Miscellaneous Topics discussion - 2

[Hauma Hamiddha]

The white marble images of North India are apparently relatively recent. Older archaeological sites and surviving old temples in the North do retain an older layer of darker stone idols. The clarity of marble and its ease of carving attracted the medieval Rajput-sponsored temple builders who made a whole scale shift to this stone while rebuilding temples after the Islamic depredations. I personally think white marble gives you the advantage of clarity in dimly lit garbhAgR^iha-s but was not available in the south -- the main source of good iconographic marble being in the Narmada belt.

Nepal is a good repository of old Hindu iconography of the North Indian form.