
by Unknown Artist, 1301
This 14th-century Chola bronze from Tamil Nadu depicts Appar (c. 570-650 CE), one of the sixty-three Nayanar saints of Tamil Shaivism. He holds his distinctive attribute: a spade (ulavarapadai). Appar earned this symbol by physically cleaning dilapidated Shiva temples with a farmer's hoe, restoring neglected shrines across South India. Born Marunikkiyar, he converted to Jainism and became head of a Jain monastery before returning to Shaivism after a painful illness.
He composed 4,900 devotional hymns to Shiva, of which 313 survive in the Tirumurai. This bronze was created as a processional sculpture, carried outside the temple during festivals celebrating the saint's birth and anniversaries. Chola bronzes were cast using the lost-wax technique in panchaloha (five-metal alloy: copper, zinc, tin, plus traces of gold and silver). Each mold produces only one piece, making every Chola bronze unique. It's at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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