Natural Geotextiles

As Depicted in
Ancient Indian Iconography

By Dr. A.S.Nene
 Sakaladhikara
by Sage Agastya.

Shilpa-samhita on Iconography
 Sakaladhikara
means
“A treatise on deities with embodied
form”

Sage Agastya received from Lord

Shiva deals with Saivite images
Shilpa, in its widest sense covers all
arts and crafts requiring dexterity of
hand. It covers all branches of
Engineering and Architecture

Shilpa samhita means

Compilation of information
about “Shilpa
 Iconography

Idols or images are made of

metal, stone, wood or Clay
Metal, stone or wooden
images are made by molding
chiseling or by carving.
An elaborate process has to be
adopted for images made of clay,
mortar stucco and other soft materials
in order to make them strong and
durable
 Five Stages of Idol Making

1.Construction of Frame work using

selected wood (Shool-lakshyanaam)

Human Anatomical Term:

Bonny skeleton
2. Application of glue

Human Anatomical
Terms Fat and marrow
 Application of glue

A special glue, made out of

eight natural adhesive
materials (Astabandhana),
ghee and oil, is applied to
the wooden inner frame
3.Binding with Strings
(Rajjubandhanam)
28 String arrangements

Human Anatomical Term

38 Arteries and nerves
•Strings are made of coconut shell
husk.
•The coir fibers are threaded into
strong cords. The thickness of these
cords is specified as two” yava”
(2-4 mm).
•The strings are made by twisting two
cords.
rJ j u
b<Xanm! Binding with Strings
 4. Plastering with Mud
(Mrutsamskar)

Human Anatomical Terms

Flesh and skin
Plastering with Clay Mass

Constituents
• Clay collected from lakes or
Riverbeds
• Finely powered lac
• Decoctions prepared from
barks of four milky trees
and two non-milky trees.
• Fine sand
•Decoctions of three
myrobalns namely Amalaka,
Bibhitaka and Haritaka.

•Flours of Barley, wheat and

black gram

•Resins of Srivestaka, Sarja

and Kunderukska and
Guggulu in powdered form

•Cotton Fibers
 Consistency of Mud plaster
This constancy is determined by
rolling the clay mass on the palms.
When the lines of palm are clearly
impressed on the clay mass the
constancy is proper.
hSt reo a<
ik t <ip{f <m&
iTp{f Sy c s <
} k m!, 25- 5

The water content for this consistency (Palm line

limit) corresponds to a liquidity index between
15 to 20.%
 Finishing of shape

•Fixing of fine white cloth

•Coating with fine lime
•Polishing
 5. Painting with colors
(Varnasamskar)

Human Anatomical Terms

Skin Pigmentation
 Conclusions
1. Coir fibers & cotton was used for soil
reinforcement in ancient India.
2. Soil stabilization with natural
additives was well known to ancient
Indian sculptors .
3. The correct soil consistency for mud
plastering is specified in simple terms
4. Iconography was based on sound
knowledge of human anatomy
 References:

1. Sakaladhikara by sage Agastya (1973) TSM

Series 141,. Thajavur Maharaja Serfoji
Saraswati Library (TMSSML), Thajavur
(Tamilnadu state)
2. Banerjee J.N. ”Methodology on Hindu
Iconography”
3. Chitraagastya Ms No 4009 Oriental
manuscript library, Trivedraum( Kerala
state)
 For any suggestions

Contact
Dr.A.S.Nene
M4 Laxmi Nagar,
Nagpur (India) 440022
Email: nene_ashok@yahoo.com