Stories Found on Wooden Temple Chariots

South Indian Temple boasts of having one or more carved chariots, either in wood or silver to take the deity during annual festivals on to the streets among the famous temples. 

Silver Chariot - V.V.Puram, Bangalore

Carvings of musicians, sages and animals from mythology were chosen for display

Dasavatara and Astalakshmi were widely used among few chariots 

Each chariot convey a different story to the viewers 

Carving of Parrot with human body from puranas

There are intricate carvings on them of gods and goddess  and sometimes of animals.

On a visit to Dharmastala last week, I saw among the exhibits one wooden chariot with exemplary carvings of Kamasutra on them and was dumfounded. Hope you will all enjoy them!

Erotic postures 

Intricate carvings

Complicated Group acts

Erotic postures

Erotic postures

Erotic postures 

Practice of oral sex acts 

Sex with multiple partners

Descriptive lessons involved in group sex

Logs of wood are of different thickness

Highly skilled craftsman have worked on these sculptures 

Different themes on different layers were formed 

Full nude damsels 

Musicians and positions of various Kamasutra 

Yaksha's  were also frequently used along with the deities

Dastkar 2011 - Through the Eyes of an Artist

Dastkar - Exhibition of handcrafted items from different places of our exotic India, on till 14th August, from 11.00 am - 8.30 pm Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds

Om Ganapathaye Namaha!

Hanuman was too striking to the eyes with sharp intricate detailing such as the nails on the toes

Close-up View

The size of this standing Hanuman was not more than one and half feet

Price quoted Rs 35,000/-

Garuda - SOLD

Intricate carvings on Marble with high precision sharp features despite the fact that marble, being the hardest surface to sculpt. 

Handloom from Italy

Size of kids study table 

Hangings 

Thematic collages on kites

The Making Of A Temple - Jagannath Temple at Hyderabad

On my visit to Hyderabad in October 2007, I ended earlier than my scheduled time to meet Great Senior Artist Laxma Goud, I strolled to the nearby Kalinga Cultural Trust compound with my camera to shoot at the various stages of what goes on before a temple is being constructed

Around 600 tonnes of sand stones, brought from Khorda in Orissa, will be used for 'Shikhara' (tower)

More than 60 expert sculpture carvers of stone and cement were on the job from Orissa

Special sand stone blocks have been brought from Orissa for the artists to carve the idols of gods and goddesses for this temple

According to the artist, it would require them at least a week to carve out a single idol

These sculptures will be adorning the walls of the temple similar to the Jagannath temple from Puri

These sand stone blocks have also been brought from Orissa

The idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra & Subhadra, made of margosa (Neem) wood, would be specially brought from Orissa

The main temple being dedicated to the Jagannath and the other five smaller shrines would be of Ganesh, Hanuman, Navagraha, Shiva & Bhimala (Parvati)

Majority of the work were done by the carvers here in this location from the scratch to the finish

This is Varaha Avatara of Vishnu

The highlight of the temple is likely to be its 'shikhara' (temple tower), standing at an imposing 72 feet tall

Temple work commenced way back in 2006, the whole area is about 3000 square yards.

The author of the blog with the onlooking 'mestris' of the temple.

The door work is by the use of sand stone and the walls by the bricks and cement.

The ceiling looks this way when looked from bottom directly.

The roofs are done intricately with different motifs carved by the cement artists.

The shape and design is similar to the original Puri style of temple architecture.

The white building on the right is the Tilangana Bhavan

Lot of construction was going on simultaneously to the carving on the other side of the complex.

Some blogs have covered extensively on more details of this temple, please go through them for your interest - Link

The completed temple was inaugurated on the 18th of March 2009

Note: The last 2 new images are not mine but sourced from the net, hope the owners would kindly oblige