Bronze Casting
Karnataka
The classical art of bronze-casting was perfected by craftsmen who
rendered religious imagery into metallic forms. Slender images of
goddesses rich in detail, and mighty gods in awe, inspiring postures
are created and each pose or gesture has a mythological significance.
Stylistically the images made in Tamil Nadu conform to periods like
Pallava, Chola, Pandyan and Nayaka.
Bronze contrived from copper and tin is used to shape the beautiful
sculptures following the guidelines mentioned in the Shilpasastras.
While making the countless and individualistic images with extreme
precision, thecraftsmanhas tonot only learn thephysical measurements
necessary to achieve the right proportions but also familiarise himself
with the verses describing each deity, its characteristics, its symbolism,
and above all its aesthetics.
Usually a coconut palm leaf is used as a measuring ribbon and
markings are made by folding the leaf. The mould is given several
clay coatings. In the solid casting stage, the molten alloy is poured in
a thin even stream into the mould. When the mould is broken, care is
taken to see that the head of the icon comes out first as a sign of good
omen. Connecting rods are often used for support and these have to
be detached most skillfully. In hollow casting, a clay model is made,
over which a thick coating of prepared wax is applied. The thickness of
the wax must match that of the final article. The mould is kept rotating
on the lathe as the hot wax is spread, over which the designs for
decorating are marked and pressed. To keep the wax intact a coating
of burnt clay is performed. An opening is provided in the outershell and
when fire is lit around it, the wax melts and flows out through it. Molten
metal is poured into this empty space. It is then alternately tempered
with heat and cold.
M. V. Lakshmanan is a first-generation artist who has mastered the art of bronze casting under
Guru Bhashyam Sthapathy at the Regional Design & Technical Development Centre, Bengaluru.
He received the National Award in 1980. Lakshmanan has held workshops at the National History
Museum in New York in 2007 and the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad in 1981.
