Anyway. What I came for:
Related to posts 64, 65 (66) -
Not the most ideal source, but it's in English and it's brief. Most importantly, it allows me to say: Look how my lips are not moving -
Even in the above can see hints of:
1. why only Hindu-made moorties of the Hindoo Gods are the Sole moorties that represent the Hindoo Gods.
2. that accurate (Shastraic) depiction matters. To the Hindus. Else it isn't the Hindoo Gods.
3. why moorties of Hindoo Gods and the process of fashioning their likenesses are *not* mere "art" or "aesthetics", but Hindoo religion.
4. why the Hindoo - obviously skilled, talented, creative, trained - who fashions the moorties does not consider himself some mere "artist" in the act, but a Hindoo bhakta: that is his foremost and overriding identity, at all times.
5. that Hindoo moorties (like temples) do not remotely belong to aliens, or any alienated (including not just christoislamics but also the deheathenised).
6. that the moorties which traditional Hindus make of their Gods are hyper-accurate (direct transfer from the Rishi's vision of the Gods captured in the dhyana shlokas, which Gods then reveal themselves to the artisans' inner being, which is what he then brings out in the moorti). So while the moorties may look "aestethically pleasing" or like "artistic genius" to the outside world, the Hindoos know it is much much more than this - it IS the Hindoo Gods - and where the credit lies: in the Hindoo Gods and in the Hindoo artisan's deep connection to its Divine Parents.
I know that traditional Hindoo artisans still sculpt, paint and illustrate in *this* manner.
Related to posts 64, 65 (66) -
Not the most ideal source, but it's in English and it's brief. Most importantly, it allows me to say: Look how my lips are not moving -
Quote:Sculpturing of the Images(usw)
[...]
Hinduism considers, as in other fields of life, the sculpturing of images, especially of Gods and Goddesses, as a sacred religious act. Hence, the shilpi or the sculptor, is expected to bind himself with deekShA and certain vows.
[...] the one and only source and support for his work of art is the dhyAnashloka of that particular Deity. These dhyAnashlokas describe the features (of that God) as revealed in the mystic vision of the R^iShi to whom the revelation came. That is why the sculptor is commanded by the shAstras to lead a well-regulated and pure life as per the prescribed norms (the same (prescribed norms?) as deekShA), and repeat the dhyAnashloka mentally as much as possible and pray to the Deity to reveal His/Her Form. Gradually the revelation comes. The form seen in such revelations is called mantramUrti. It is this form that the sculptor ultimately reproduces outside in stone or other material.
This deekShA is of two types: ekANDa and pakSha. The former applies to such cases where the sculptor works continuously until the image is completed. When that is not possible, and the work has to be done intermittently, the latter mode is adopted. However, even in the latter case, mental devotion and seriousness of purpose has to be kept up.
When all the rules pertaining to deekShaa are meticulously observed, the sculptor will succeed in infilling the image with a subtle power of life as it were.
The most important aspect of sculpturing an image is a thorough knowledge of pratimA-mAna-lakShaNa (the special characteristics and relative measurement of an image.)
[...]
Even in the above can see hints of:
1. why only Hindu-made moorties of the Hindoo Gods are the Sole moorties that represent the Hindoo Gods.
2. that accurate (Shastraic) depiction matters. To the Hindus. Else it isn't the Hindoo Gods.
3. why moorties of Hindoo Gods and the process of fashioning their likenesses are *not* mere "art" or "aesthetics", but Hindoo religion.
4. why the Hindoo - obviously skilled, talented, creative, trained - who fashions the moorties does not consider himself some mere "artist" in the act, but a Hindoo bhakta: that is his foremost and overriding identity, at all times.
5. that Hindoo moorties (like temples) do not remotely belong to aliens, or any alienated (including not just christoislamics but also the deheathenised).
6. that the moorties which traditional Hindus make of their Gods are hyper-accurate (direct transfer from the Rishi's vision of the Gods captured in the dhyana shlokas, which Gods then reveal themselves to the artisans' inner being, which is what he then brings out in the moorti). So while the moorties may look "aestethically pleasing" or like "artistic genius" to the outside world, the Hindoos know it is much much more than this - it IS the Hindoo Gods - and where the credit lies: in the Hindoo Gods and in the Hindoo artisan's deep connection to its Divine Parents.
I know that traditional Hindoo artisans still sculpt, paint and illustrate in *this* manner.