Terracotta is a
ceramic material that has been used for building
construction and decorative arts since ancient
times in cultures around the world. Terracotta,
which literally means "baked earth," is made from
natural clay, which gives it a characteristic
reddish-brown color. The color varies slightly
depending on the clay used. Terracotta may be
glazed for extra durability or to provide color.
It is a waterproof and very sturdy material, and
many ancient terracotta sculptures are still in
excellent shape.
Terra cotta is very much a part of the Indian
tradition, and nearly every village has a potter.
Producing pitchers to store water, toys for
children. Vessels for the kitchen and icons of
local divinities for every house hold the potter
is often compared to God, the Creator, for he
makes forms out of nothing.
As ideologies of materialism and consumerism
creep into village life however, among the first
casualties are the products of the potter,
especially the individualistic village deity. It
is unfortunate that the tradition of terracotta
deities is now on the decline, for religion is
still a vital force. But the aesthetic has
changed and the attraction of gaily painted
plaster of parts or gilt-covered images often
proves irresistible.
Today the potter
earns his livelihood by making the pots and
pitchers of daily use, but he continues the
sacred tradition of making deities passed on
to him by his father and which he must pass
on to his sons, And local demands for icons,
though diminished, continue, for the potter
can imbibe each deity with individual
characteristics, which the mass producer of
icons cannot.
In Rajasthan, the one area where the
production of terracotta icons remains
powerfully alive is the village of mtela, 40
kilometres north of Udaipur. These images
reflect even today a lineage stretching back
over four millennia to the famous mother
goddess from Harappa and to the clay images
from Mewar of the Gupta period.
The Motela craftsmen make images of made and
female deities in anthropomorphic forms.
Ancestores represented in the forms of snakes
and local heroes from folk legends are
produced for worship. An interesting form of
the Gujar tribe’s popular god, deonarain. Is
seated on a horse holding a bhala, spear, and
a kamal, lotus. He is attended by a nag,
serpent, herds of cows, the sun and the moon,
a crocodile, a peacock and a guala, cowherd.
This deity is sometimes represented
symbolically as a hand, hatha, curved like
the hood of a cobra.
Another popular male deity is Bhairon whose
icon is made up of two images Kala Bhairon
and Gora Bhairon, the dark and the fair. This
duality indicates the deity’s omnipotence and
the encompassing of universal polarities.
Bhairon, who bears a distinct resemblance to
the god Shiva, holds in his hands, a trishul
(trident), garaja (thunderbolt), kapala (skull)
and pasa (noose). His mount is a dog and his
image is installed in every shrine with that
of other gods and goddesses.
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