Chapter 4 - Sculpture in the Puranas

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boon by the god. In Dhyana-yoga or Samadhi mudra, the palm
of the right hand is placed in that of the left hand and both
together are laid on the crossed legs of the seated image.
The earliest figure in this pose is found on certain copper
coins of Ujjayini that can be dated in the 2nd - 3rd Century
B.C.
The two other mudras which are found in the iconographic
art of ancient and medieval India are Jnana and Vyakhyāna
mudra. The Jnana-mudra is described as 'the tips of the middle
finger and of the thumb are joined together and held near the
heart with the palm of the hand turned towards the heart'. In
the Cinmudra or Vyakhyana Mudra 'the tips of the thumb and the
fore finger are made to touch each other so as to form a circle,
the other fingers being kept open'. The Kataka-Mudra is common
in the images of goddesses. In this mudra, 'the tips of the
fingers are loosely applied to the thumb so as to form a ring.'
Another peculiarity of Indian images is that they are
decorated with many types of ornaments. The various types of
head-gear viz. jata-mukuta, kirita-mukuta, karanda-mukuta,
kuntala are also common. Various objects can be recognised
in the hands of divinities such as amandalu, aksamalā, darpana,
kapāla, pustaka, sankha, padma etc. and weapons such as danda,
cakra, gadā, musala, trisula etc.
THE MATERIALS FOR ICON-MAKING.
Certain details of making images from various materials