Module 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Module 8 - Essay Example It is also common for temple walls to be adorned with sculptures of scroll-like foliage, images of women, and couples exhibiting romantic scenes. These human figures are voluptuous, curved, and appear to be in perpetual motion, representing growth, prosperity, and abundance, and were regarded as auspicious motifs (India Netzone,2009). A famous example of a temple with ornate scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata is the Virupaksha temple, the biggest temple located in Pattadakal which is a World Heritage Site. Another, the Hutchimali Temple, displays a sculpture of Vishnu sitting on top of a large cobra. A third, the Ravalphadi cave temple, is a celebration of the many forms of Shiva. These temples depict the gods in human forms or derivations thereof – e.g., Vishnu is sometimes shown as a male form with four arms representing his wide-reaching power. The human form is therefore deified in Hindu architecture. References: Acharya, Prasanna Kumar (1946). An Encyclopaedia o f Hindu Architecture. Oxford University Press. India Netzone (2009) ‘Hindu Art’. IndiaNetzone. 10 Aug 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2012 from http://www.indianetzone.com/42/hindu_art.htm Rajan, K.V. Soundara (1998). Rock-Cut Temple Styles. Somaiya Publications: Mumbai. ISBN 81-7039-218-7 http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1036&bih=602&tbm=isch&tbnid=7XMgE3Kxs5sNSM:&imgrefurl=http://www.viasingapore.com/author/admin/&docid=6C8I_lf8GUOvbM&imgurl=http://www.viasingapore.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/vacation_645x320-1.jpg&w=645&h=320&ei=gyF5UPHFK8HPrQetoYHYCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=114&vpy=331&dur=1799&hovh=158&hovw=319&tx=127&ty=136&sig=113358727395579824739&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=266&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:100 Category B (3) Discuss the contemporary art of Meera Mukherjee's Ashoka at Kalinga. How does her art embody the past with the present? Meera Mukherjee is a modern Indian sculptor whose artistic efforts were directed at incorporating local, traditional, and non-western themes and techniques, with those of the international, modern, and western approaches. Her masterpiece, Ashoka at Kalinga, exhibits both the influences of her German training and her stay with the Bastar tribe in central India, where she studied their unique method of casting bronze. Ashoka was a great emperor who ruled during the 3rd century B.C., specifically the last major emperor of the Mauryan dynasty. The conquest of Kalinga, a country on the east coast; the battle was Ashoka’s only aggressive war. It lasted a full year and turned out triumphant but bloody, during which 100,000 people were slain, 150,000 were taken into captivity, and an untold number died of starvation. Severely distressed by the violence of war, Ashoka thereafter rejected war and adopted Buddhism as his empire’s official religion. Drawing upon this significant segment of India’s history, Mukherjee used Ashoka at Kalinga as a means of peaceful protest against the political violence in late 20th century India. By depicting a moment in her country’s past through her sculpture, she was able to make a connection with the present events with the same timeless message – the rejection of violence. Aside from the theme, Mukherjee