Vijaya Ganesha

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The gold complexioned Vijaya Ganapati radiates in darkness and thus what is dark glows with brilliance, that is, Vijaya Ganapati leads the darkness out and the light in. He is thus remover of darkness and harbinger of light. His essence is victory but wars, battles or violence are not his ways. His weapons are noose and goad; by the former, he holds evil to let the good prevail, and by the latter, he goads the erring ones to the right path. It is not just the picture of the external world. Everyone has within him a lot of good but the evil in him does not let it prevail, or obstructs its path. Vijaya Ganapati pierces his way into his being, holds the evil in him to let the good prevail and instead of annihilating evil, which is often endowed with tremendous energy, puts it to right path. Thus, Vijaya Ganapati leads to victory and success not by destroying evil but by channeling the devotee's entire energy, good or evil. In Indian tradition, mango symbolises fruition – spiritual and worldly, on massive scale; but mango-twig waits a year for a mango to ripe. Vijaya Ganapati carries the mango assuring that fruition of spiritual as well as worldly objects is certain but let it ripe in due course.

The artist has conceived his Ganapati image with a posture that corresponds to Lalitasana, a sitting posture that reveals ease and beauty of form. Suggestively, the prime concern of the iconography of Vijaya Ganapati is beauty and tension-free ease. Further, the artist has created his image with a big belly, though not as big as Ganapati has in his Lambodara manifestation and with floppy ears trailing down to shoulders. His partially shut and downward cast eyes depict a thoughtful demeanour. This gesture is further emphasised by the semi-vitarka-mudra, which his fingers reveal. All four hands carry various attributes, but despite, from his fingers the deity appears to be engaged in an inner dialogue.

This single tusked image of Vijaya Ganapati has crown of a moderate size and is as moderately bejewelled and costumed. As costume, he has just a loincloth, though elaborately adorned with beads and frills. Towards the backside the crown comprises a decorative disc, which radiates like a mini halo. It is, however, the Prabhavali, fire-arch, comprising lotuses and beads, which the artist has truly conceived as the halo around the great Lord. The Prabhavali rises from a pitha consisting of two rows of lotuses. Towards its right, the pitha has a basket full of modakas. Up to the waist height, the Prabhavali has vertical rise but then onward takes to a circular form, which on its apex transforms into a Shrimukha motif. For invoking Vijaya Ganapati the devotee is required to invoke first his Mushaka, and this he may do by commemorating the mantra : Aum Mushikavahanaya Namah.

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.

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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.