STONE…A Contemporary Slant
Much of India’s cultural history is recorded in stone, indeed, the history of civilization is the history of stone, a material which has withstood the ravages of weather and time.
The temples scattered across India are testimony to the skilled craftsmanship of times past as the forms of architecture tell us of inspired creative impulses. The architects who visualized many of India’s temples looked upon their work as ordained by the Gods. Temples boasted of classicism in lines which followed the dictates of the Shilpa Shastras. The Stapathis, senior exponents trained the shilpis in all aspects of building and sculpture. They formed a group of traditional guild workers, born into the Vishwakarma community.The Stapathis accessed the finest of stone for temple craft, and to quote Shilpa Guru Ganapathi Sthapathi, the stone had to respond to a touch and the right sound before it could be considered auspicious.
Some of the magnificent sculptures could not however withstand the onslaught of plunderers and war and many a storne carving was pillaged by the swords of unscrupulous conquerors…………
Namaste. 2008
