Stone Sculptures in the Alampur Museum

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Preface The power of greatness of Indian art-forms lie in the expression of the emotions of awe, wonder and rage as well as those of love, compassion and propiation. The arts of most culture have sacrificed the former to the ideal of human beauty and charm. For instance, the Maheswara motif or Murti, a marvel in world art carved in Elephanta caves, elicits profound joy through its masterly embodiment of the antinomic feelings of tenderness (karuna) and grimness (roudra) are integrated and synthesised in the overall feeling of tranquility (santha), poised stillness is the dominant note of Indian Murti as rightly expressed by my esteemed friend Mr. Radha Kamal Mukerjee. Indian Art in its own modes, traditions and techniques, in its theme, symbols and motifs has been a sensitive organ of the Indian man's progressive apprehension of the Reality in its most comprehensive sense. The other significant factor noticed in the perennial quest of Indian Art is not Beauty but Truth, not Appearance but Reality and it has revealed this in many timeless images and symbols that have given solace and strength to Asian peoples through the centuries. Most of the plastic masterpieces described in this book belong to the halcyon days of Western Chalukyan Emperors, carved by the sculptors with elegant beauty and dexterity, leavened by the gliding rhythm of soft curves and mellifluous lines and the smooth interplay of plane surfaces which went whole hog to produce a sort of spiritual emotions in their creation.

Foreword I have great pleasure in introducing this monograph on the stone sculptures, Alampur by Sri Abdul Waheed Khan, Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh. Sri Abdul Waheed Khan has already done remarkably good work on the extensive excavations at Yeleswaram and Gol- conda. He is a painstaking scholar who takes infinite pains to ensure complete authenticity for all his conclusions. Moreover, he works on the basis of intimate personal knowledge and this lends greater weight to his views.