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Stone Arts
By Keerthi P
Ever had time to listen to the chiselling musical
produced while carving a rock stone into a beautiful
sculpture? Well, then it is a must to see and enjoy
activity, from South India, for all creative minds, once
in a lifetime. The metal chisel used for work in the
group speaks a rhythmic language to these stones, which
convey a great message that, these stones are entitled
for worship at the temples or would be fixed in a famous
museum for people around to adore it, as a rare piece of
art in the world.
We would feel grateful to appreciate the patience of
sculptors, if we learnt how they dedicate their life for
a good cause, which is to lighten a heavy heart, at the
very moment of eyeing the great piece of art. The
beautiful colours that are painted on these carved
stones radiate a positive vibration into the minds of
admirers that linger in their hearts as music or even
find poetic expressions, in the form of words.
Carvings on stones are done with utmost care, for not
even a single defect should be identified, in the
proportion of size and symmetry of each piece of work.
The individual pieces crafted are then united with some
strong chemical bonds and are then erected,
magnificently, for a grand number of visitors to admire
its beauty at temples or museums or at a tourist spot to
attract the attention of photographers around the globe.
Different types of stone are used for different
purposes. While conglomerates and pebbles, picked or
broken into uniform shapes and sizes, decorate the floor
of a monument, marbles and hard rocks are preferred to
be used for carving them into mind blowing creative
shapes, like a gorgeous dancing lady, a war between two
kings and their cities, animals which were used during
their civilizations, mythological representation of gods
and goddesses and so on.
In olden days, stone carvings done for building
traditional monuments in South India, took a lot of
manual efforts. They depicted the history and stories of
ancient kings and their ancestral generations. These
stories were mostly portrayed on monolithic stones,
which was a great effort, to be made on their times,
when no one had known about machine cutting techniques.
Those unique sculptures which are centuries old, are
still being protected from natural disasters and
considered for annual reclamation. A few of those
sculptures require an overall renovation, may be only
once in a decade, while a few of them have already been
destroyed due to natural disasters like heavy rain and
storms.
Monuments or caves, that proudly stand out with fresco
paintings are greatly honoured as most amusing spots for
great artists of our times. They are one of the renowned
antique remains of our ancestors. Excavations from earth
had also been discovered from various part of South
India, which are worth treasuring them for the sake of
our future generation. The vibrant colours used on walls
had given the researchers all around the world, new
ideas and new focus for rediscovering ancient ideas, on
the chemical compositions of colours used for painting
on fresh walls.
Believe it or not, the stones of various textures like
rubies, sapphire and emerald are considered more divine
by astronomers who prescribe them even for a cause and
effect that is believed to enhance zodiac relations with
humans. Such stones were embedded to decorate the jewels
of kings and tiara of great queens of olden times,
around the world. The historical carvings in the stones,
of how man evolved from an ape, are still used in
national history museums for the first time visitors to
learn facts about evolution. The genesis of Homo
sapiens, when scientists postulated theories and changed
the world's perception, was taught and displayed using
such carvings. Thanks to the dedication of their
creative minds that were capable of sketching all
emotions from our life into a sculpture, on a stone.
Each South Indian traditional sculpture, carved out of
stone, would have a history or a tale to narrate, along
the coastal areas. When visited in a cool weather or a
rainy season, would be a great thing to treasure for
life! |
