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Home > Temples of Kerala > Stone Images Stone ImagesStone images include granite and laterite sculptures. Certain basic principles are followed in selecting the stone for idol, mode of carving etc. Granite was the earliest raw material available for man and it is a granular rock of igneous origin usually having grey colour. 'Brick, and also stone were used and are preserved in the sacred buildings and their accessary parts, in the third, and the second and first centuries B.C'8O. Granite used for idols are known as sila and in shape has greater breadth and lesser thickness. Silaadhaara-vidhi gives the procedure. for selection of a sila. The rocks best suited for silas are generally seen on hills where penance has been done by great seers or where aasramams of Siddhas are located. In texture silas are hard and also emit greater sparks when they are hit by a chisel.Rocks of lower quality which crumble when chiseled are unsuitable for carving idols.Silas are classified as masculine (purusha), feminine (sthree) and neutral (napumsaka).Of these, the purusha sila (male sila) has the shape of leaf of Arayaal (sacred fig) or Peraal (Banyan) trees. Further this sila has greater length than width besides a depression and a slope. Silas which have low sound when hit and which are cool when touched can be classfied as sthree sila (female sila) and they have lesser content of ferrous ingredients. Those silas which have both the character of male and female are classifIed as napumsaka-sila. Sometimes these silas are peculiar in shape, vertical or linga, and are surrounded by other stones which prevent them from growing, Purusha-sila is used for making idols of Gods and sthree-sila for Goddesses. However for sculpturing peetha of the idol the opposite sex of the sila has to be used (ie, sthree-sila for Gods and purusha-sila for Goddesses). Below the peetha is the position of napumsaka-sila. The napumsaka-silas are taken for carving peetha etc and on its non-availability male silas are used as substitutes. Further, silas are also classified based on chaathur-varnya ie, sila with white lotus colour takes the name of Brahmanasila; those with red or horse-gram colour as Kshathriya sila; those with green or yellow as Vaisya sila and those with black or green-gram colour as Soodra sila. The black sila, which has greater contents of iron, is known as Krishna sila and is widely used for carving vigrahas and bali-peethas of Devathas. There are some other characteristics like colour and sound, and they are to be carefully examined before selecting a sila for vigraha and bali-peethas. If the rock is washed in water and if it resembles the colour of a halved, washed and dried black gram, (ie. black and white, and related colour) then such a rock is best suited for making idols. Another aspect is its sound. A sila facing downward and having greater spark when hit by a chisel, is best suitable for vigraha. It is all the more relevant that once a sila is either selected or decided to be selected for a particular deity (Devatha.) it should not be used for any other deity ie, the same sila should not be used for more than one Devatha or bali- peetha. The belief among silpis is that once a particular sila is selected then the . presence of that Devatha is imbibed in it (at that moment). All these indicate that the selection of sila is very important. The site, where from sila has to be taken, requires elaboration. Silas have to be subjected to purificatory ceremonies, known as sila-parigraha. However it is believed that at three places in Kerala, sila-parigrahas have been done by Lord Parasurama himself, viz. at Thrithala (in Ottappalam taluk of Palakkad district), Thiruvanchiyoor (near Ettumanoor of Kottayam taluk of Kottayam district) and Paandavanpaara (in Chengannur of Chengannur taluk of Alappuzha district). The rocks taken from these places do not require any sila-parigraha. It is also noted that the rocks at Omallur (near Pathanamthitta in Pathanamthitta district) is also suitable for making idols in krishna-sila. Special sanctity is attached to the krishna sila taken from Thrithala as it is associated with Mezhathol Agnihothri.According to the legend Vararuchi, a contemporary of Kalidasa, happened to marry a Paraya girl and had twelve children81 all having super-human qualities. The family is commonly known as parachipetta-pantheerukulam. The children were abandoned by the parents and persons belonging to various communities brought them up. Among them, Mezhatho1 Agnihothri was brought up by a brahmin in Thrithala. Agnihothri performed hundred sacrifices by virtue of which the krishna sila of this area has attained a special sanctity and is used for making idols. In Kera!a, vigrahas are mostly made at three places viz. Kunnamkulam, Brahmamangalam (near Thalayolaparamb) and Chengannur.Mylaati (near Nagercoil) in the neighbouring Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu is yet another centre for carving images. The general principle is that greater sanctity and observance of rituals are necessary at every stage, ie. selection of sila, its carving and installation. But of late it is seen that there are large number of images manufactured and kept for sale on a commercial basis at various places. Needless to mention, it is inappropriate to select these images kept for sale as it violates the principles associated with selection of sila, and of carving and installation of idols. As stated earlier, rocks of three important places in Kera!a are taken for carving the idol. The procedure of selecting a suitable sila is very important. On the rock a hole is bored by using a burin. The depth of the hole varies from 3/4, 1 3/4, 2 ½ or 3 ½ ft. depending on the thickness of the sila. At the first stage half the hole of the above measurement is filled up with gun powder (a powdered mixture in the ratio of 1:5: 1, of sulphur, salt petre (potassium nitrate) and charcoal of light wood taken from paala, cashew, Zenga or Itthikanni) by pressing with an iron rod known locally as ltitthamaru-kambi. The mixture has to be made carefully. Wooden mortar and pestle are used for it and water is sprinkled frequently to avoid any com bustion. At the second stage a wick made of paper or cloth is fixed in the centre of the gun powder. The remaining portion of the hole is filled with laterite powder and pressed well. The wick should always project outside. It is lighted safely from a distance and the gun powder will explode and the rock will break. The broken pieces are selected depending on their use' and taken to the workspot, traditionally the temple site itself. Each piece thus selected is marked for the idol, or balikkall etc separately and then they are carved based on requirements. Stone sculptures in temples of Kerala are comparatively few in number for obvious reasons. Firstly in Kerala more importance was given in ancient days to wood-carving especially due to the abdundance of wood, as the entire eastern. tract of Kerala had luxurient forests. Of late the extent of forests has gone down with the result wood is sparingly used in temples of Kera!a. The second aspect is though rocks were available in midlands and highlands of Kerala there was great difficulty in transporting them due to large number of rivers intersecting the state. As the transport-system in ancient days in Kerala was mainly water- ways it was difficult to transport heavy stones to all regions across these intersecting rivers. Hence stone sculptures were confined to local availability of stones. The stone-sculpture in temples cover idols, adhishtaana, motifs, pillars, balustrades, kootthambalam, Dwaara-paalakas etc. Apart from swayambhoo, idols are of two types viz. in anthropomorphic forms and non-anthropomorphic forms like siva-lingas, mirror type forms, etc. Of these former deserve special mention. The idols of Ganapathi at the Agantheswara- Vinayaka temple (Madhur), Kasaragod; Sree Krishna temple,Thricchambaram; Sree Subramanya temple Payyannur Sree Maha Vishnu temple, Thirunelli; Sree Rama temple Thiruvilwamala; Sree Krishna temple.Guruvayur; Sree Bharatha temple, Irinjalakuda;Sree Lakhmana temple,Mulakkulam;Sree Krishna temple (Ravipuram) Ernakulam;Sree Dhanwanthari temple (Maruthorvattam) Cherthala; Sree Krishna temple, Thiruvaarpp; S'ree Vishnu shrine of Siva temple Neeramankara; Sree Aruvikkara temple,Neyyattinkara etc. are some of the note-worthy examples of this type. Important locations of temples having stone carvings are discussed in Chapter 9.
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