Secrets in stone: Art historian cracks the code of an ancient temple
For 13 centuries, the Virupaksha Temple in Pattadakal has been one of the most recognizable landmarks in Indian art -- a towering layer cake of elaborate, hand-carved friezes populated by a bevy of Hindu deities and symbols.
Now Cathleen Cummings, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UAB Department of Art and Art History who specializes in Asian art history, has shown that these figures are more than just architectural decoration. "For a long time, there was an assumption that the sculptures on the outside of Hindu temples didn't necessarily mean anything as a group," she says. But "it seemed to me right away that there were certain, very conscious choices being made as to where deities and specific forms of deities were placed."
More than a decade of work and 11 trips to India led to her recent book, Decoding a Hindu Temple: Royalty and Religion in the Iconographic Program of the Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal (South Asian Studies Association: 2014). Her discoveries identify images that glorify the king by referencing his family, conquests, and accomplishments, as well as other sculptural elements that offer religious guidance. Cummings describes one series of sequential inscriptions that depicts taking refuge in a deity, showing faith and then salvation. "It seemed like a clear sequence for devotees to follow," she says. "It didn't seem to be random images. There was a particular message that they could take away from it." ...
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