Kalavritt - The Art Magazine

Mohan Lal Gupta The history of stone carving from the area of so-called, Dhundhar is very ancient. The Malavas, Chowhans, Gurjar Pratiharas and the Kachhawas dominated the region in the earlier times. The variability of different religions, people’s faith in them, and the prosperousness of the traders motivated them to construct buildings and temples. The art of the stone carving therefore flourished extensively. The cultural impact of the foreign invaders, like the Greeks, Afghans, Turks and the Mongols, who came and settled here, could not be restrained from the sculptural art of the Northern India. If early history of old images is viewed closely, it is found that they were carved out from clay and baked in fire. It is very rare to find stone figures from the Mauriyan, Shunga or Kushan times from Dhundhar. Mostly the Mother-Goddess Matrika figures of clay are found. Mother Goddess worship was prevalent from the Indus Valley to the Nile in the ancient times. Before the a...

Dr. M. K. Sharma "Sumahendra" S culptural art in temples with innovative architectural dimentions establishing immortal aesthetic values is the essence of Indian religion and culture intermingled with the daily life of the devotees and the eternal beauty of their surroundings. Rajasthan has rich tradition of temples. Establishing this fact, the earliest example of the first quarter of 5th century is still standing erect at Darah near Kota known as Bhim Chauri. Though north western part of Rajasthan, popularly known as Shekhawati area is a desert having scattered spots of Aravali hill range, some important and exceptional examples of temple art are available in the area dated as early as 8th -10th century A.D. Religion is the back-bone of every way of life providing inspiration to particular group of human beings for expression in many medias. Hinduism believes in worshipping their deity visualized in concrete form. Buddhism has set land marks in sculptural art exp...