Relief sculptures in Indian Temples

Stone art in India dates back to the era of Prehistoric art. Sculpture was the earliest artistic expression throughout the Indian subcontinent. Sculpture was mainly used as a form of religious art to illustrate the principles of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The origin of Plastic Art in India dates back to terracotta sculptures of Indus valley civilization and pioneering bronze sculptures of the Harappan Culture. Other important milestones in the  history of Indian sculpture include: the Buddhist Pillars of Ashoka of the Mauryan period; the figurative Greco-Buddhist sculpture of the Gandhara and Mathura schools, and the Hindu art of the Gupta period (1st-6th century CE). During the subsequent five centuries a wide range of sculptural forms flourished in India. The end of the most creative stage of Indian sculpture was reached with the erection of Khajuraho Temples in Madhya Pradesh by Chandela dynasty during the 10th/11th century. Most of the Indian sculptures were made by anonymous sculptors. This post will specifically attempt to discuss different types of Relief Sculptures found in the temples of the Indian subcontinent.

Example of a Relief sculpture

Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculptured elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo , to raise. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a flat surface of stone is a lowering of the field leaving the un-sculptured parts seemingly raised. This technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background which is a time consuming exercise. But the relief saves forming the rear of the subject, is less fragile and more securely fixed to its background than a sculpture in the round. 

There are different types of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculptured form from the field. 

LOW OR BAS RELIEF

Low relief, also called as bas-relief  (pronounced "bah relief") is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth. This is a form of surface ornamentation in which the sculpted projection is very slight or shallow. The background is very compressed or completely flat on which images are typically sculptured. The term bas-relief is sometimes used in a general sense for all sculptured reliefs, as distinguished from free-standing sculpture in-the-round. Relief sculpture has proved to be especially adaptable for ornamental purposes in architecture, and for use as subordinate decoration in large sculptural works.

A dance troop of seven girls having only 6 pairs of legs! This amazing low relief sculpture is in Ramappa temple at Palampet village of Telangana

Bas relief on the pillars of Perur Pateeswarar temple, in Coimbatore Tamil Nadu. Built by Karkala Chozhan Circa 1300 CE

Amorous couples in 13th century Margabandeeswarar temple at Virinjeepuram in Tamil Nadu, India. Low relief.

HIGH RELIEF

High relief is one in which the forms and figures project out from the background to half or more than half of their natural depth. They are also called as alto-relievo.  Some parts in high relief may be completely disengaged from the platform thus approximating sculpture in the round.  High-relief uses essentially the same style and techniques as free-standing sculpture, and in the case of a single figure gives largely the same view as a person standing directly in front of a free-standing statue would have. Most of the large sculptures created in monuments and temple architecture in India have used this technique. Most of the grand figure reliefs in ancient Indian sculptures have used a very "high" version of high-relief, with elements often fully free of the background, and parts of figures crossing over each other to indicate depth. 

11th century High relief  depicting a Kamasutra position in Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Goddess Durga on the wall of Durga Temple in Aihole, Karnataka This high relief was Built by Chalukyan Dynasty between 7th and 8th century

High relief of Dancing shiva in Kailasanathar temple Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu. This temple is the oldest structure in Kancheepuram and it was built between 685-705 CE by a Rajasimha ruler of the Pallava Dynasty

High relief has remained the dominant form for reliefs in Indian temple sculpture. Most of the Buddhist sculptures in India are high relief sculptures. They have used the main platform for aura or halo in the back of the sculpture's head or for floral decoration. A very good example of high version of High relief in Indian temple architecture is Khjuraho temple. Here one can see many sculptures displaying voluptuous twisting figures often described as the erotic kamasutra positions. 

SUNK OR SUNKEN RELIEF

Sunk or sunken relief is one in which the image is made by cutting the relief sculpture itself into a flat surface. In most cases the figure itself is in low relief, but set within a sunken area shaped round the image, This method minimizes the work of removing the background, while allowing normal relief modelling.. The technique is most successful with strong sunlight to emphasize the outlines and forms by shadow, as no attempt was made to soften the edge of the sunken area, leaving a face at a right-angle to the surface all around it.

Panel containing sunk relief of  undifferentiated Jain saviors in cave number 4 at Badami, Karnataka, India. These were carved in the later part of 6th century

6th Century Sunk relief  on the pillar depicting Vamana Avtar of Vishnu in Sangameswarar Temple of Alampur, Andhra Pradesh.

Sunken relief found in 12th century Darasuram Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, Tamil Nadu, India This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

ROCK RELIEFS

Rock reliefs are those carved into solid rock in the open air. If the reliefs are inside a cave, whether natural or manmade they are called as Rock-Cut relief.  This kind of reliefs are more often used by Buddhist sculptures!

Jain Tirthankara rock relief, most amazing colossal structure of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India Circa 1445 CE

Arjuna's penance or Descent of the Ganges, carved in the mid 7th century is the world's largest preserved open air rock relief - 29 meters long and 13 meters high.

Multi-armed dancing Shiva flanked by Nandhi on one side and Ganesh and drummers on the other side. This rock relief  is outside cave number one in Badami and belongs to 575 to 585 CE

Mahishasur Mardini in Ravanaphadi of Aihole, Karnataka, India 7th Century Rock cut relief

7th century rock cut relief of Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill in the Krishna Cave of Mahaballipuram, Tamil Nadu, India Part of UNESCO World Heritage Site

Rock cut relief of Vishnu's Varaha (boar) incarnation rescuing the goddess of earth Bhu Devi. 6th century