Lord Krishna and his lilas are the world-famous stories that every child has grown up listening to. This bronze sculpture is a beautiful depiction of one of his lilas, which he performed in his adolescence.
Kaliya or Kalinga was known to be a venomous serpent that had escaped Garuda’s place and resided in the banks of Yamuna near Vrindavan.
Once Krishna and his friends were playing near the river, and mistakenly their ball fell in it, so to get the ball, Krishna jumped into the river, where he had a serious fight with the serpent Kaliya, but after some time, what came out was a shocking moment of happiness for all the people present there. Lord Krishna was mounted over the serpent’s multiple hoods and was dancing while holding it from the tail.
Keeping a note of this lila, the sculptor has very gracefully sculpted this victorious moment in a superfine bronze, keeping the intense features as secondary with the joyous smile visible clear on his face and focusing more on the sculpture as a whole. The multiple layers of the high-raised pedestal, carved in a unique shape give a good view of the height and clarity of the sculpture.
Krishna holds the Kaliya serpent’s tail by his left hand and right blesses to be in courage and confidence; one leg on the serpent’s body and one high in the air is symbolic of Krishna’s gleeful dance. The deity is soberly jewelled with the significant kundals and a short dhoti, depicting his essence of luxury and charm.
The long crown that glorifies his head is carved in a unique cylindrical shape along with decorated chisels of a peacock feather in the centre and other stylized patterns, highlighting the sculptor’s love for creativity. The etched patterns of scales on the serpent’s outer body and striations on its inner side are a realistic depiction of the creator’s keen vision.
This episode of Krishna dancing on serpent Kaliya’s hoods is symbolic of channelling your inner greed and desires in the right direction, just as Kaliya understood to use his venom for his self defence when required.
Eternal Brilliance Unveiled: The Mystique of Panchaloha Bronze and Artful Maintenance Rituals
Bronze is a metal alloy that has the primary composition of Copper and Tin. There is also an addition of other metals such as Manganese, Aluminium, Nickel, and some non-metals such as Phosphorus. This composition of several metals and non-metals makes Bronze an extremely durable and strong metal alloy. It is for this reason that Bronze is extensively used for casting sculptures and statues. Since Bronze has a low melting point, it usually tends to fill in the finest details of a mould and when it cools down, it shrinks a little that makes it easier to separate from the mould.
" If you happen to have a bronze statue, simply use a cotton cloth with some coconut oil or any other natural oil to clean the statue. "
A village named Swamimalai in South India is especially known for exceptionally well-crafted Bronze icons of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The skilled artisans of this place use Panchaloha Bronze for casting the icons. Panchaloha Bronze is made of five metals; Copper, Zinc, Lead, and small quantities of Gold and Silver. Zinc gives a golden hue to the finished figure and Lead makes the alloy softer for the easy application of a chisel and hammer. The common technique for producing these statues and sculptures is the “Lost-wax” method. Because of the high durability of bronze sculptures and statues, less maintenance is required, and can still last up to many decades.
Exotic India takes great pride in its collection of hand-picked Panchaloha Statues. You will find the murtis of Gods (Krishna, Hanuman, Narasimha, Ganesha, Nataraja, and Kartikeya) and Goddesses (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Durga, and Parvati), and Buddha statues. You can also buy Ritual paraphernalia (Wicks lamp, Puja Kalash, Cymbals, and Puja Flag) on the website. All these statues and items have been made with a lot of care and attention, giving them a flawless finish. Their fine carving detail represents the rich tradition of India.
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