right wood

The process of wood carving begins with selecting a chunk of wood that is required according to the type and shape of the statue to be created by the sculptor. Both hardwoods and softwoods are used for making artistic pieces, however, hardwoods are preferred more than softer woods because of their durability and longevity. But if heavy detailing is to be done on the statue, wood with fine grain would be needed as it would be difficult to work with hardwood.

2. Shaping the wood

Once the wood type is selected, the wood carver begins the general shaping process using gouges of various sizes. A gouge is a tool having a curved cutting edge which is useful in removing large unwanted portions of wood easily without splitting the wood. The sculptor always carves the wood across the grain of the wood and not against it.

3. Adding detailing

When a refined shape of the statue is obtained, it is time for making details on the statue using different tools. This is achieved by using tools such as a veiner to make and a V-tool to create decorative and sharp cuts.

4. Surface finishing

Once finer details have been added, the sculptor is ready to smoothen the surface and give it a perfect finish. Tools such as rasps and rifflers are used to get a smooth surface. The finer polishing is obtained by rubbing the surface with sandpaper. If a textured surface is required, this step is skipped. Finally, to protect the statue from excessive dirt accumulation, the sculptor applies natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil all over it. This also brings a natural sheen to the statue.