STONE CARVING
 The art of stone carving had its
instance way back in the history of Andhra Pradesh as manifested in the temple
architecture. There was a traditional belief that life could be breathed into the a stone,
and thus were made the exquisite stone icons of the Almighty God.
The traditional Stone carving was
underscored by such ancient texts on art and architecture as the Mayamatha and the
Shilpashastra. These described the desired measurements and techniques for sculpting, as
well as requirements concerning the quality, color, texture, maturity and the gender of
the stone. They mostly used a wide range of materials from soft stone, slate stone, Durgi
stone to the harder granite stone for their work. A choice was made in the stones based on
their tonal qualities with the stones sounding like the rustling of palm leaves being used
for the female sculptures.
It is however believed that the sculptor derived their inspiration from a model human life
of great aesthetic and divine qualities and not the world with earthly pleasures. A
sculptor hence was hence rightly called as the "sadhak (the admirer)",
"Martin (the wizard)" and "Yogi (the Visionary)" in Sanskrit.
Consequently, we would notice a distinctive power of suggestiveness in the sculpted forms
of the attributes and possibilities beyond the range of mortals.
But, today with the decline in the architectural work, most artisans have
turned to carving idols, decoration pieces and household utensils like pestle and mortar,
containers and bowls. Durgi, Allagadda and Tirupati are among the
Stone - Carving centres in Andhra Pradesh. |
