Iconography based on Shaivite narrative [Photo gallery]
These plates originate from the book The Creation of an Iconography as based on Shaivite narrative (original title: “La création d'une iconographie sivaïte narrative”) which details the sculptures and construction temples of the Pallava dynasty (in the Tamil-speaking Southern India) near the end of the 7th century. Usually, such constructions were dedicated to Shiva having the walls adorned with representations of Siva in various embodiments: some benign, some fierce and sanguinary, others victorious and regal.
A lengthy introduction presents the historical and religious contexts in which this imagery was conceived and flourished. Each chapter of the book is then devoted to one of the principal forms of Śiva, and the concluding chapter attempts to outline the iconographical program of a Śaiva sanctuary in the Pallava period. Because narrative Śaiva art was not widely developed by this time, the illustration of many deeds of Śiva had still to be invented. It is therefore the creation of an iconography that we see in Pallava monuments, an iconography inspired both by pan-Indian mythology and by local traditions, borrowing at the same time elements from various religious movements. If some Pallava representations both appear and disappear with the dynasty, most of them were long to exert influence on subsequent South Indian sculptural art. Thus narrative Pallava sculpture appears to stand at the point of origin of a long and now deeply rooted tradition.
Gallery: 250 images
Click each photos to see detailled description, exif-information and high-resolution:
