Chola bronzes

Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"

Meaning

Chola bronzes are metal images of Hindu gods, goddesses and saints, made in Chola temple workshops in south India, mostly from c. 10th to 12th centuries CE, by the lost-wax method (a wax model is covered in clay, then melted out, and the empty mould is filled with molten metal). The most famous is Shiva as Nataraja, the "Lord of dance".

They matter because UNESCO counts bronze casting among the four arts the Cholas mastered, along with architecture, sculpture and painting. [2] They are also among the finest metal sculptures made anywhere in the world.

Explanation

Background: why the Cholas made bronzes

• Temples were at the centre of Chola life. Kings built huge temples such as Brihadisvara at Thanjavur as statements of empire. Each temple needed many images.
• Stone images and bronze images had different jobs.
• The main stone image stays fixed inside the sanctum (the inner shrine).

• Bronze images could be carried out in processions on festival days. So people outside the temple could also see the god.

• Worship used them every day. At the "Great Living Chola Temples", daily, weekly and yearly rituals based on old Agamic texts (temple-ritual manuals) still go on. [2] Bronze images were made for this ritual life.

How they were made: the lost-wax method

• Step 1: The artist shapes the full figure in wax.
• Step 2: The wax model is covered with clay and left to dry.
• Step 3: The clay is heated. The wax melts and runs out through a small hole, so it is "lost". An empty mould is left behind.
• Step 4: Molten metal is poured into the mould.
• Step 5: When it cools, the clay is broken away. Fine details are finished by hand.
• Exam point: Each mould is broken to get the image out, so every bronze is one of a kind.

Main features: the Nataraja

• The early Chola Nataraja shows Shiva as 'Lord of dance'.
• The image stands for an idea, not just a pose.
• It shows the dance of creation and destruction of the universe.

• Making the world and unmaking it are seen as one single act.

• Common parts of the image in textbook descriptions:

• A ring of fire around the god, standing for the universe.
• Several arms. One hand often holds a small drum (sound of creation). Another holds fire (destruction).
• One hand is raised in a gesture that means "do not fear".

• Shiva dances on a small dwarf figure, usually read as ignorance being crushed.

• Other common subjects: Parvati, Vishnu and his consorts, and the Tamil saint-poets who sang hymns to Shiva.

• Style: slim bodies, graceful curves, a sense of balance and movement, and fine detail in jewels and hair.

Results and legacy

• Bronze, stone and painting came from one system. The Nataraja bronze and the Thanjavur vimana (tower over the sanctum) were two products of the same royal, temple-centred workshops. [2]
• The Nataraja became the best-known symbol of Indian art around the world.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Chola rule in south India, with the finest bronzes usually dated to c. 10th–12th centuries CE. The exact dates of single pieces are often approximate.
• Region: The Kaveri delta of Tamil Nadu, the Chola heartland.
• Linked rulers and temples:
• Rajaraja (r. AD 985–1012): Brihadisvara, Thanjavur, consecrated in his 19th regnal year, AD 1009–10 (a regnal year is counted from the year the king took the throne). [2]
• Rajendra I: Gangaikondacholapuram temple, completed 1035. [2]

• Rajaraja II: Airavatesvara temple, Darasuram. [2]

• Heritage status: These three temples make up the Great Living Chola Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987. UNESCO's reason for listing names bronze casting as one of four Chola skills. [2][4]

• How we know:
• The bronze images themselves still survive. Many are still used in temple worship.
• The ritual tradition is still alive at the temples. [2]
• NCERT Class 7, Ch 3 describes Chola bronze images and the lost-wax method.

Don't confuse with

• Brihadisvara temple sculpture: This is stone carving fixed to the temple. Chola bronzes are metal and can be moved, for example in processions.
• Mamallapuram's 'Descent of the Ganges': This is a Pallava open-air rock relief from the 7th–8th centuries on the Coromandel coast. [3] It is not Chola and not bronze.
• Pala bronzes: These come from eastern India (Bihar–Bengal) and show mostly Buddhist subjects. Chola bronzes are from Tamil Nadu and mostly show Shaiva and Vaishnava subjects.
• Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro: This is also a lost-wax bronze, but it belongs to the Harappan civilisation, thousands of years before the Cholas. Remember that the lost-wax method by itself does not mean "Chola".

Prelims Hooks

• Chola bronzes: made by the lost-wax (cire perdue) method. Each mould is broken, so each image is unique.
• Nataraja = Shiva as 'Lord of dance', standing for the creation and destruction of the universe.
• UNESCO names four Chola arts: architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting. [2]
• Great Living Chola Temples: UNESCO site inscribed in 1987. Its three temples are Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram and Darasuram. [2][4]
• Chronological order of builders: Rajaraja (Thanjavur, AD 1009–10) → Rajendra I (Gangaikondacholapuram, 1035) → Rajaraja II (Darasuram). [2]
• Trap: The 'Descent of the Ganges' is Pallava (Mamallapuram), not Chola. [3]

Mains Points

• One craft package, not separate arts. UNESCO lists Chola architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting together. [2]
• The Nataraja bronze and the Thanjavur vimana came from the same royal, temple-centred workshops.

• These workshops were supported by Chola wealth from land, local government and conquest.

• Art that carries philosophy. The Nataraja turns a religious idea into one visual image: creation and destruction as a single cosmic dance. It is a strong example for GS-I questions on Indian heritage and on how art carries ideas.

• Continuity of a living tradition. The bronzes were made for temple ritual and processions, and that ritual still goes on at the Great Living Chola Temples after a thousand years. [2] This shows Indian art as a living practice, not only a museum object.

Related concepts

• Nataraja
• Swamimalai bronze icons
• Airavatesvara temple, Darasuram
• Great Living Chola Temples
• Chidambaram temple
• Gommateshwara statue
• Angkor Wat

Read more

• Art and architecture of the south