Stucco splendour
KALALE LAKSHMIKANTHA GUDI While well crafted stone sculptures make our ancient temples marvelous monuments of art, Stucco sculptures add a lot of vigour and vitality . Often coloured vividly, they become tableaux illustrating myths, graphic documentation of general public life of the time and showpieces of craft . Stucco figures, called Sudhai in Tamil, were individually hand crafted without moulds , with a core of metal rods and broken bricks . Specially prepared lime plaster was then slapped over the core and shaped , much like clay. Ingredients like tamarind seed paste, tree resin , sea shell powder etc were mixed into the lime plaster for good finish and strength. Nowadays however, cement has replaced all that. Nanjangud temple has awesome stucco figures crowning all its walls. The craftsmanship and artistry are of very high order. While the majority of southern stucco figures are painted with all colours of the rainbow and more, Nanjangud has main...