The Grama devatas worship of South India have the extraordinary characteristic of representing the most ancient traditions of the earliest past brought into the vital present.
From the artistic view point the village temples have represented an outstanding expression of forms and sites unique to India and in the history of world art.
According to the opinion of Mr Stephen Inglis the massive terracotta horses of south India “technically … are the most ambitious achievements in clay found in India and by any survey probably the largest hollow clay images to be created anywhere” (Stephen R. Inglis, “Night Riders: Massive Temple Figures of Rural Tamil Nadu, in V. Vijayavenugopala (ed.) A Festschrift for Prof. M. Shanmugam Pillai, Madurai University Press, 1980).
Horses in a village sanctuary of Mariamman Polanalur (Namakkal), cover of the exhibition flyer devoted to the Grama Devatas at The William Benton Museum of Art (1985), Stoors CT, photo by Harry Holtzman; same subject of the Stella Kramrisch’s cover catalogue ‘Unknwon India Ritual Art in tribe and village’ (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art)
Offering of votaries, village shrine of Mariamman; Tirripuyanam (Madura), detail, photo by Harry Holtzman, plate IV Stella Kramrisch’s catalogue ‘Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village’ (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art)
Crawling figure, Madura, terracotta h: 11 1/2″ n.104 in the Stella Kramrisch’s catalogue ‘Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village’ (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art).
Votive figure, n. 103 in the Stella Kramrisch’s catalogue ‘Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village’ (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art)
“Village Gods of South India” was an exhibition organized by the Neuberger Museum on the Purchase campus of the State University of New York under the direction of Mr Harry Holtzman and Mr Jeffrey Hoffeld. This exhibition was supported also by Mr John Irwin, at that time keeper of Oriental Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and a foremost authority on Indian art, with a personal contribute, the short but intense text ‘Record of a Religion’.
Head of Hero, n.105 in Stella Kramrisch’s catalogue ‘Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and Village’ (1968 Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art)
§ From Indian Earth, 4000 years of terracotta Art, Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition with a section devoted to the Village gods of South India in which were showed photographs and terracotta objects from Harry Holtzman archive and collection.
This Dog figure was present also in the Stella Kramrisch’s exhibition ‘Unknown India Ritual Art in Tribe and village’ with the number 109 of her catalogue.
FLOWERS FOR THE SNAKES IN OLD TERMITE HILLS (PUTRU)
In rural areas of Tamil Nadu, it’s possible to meet snakes near ant hills and termite mounds, so both of which are regarded and believed as the entrances to the otherworld, for this reason these mounds are frequently marked with ash; offerings of milk or eggs are made by the devotes to the resident Naga.
PANCHMUKHA BHAIRAVA THE TERRIBLE ONE WITH FIVE FACES
Nepal 14th century
Shiva, in his form as the wrathful Bhairava, a blood sacrifice or alcohol are traditional offering used in the worship of the god.
The earrings on this sculpture represent Shiva’s iconography: a snake for the right and a ring for the left
Detail
MAHAKALA THE GREAT BLACK ONE Nepal 18th century, Wood
The wrathful MAHAKALA is a protector of the Katmandu Valley and is practiced by both the Buddhist and Hindu religions.
Detail
DURGA FEARSOME GODDESS
NEPAL 11th century
copper répousseé
All three of these medallions depicts goddesses worshiped in the Katmandu Valley almost thousand years ago.
These objects predate the early Malla kings who formally instituited Hinduism in Nepal in the 13th century.
The largest of the medallions offers an intricate depiction of then armed form of Durga. The other two medallions depict goddesses preforming various movements and hand gesture.
HORSES IN A VILLAGE SANCTUARY OF MARIAMMAN POLANALUR NAMAKKAL – COVER PAGE OF THE CATALOGUE ‘UNKNOWN INDIA RTUAL ART IN TRIBE AND VILLAGE’ PHOTO HARRY HOLTZMAN
VOTIVE TERRACOTTA FIGURE IN NAMASTE POSTURE HARRY HOLTZMAN
COLLECTION ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN FOLK AND TRIBAL ART ARCHIVE
TRIBAL ART OF THE SANTAL PEOPLE ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN FOLK AND TRIBALA ARTS ARCHIVE
SANTAL FLUTES. INDIA
Links from Ethnoflorence Indian and Himalayan Folk and Tribal Art, Art Premiers Art Primitive Collection Bruxelles, Hervé Pedriolle Collection, IGCNA Org, Tribal Art the World of Tribal Art magazine.
ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN FOLK AND TRIBAL ARTS 