U N I T- 3

A RT I S T I C A S P E C T S O F I N D I A N T E M P L E S C U L P T U R E S
 EARLY TEMPLE
• While construction of Stupas continued,
Brahminical temples and images of Gods also
started getting constructed. Often temples
TEMPLE were decorated with the images of Gods.
• Devalaya • Myths mentioned in the Puranas became part of
narrative representation of the Brahminical
• Devkula religion.
• Mandir • Each temple had a principle image of a God.
• Kovil (Is a Tamil term for a distinct style of Hindu • The shrines of the temples were three kinds-
temple with Dravidian architecture)
(i) Sandhara type (without Pradakshinapath)
• Deol/Deula(Is an architectural element in a Hindu
temple in the Kalinga architecture style of the (ii) Nirandhara type (with Pradakshinapath)
Odishan temples in Eastern India)
(iii) Sarvatobhadra (Which can be accessed from
• Devasthanam or Prasad all sides).
Introduction:
In India, we found a great number of architecture which have religious as well as historical
importance. A binding with religious importance, can not be perfect until its interior(
walls, pillars and ceilings) and exterior part would be painted or engraved with prominent
features and images related to the particular religion. God and Goddess and other related
themes, stories or tales prevalent in that particular region are designed at the time of
construction of the building. The other reason to engrave images on different part of the
building is to attract the people. This tradition still continues since ancient times. The
artists or sculptors of contemporary period try their best to satisfy the needs and and
desires of their patrons and they depicted the themes or stories in their creation what
their patrons desired.
A large number of temples and historical buildings were built during 6th century A.D. to
13th century A.D. in entire India. All those have their architectural characteristic and
features.To know about all of them systematically, they should be classified as follows-
• The North Indian or Nagara style of Temple architecture.
• Central Indian style of temple architecture.
• East Indian style of temple architecture.
• West Indian style of temple architecture.
• South Indian or Dravida style of temple architecture.
 THE BASIC FORM OF THE HINDU TEMPLE

When you browse our earlier articles on Hindu Temple Architecture, you would 3. Shikhara or Vimana:
realize one thing. It was a gradual evolution starting from the rock cut- cave • They are mountain like the spire of a free-standing temple.
temples to monolithic rathas which finally culminated in structural
temples.The basic form of a Hindu structural temple consists of the following. • Shikhara is found in North Indian temples and Vimana is found in South Indian
1. Garbhagriha: temples.

• It literally means ‘womb-house’ and is a cave like a sanctum. • Shikhara has a curving shape while vimana has a pyramidal-like structure.

• In the earliest temples, it was a small cubical structure with a single entrance. 4.Amalaka:

• Later it grew into a larger complex. • It is a stone disc like structure at the top of the temple and they are common
in North Indian temples.
• The Garbhagriha is made to house the main icon (main deity) which is itself the
focus of much ritual attention. 5. Kalasha:

2. Mandapa: • It is the topmost point of the temple and commonly seen in North Indian
temples.
• It is the entrance to the temple. 6.Antarala (vestibule):
• It may be a portico or colonnaded (series of columns placed at regular
intervals) hall that incorporates space for a large number of worshippers. • Antarala is a transition area between the Garbhagriha and the temple’s main
hall (mandapa).
• Dances and such other entertainments are practiced here.
7. Jagati:
• Some temples have multiple mandapas in different sizes named as • It is a raised platform for sitting and praying and is common in North Indian
Ardhamandapa, Mandapa, and Mahamandapa. temples.
•
8.Vahana:
• It is the mount or vehicle of the temple’s main deity along with a standard
pillar or Dhvaj which is placed axially before the sanctum.
SCULPTURE, ICONOGRAPHY AND ORNAMENTATION
• Iconography is a branch of art history which studies the images of deities.
• It consists of identification of image based on certain symbols and mythology associated with them.
• Even though the fundamental myth and meaning of the deity may remain the same for centuries, its specific usage at a
spot can be a response to its local or immediate social, political or geographical context.
• Every region and period produce its own distinct style of images with its regional variations in iconography.
• The temple is covered with elaborate sculptures and ornament that form a fundamental part of its conception.
• The placement of an image in a temple is carefully planned. For example, River Goddess(Ganga and Yamuna) are usually found at
the entrance of Garbhagriha in a Nagara temple.
• The door keepers( Dwarapalas)are usually placed on the gateways or gopurams of Dravidian temples.
• Similarly, mithunas(erotic images),navagrahas(the nine auspicious planets) and yakshas are also placed at entrances to guard them.
• Various forms of aspects of the main divinity are to be found on the outer walls of the sanctum.
• The ashtadikpalas (deities of direction) face eight key directions on the outer walls of the sanctum and/or on the outer
walls of the temple.
• Subsidiary shrines around the main temple are dedicated to the family or incarnations of the main deity.
• And the other elements of ornamentation are used in distinct ways and places in a temple such as Gavaksha, Yaka Yali, Kalpa-Lata,
Amalaka, Kalasha, etc.
• Many relief, sculptural panels and images have been found on the walls and pillars of the temples inside and outside which have
great importance.
The North Indian or Nagara style of Temple architecture:
Nagara is the style of temple architecture which became popular in
Northern India is known as Nagara.
It is common here to build an entire temple on a stone platform with
steps leading up to it.
Unlike in south India, it doesn’t usually have elaborate boundary walls
or gateways.
Earliest temples had only one shikhara (tower), but in the later
periods, multiple shikharas came.
The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.
Nagara temples can be subdivided mainly into three – based on the
shikhara type.
Latina/ Rekha-Prasada:
It is the simple and most common type of shikhara.
It is square at the base and the walls curve or slopes inwards to a point
on top.
Latina types are mainly used for housing the garbhagriha.
2. Phamsana type shikhara:
They are broader and shorter than Latina type.
Their roof is composed of several slabs that gently rise to a single
point over the center of the building, unlike the Latina ones which look
like sharply rising towers.
Phamsana roofs do not curve inwards; instead, they slope upward on a
straight incline.
In many north Indian temples, the Phamsana type is used for mandapas
while the main garbhagriha is housed in a Latina building.
3.Valabhi type shikhara:
These are rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a
vaulted chamber.
The edge of the vaulted chamber is round, like the bamboo or wooden
wagons that would have been drawn by bullocks in ancient times.
The form of this temple is influenced by ancient building forms that were
already in existence.
Central India:
In the later periods, the temples grew from simple four pillared
structures to a large complex.
This means that similar developments were incorporated in the
architecture of temples of both the religions.
Two such temples that survive are; temple at Udaygiri which
is on the outskirts of Vidisha (it is a part of a large Hindu
temple complex) and a temple at Sanchi, which was a
Buddhist site.
The early temples were modest looking shrines each have four
pillars that support a small mandapa before an equally small
room that served as garbhagriha.
Some of the oldest surviving structural temples of Gupta
period are in Madhya Pradesh.
The ancient temples in UP, MP and Rajasthan share many traits
and the most visible is that they are made of Sandstone.

Dashavtara Vishnu Temple, Deogarh, UP, Fifth century CE

1. DASHAVATARA VISHNU TEMPLE, DEOGARH, UP:
Even though the patrons and donors of the temple are unknown, it is believed
that this temple was built in the early 5th / early 6th century CE.
This is a classical example of the late Gupta period.
This temple is in the Panchayatana style of architecture. [Panchayatana is an
architectural style where the main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with
four smaller subsidiary shrines at the four corners and making it a total of five
shrines – i.e., Pancha]
There are 3 main reliefs of Vishnu on the temple walls.
In fact, it is not actually known to whom the four subsidiary shrines were
originally dedicated.
The temple depicts Vishnu in various forms due to which it was assumed that
the four subsidiary shrines must also house Vishnu’s avatars and the temple
was mistaken for a dashavatara temple.
The grand doorway of the west facing temple (west facing is less common) has
the sculptures of Ganga on the left and Yamuna on the right side.
The shikhara is in latina/ prasada style which makes it clear that this is an early
example of a classical nagara style of the temple.
Sheshayana – on the south (Vishnu reclining on the sheshanaga called
Ananta)
Nara-Narayana – on the east (discussion between human soul and the
eternal divine)
Gajendramoksha – on the west (story of achieving moksha , symbolically
communicated by Vishnu’s suppression o an asura who had taken the form of
an elephant)
The temple is west facing, which is less common, as most of the temples are
east or north facing.
2. TEMPLES AT KHAJURAHO, MADHYA PRADESH:
The temples at Khajuraho were made in the 10th century, about 400 years after the
temple at Deogarh and the complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The temples were patronized by Chandela kings.
We can see how dramatically the shape and style of the nagara temple architecture
had developed.
The temples at Khajuraho are all made of Sandstone.
The largest temple at Khajuraho is the Kandariya Mahadeva temple(The great God
of the cave) which is attributed to king Ganda.
The Lakshmana temple dedicated to Vishnu was built in 954 by Chandela king,
Dhanga.
All the towers or shikhara of the temple rise high, upward in a curved pyramidal
fashion, emphasizing the temple’s vertical thrust ending in a horizontal fluted disc
called an Amalaka topped with a Kalasha or a vase.

The crowning element Kalasha and Amalaka are to be found on all nagara temples of
this period.

The Khajuraho temples are also known for their extensive erotic sculptures (about
10% of total sculptures); the erotic expression gives equal importance in human
experience as a spiritual pursuit, and it is seen as a part of the larger cosmic whole.
Many Hindu temples, therefore feature Mithuns (embracing couples-erotic
sculptures) sculptures, considered auspicious.
Khajuraho sculptures are highly stylized with typical features.
There are many temples at Khajuraho, most of them dedicated to Hindu gods.
There are some Jain temples as well as a Chausanth Yogini temple.

Chausanth Yogini is a temple of small square shrines dedicated to esoteric devis or

goddesses associated with the rise of Tantric worship after the 7th

[Khajuraho dance festival is organized by MP Kalaparishad and is one week long

(first week of February) festival of classical dances celebrated annually against the
spectacular backdrop of Khajuraho] Kendrariya Mahadeo Temple, Khajuraho, MP
Bhitargaon Temple, Kanpur, Gupta Period Rear view of the temple at Bhitargaon, 1875.
WEST INDIA
There are too numerous temples in the northwestern parts of India, including Gujarat and
Rajasthan, and stylistically extendable, at times, to western Madhya Pradesh.

The stones to build temples ranges in color and type.

While sandstone is the commonest, a grey to black basalt can be seen in some of the 10th to
12th-century temple sculptures.
The most exuberant and famed are the manipulatable soft white marble which is also seen in
some of the 10th to 12th-century Jain temples in Mount Abu and the 15th-century temple at
Ranatpur.
Among the most important art-historical sites in the region are Samlaji in Gujarat.
It shows how earlier artistic traditions of the region mixed with a post-Gupta style and gave rise
to a distinct style of sculpture.
SUN TEMPLE, MODHERA, GUJARAT

A large number of sculptures made of grey schist have been found in this region.
The Sun temple at Modhera dates back to early eleventh century and was built by Raja Bhimdev I
of the Solanki Dynasty in 1026.
The Solankis were a branch of the later Chalukyas. There is a massive rectangular stepped tank
called the surya kund in front of it.

Proximity of sacred architecture to a water body such as a tank, a river or a pond has been
noticed right from the earliest times.
By the early eleventh century they had become apart of many temples.
This hundred-square-metre rectangular pond is perhaps the grandest temple tank in India.
A hundred and eight miniature shrines are carved in between the steps inside the tank.
A huge ornamental arch-torana leads one to the sabha mandapa (the assembly hall) which is open
on all sides, as was the fashion of the times in western and central Indian temples

Sun Temple, Modhera, Gujarat

Side view
EAST INDIA
East Indian temples include those found in the North-
East, Bengal, and Odisha and each of these three areas
produces a distinct type of temple.
The history of architecture in the northeast and Bengal
is hard to study because a number of ancient buildings
in those regions were renovated, and what survives
now is later brick or concrete temples at those sites.
It appears that terracotta was the main medium of
construction.
A large number of sculptures have been found in Assam
and Bengal, which shows the development of important
regional schools in those regions.

Konark Temple, Odisha

ASSAM
An old 6th century sculpted door frame from
DaParvatia near Tezpur and another few stray
sculptures from Rangagora Tea Estate near Tinsukia in
Assam bear witness to the import of the Gupta idiom
in that region.
The post-Gupta style continued in the region well in
the 10th
However, by the 12th to 14th centuries, a distinct
regional style developed in Assam.
The style that came with the migration of
the Tais from upper Burma mixed with the
dominant Pala style of Bengal and led to the creation of
what was later known as the Ahom style in and
around Guwahati.
Kamakhya temple, a Shakti peeth, is dedicated to
goddess Kamakhya and was built in the 17th century
BENGAL
The style of sculptures during the period between the 9th and
11th centuries in Bengal (including Bangladesh) and Bihar is
known as the Pala style, named after the ruling dynasty at that
time.
That style in the mid 11th and mid 13th centuries is named
after the Sena kings.
While the Palas are celebrated as patrons of Buddhist monastic sites,
the temple of the region is known to express the Vanga style.
The Siddheswara Mahadeva temple in Burdwan, W.B, built in
the 9th century, shows a tall curving shikhara crowned by a
large amalaka, is an example of early Pala style.
Many of the temples from 9th to 12th centuries were located
at Telkupi in Puruta district,W.B.
They were submerged when dams were constructed in the region.
The architecture of these temples heavily influenced the earliest
Bengal Sultanate buildings at Gaur and Pandya.
Many local vernacular building traditions of Bengal also influenced the
style of the temple in that region.
The most prominent of these was the shape of the sloping or
curving side of the bamboo roof of a Bengali hut.
This feature was eventually even adopted in Mughal buildings and is Siddheswara Mahadeva temple
known as across India as the Bangla Roof (word Bungalow derived
from this).
Terracotta Temple(Madanmohan Temple) Vishnupur
ODISHA (KALINGIA ARCHITECTURE)

The main architectural features of Odisha temples are classified in three

orders:

A. Rekha Deula/Rekhapida- Rekha means line and it is tall straight building

with a shape of a sugar loaf. It covers the garbhagriha.

B. Pidhadeula- It is a square building with a pyramid shaped roof and is

mainly found for housing the outer dancing and offering halls.

C. Khakra Deula- It is a rectangular building with a truncated pyramid shaped

roof. Temples of the female deities are usually in this form (garbhagriha
usually) and will have a resemblance with Dravidian temples of the south.

* Most of the ancient temples are located in ancient Kalinga – modern Puri
district, including Bhuvaneswar or ancient Tribhuvaneswar, Puri, and Konark.

* The temples of Odisha constitute a distinct sub-style within nagara order.

* In general, here the Shikhara called Deul in Odisha is vertical almost until
the top when it suddenly curves sharply inwards.

* Mandapas in Odisha are called Jagamohanas.

* The ground plan of the main temple is almost always square, which, in the
upper reaches of its superstructure becomes circular in the crowning

* The exterior of the temple is lavishly curved while their interiors are
generally quite bare.

* Odisha temples usually have outer walls.

Sun temple, Konark, Odisha:
It is built around 1240 on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.
The temple is set on a high base, its walls covered in
extensive, detailed ornamental carving.
These include 12 pairs of enormous wheels sculpted
with spokes and hubs, representing the chariot wheels of
the sun God who, in mythology, rides a chariot driven by 7
horses, sculpted here at the entrance staircase.
The whole temple thus comes to resemble a colossal
processional chariot.
On the southern wall is a massive sculpture of Surya
carved out of green stones.
It is said that there were 3 such images, carved out of a
different stone placed on the three temple walls, each
facing different directions.
The fourth wall had the doorway into the temple from
where the actual rays of the sun would enter the
garbhagriha.
• The temple was designed in the shape of a huge chariot drawn
by 7 mighty spirited horses on 12 pairs (total 24 wheels) of
gorgeously decorated wheels at its base.
• The size of the wheel is of 9 feet 9 inches in diameter and
each one of them having 8 wider spokes and 8 thinner spokes.
• Out of these 24 wheels 6 are in either side of the main
temple, 4 wheels are on each side of the Mukhasala and 2
wheels on each side of steps at eastern front.
• Various theories have been advocated regarding the
significance of Konark wheel.
• According to some, the 7 horses represent the days of the
week and the 12 pairs of wheels represent the 12 months of
the year and the 24 wheels signifies 24 hours of a day and the
8 major spokes signifies prahars (three hour period) of a day.
• According to others, the wheels of the chariot have been
interpreted as the 'Wheel of Life'. They portray the cycle of
creation, preservation and achievement of realisation. These
12 pairs of wheels may also possibly represent the 12 zodiac
signs.
• Some also believe that the Wheel of Konark is the same as
the Dharmachakra of the Buddhists - The Wheel of Karma,
The Wheel of the Law.
The size and architecture of the 24 wheels is same but
each one of them has been differently carved all over.
The thicker ones are all carved with circular medallions
at their centres on the widest part of the face.
The axels of the wheels project by about one foot from
the surface, having similar decorations at their ends.
The rims are carved with designs of foliages with
various birds and animals, whereas the medallions in the
spokes are carved with the figures of women in various
luxurious poses, mostly of sensual nature.
 There are three images of Sun God at three different
sides of the temple, positioned in proper direction to
catch the rays of the sun at morning, noon and evening.
The morning sun being identified with Brahma, the
creator; The mid sun with Mahaswara, the destroyer
and the evening sun with Vishnu, the preserver.
Jagannatha temple, Puri, Odisha:
It is also located on the eastern coast, at Puri, Odisha.
The temple is a part of Char Dham (Badrinath,
Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram) pilgrimages that a Hindu
is expected to make in one’s lifetime.
When most of the deities in the temples of India are
made of stone or metal, the idol of Jagannatha is
made of wood which is ceremoniously replaced in
every twelve or nineteen years by using sacred trees.
The temple is believed to be constructed in the
12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of
the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
The temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra or
Chariot festival.
South Indian and Dravida style of temple architecture:
Unlike the nagara temple, the Dravida temple is enclosed within a compound
wall.
The front wall has an entrance gateway in its center, which is known
as Gopura/ Gopuram.
The shape of the main temple tower is known as Vimana (shikhara in nagara
style).
The vimana is like a stepped pyramid that rises up geometrically rather than
the curving shikhara of north India.
In south India, the word Shikhara is used only for the crowning element at
the top of the temple which is usually shaped like a small stupika or an
octagonal cupola (this is equivalent to the amalaka or kalasha of north Indian
temples).
Whereas at the entrance to the North Indian temple’s garbhagriha, it would
be usual to find images such as mithunas and the river goddesses, Ganga and
Yamuna, in the south you will generally find sculptures of fierce dvarapalas or
the door-keepers guarding the temple.
It is common to find a large water reservoir, or a temple tank, enclosed
within the complex.
The North Indian idea of multiple shikharas rising together
as a cluster was not popular in South India. At some of the
most sacred temples in South India, the main temple in
which the garbhagriha is situated has, in fact, one of the
smallest towers. This is because it is usually the oldest part
of the temple.
With the passage of time, the population and size of the
town associated with that temple would have increased, and
it would have become necessary to make a new boundary
wall around the temple. This would have been taller that the
last one, and its gopurams would have been even loftier. So,
for instance, the Srirangam temple in Tiruchirapally has as
many as seven ‘concentric’ rectangular enclosure walls, each
with gopurams.
The outermost is the newest, while the tower right in the
centre housing the garbhagriha is the oldest. Temples thus
started becoming the focus of urban architecture.
Kanchipuram, Thanjavur or Tanjore, Madurai and
Kumbakonam are the most famous temple towns of Tamil
Srirangam temple ,Tiruchirapally
Nadu, where, during the eighth to twelfth centuries, the role
of the temple was not limited to religious matters alone. The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganatha, a
Temples became rich administrative centres, controlling vast form of the Supreme God, Maha Vishnu, located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli,
areas of land. Tamil Nadu, India.
 Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
Meenakshi Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva.
ST UDY A N D A P P R ECIAT I O N O F T EM P LE- SCULP T UR E S
 D E C E N T O F G A N G A ( PA L L AVA P E R I O D )

* Decent of Ganga is the most remarkable sculptural

composition at Mahabalipuram.
* It is one of the largest and oldest sculptural panel known
in the world.
*In this famous relief the story of the decent of Ganga has
been engraved on the two large boulders of granite rocks.
* In between them, there is a narrow fissure in which the
Nataraj and Nagkanya (the God and Goddess of
serpentines) have been carved out.
* On this relief panel, the sculptor had carved out celestials
like the sun, the moon and the earth, water and Rumphs.
* Among the numerous humans, animals, deities and other
creatures, a prominent bearded figure is identified as
Bhagirath, who is standing on one leg and stretching his arms
upwards to pray Lord Shiva to release one stream of the
Ganga from his hair locks and flew her down on the earth
for the sake of human being.
* Two well modelled and life-like elephants along with one
cat balancing on her two rear legs, a dear, lion and ducks
have also been shown. This relief, measured about thirty
meters in length and more than fifteen meters high.
* It was engraved during the regime of Mahendra Varman-I
and his son Mamalla. Name- Decent of Ganga(Pallava Period)
Place Mahabalipuram,Tamil Nadu,India
* This sculpture panel is also known as ‘Arjunas Penance’. Medium-Granite Rock, Relief sculpture
Circa- 7th century A.D.
 TRIMURTI,CAVE NO-1
The Trimurti is considered a masterpiece and the most
important sculpture in the caves. It is carved in relief on the
south wall of the cave no 1 facing the north entrance,
along the north-south axis.
It is also known as Sadashiva and Maheshmurti.
The image, 6 m (20 ft) in height, depicts a three-headed
Shiva, representing Panchamukta Shiva.
It is one of the best examples of qualitative achievements in
sculptural images in rock-cut caves.
The three heads represent three essential aspects of Shiva:
creation, protection, and destruction
Expressing the different forms of Lord Shiva, this three-
faced idol is called ‘Sadashiva’( The God of Mahadeva),
’Maheswara’(the Almighty),or ‘Maheshmurti’ (Lord Shiva).
In left-sided mustached face-shape has been shown angry
form of Shiva(Bhairava). In the central face, we see grand,
calm and placid forms of Shiva, whereas in right-sided face-
shape has been shown his woman-form(Uma).
This is the best of all the idols present in the temples of
Elephanta caves in Maharashtra.
Elephanta sculptures are known for their remarkable
qualities of surface smoothness, elongation and rhythmic
movement.
There composition is very complex. Name- Trimurti, cave no-1, Place- Elephanta, Maharashtra, India.
Stone, Rock cut, Relief Sculpture, Circa- 9th century A.D.
 LAKSHMI NARAYAN, KANDARIYA MAHADEVA TEMPLE

In this sculpture Hindu deity Laxmi Narayan(Vishnu) and his

wife Lakshmi have been engraved on sand stone very minutely
with adorned different kinds of ornaments around the necks
hanging onto the chests of both images, they wore lion clothes
tied with girdles and crown on their heads.
Their twice elongated figures are being shown in loving pose as
Laxmi had her right hand on the shoulders of Narayan and
Vishnu also hanged his left hand on Lakshmi’s shoulders. This
statue has been displayed in the National museum, New Delhi
but is belonged to Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho,
Madhya Pradesh.
During the Chandela period, the sculptures made in Khajuraho
temples have appeared in its most beautiful form. The wall of
the temples, both internal and external, are abundantly
engraved on both sides. In them, besides dancing, playing on the
musical instruments, looking themselves into mirrors, erotic
women shapes are engraved.
There are so many figures of loving couples and gods and
goddesses. In some internal niches the shapes of the
mythological animals have been engraved To show the
tenderness of organs in all women and men shapes, the artists
have displayed the garments and jewels in such a way that all
the idols are more or less in free state.

Name-Laxmi Narayana, Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Place- Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh
Medium-Stone, Circa-10th century A.D.
 C Y M B A L P L AY E R , S U N T E M P L E

This is a female statue which has been established outside the

main shrine of the Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha to welcome the
people with playing instrument, cymbal.
So, this is the gesture of the playing instrument forwarding both
her hands.
Her feet look as if she is dancing along with instrument.
She is adorned with ornaments around her neck, arms, wrists,
fingers, feet and on loin, the breasts are exposed and peeped out
above the hand .
The posture of the statue is very attractive. There are so many
instrument players installed outside the main shrine.
This temple was built by Narasimhan-1 of Ganga Dynasty during
13th century A.D.
This temple dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun). This is also known as
Black Pagoda.
The salty air, coming from the sea, has affected the temple and the
statues a lot.

Name- Cumbal Player(Ganga Dynasty)

Place- Konark, Odisha,India, Medium-Stone, Circa-13th century A.D.
 M O T H E R A N D C H I L D, V I M A L S H A H T E M P L E

This is a sculptural panel installed in the celling corner of Vimal Vasahi Temple,
Dilwara, Mount Abu, Rajasthana.
This temple is dedicated to first Tirthankara, Adinath, who is also known as
Vimal Shah.
In this sculptural panel, the sculpture has shown Ambika, a mother deity of
Jainism, and a child to show her motherhood.
She is holding a bunch of three mangoes in her right hand and a baby in her
lap with arm support of left hand.
Another child has been shown standing nearby her folded left leg.
She is sitting on a lion. A flourished mango tree has also been shown with the
ripped mangoes.
The well-decorated and attractive figure of Ambika is carved out very
minutely. She adorned a crown and jewels around her neck, armlets, anklets
and girdles.
She is looking very calm, placid, affectionate and compassionate.
The mother posture is slightly bent so that the upper portion of the body has
come outside. The expression of the face and rest of the body is full of
motherly woman.
The ornaments and the garments are seen in the linear form with proper
curvature.
The Vimal Shah temple is fully decorated with sculptures of daily life and Jain
deities or Tirthankara. Each part of the temple is extraordinarily engraved with
geometrical patterns and the idols of Jain religion. This temple was Name- Mother and Child, Vimal Shah Temple
constructed by one of the ministers Solanki Rulers of Gujarat. Place- Dilwara, Mount Abu, Rajasthana
Medium- White Marble, Circa- 13th century A.D.