Bronzes

For most of Indian history, stone has
been the preferred medium for creating
images of the Hindu deities for worship.
One of the significant exceptions to this
trend can be found in southern India,
primarily under the Chola dynasty
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Bronzes
(9th–14th c.), in which another important medium was bronze. The images
were made using lost wax casting,
which allows for great detail. They were
cast in bronze with a high copper content, which tended to give them a greenish tinge as the metal oxidized. Some of
the images are only a few inches high,
albeit with exquisite detail, whereas the
largest are over four feet tall and even
today are the primary images worshiped
in temples. These images were subject
to the same established rules of construction (shilpa shastra) as stone
sculptures. Despite this strict form,
many of the bronzes are masterful works
of art with a presence rarely found in the
stone sculptures. Although images were
made of all of the deities in the pantheon, among the best known bronzes
are figures of the god Shiva as Nataraja,
“the Lord of the Dance.”