Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala
eBook - PDF

Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala

  1. 144 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala

About this book

Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala, an in-depth study of the medieval oil lamps of Kerala and beyond, contributes a new chapter to the history of Indian art. These art objects are primary sources for a broader discussion of the ritual use of Hindu oil lamps, their related and unique cultural history, their motifs, style and subject matter.From an understudied region, they include miniature masterpieces in bronze of figural and mythic representations. Many of the pieces presented are previously unpublished. Hindu traditions and the underlying philosophy of these votive offerings to temple deities represented by the flaming oil lamps will interest those who study history of religions, art history and South Asian studies. The author has included oil lamps found not only in Kerala but also examples discovered in an international array of museums and collections. These lamps and their inscriptions offer a key to unlock the problem of the dating of Keralan bronze sculpture.

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Yes, you can access Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala by Carol Radcliffe Bolon in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Art & Archaeology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Archaeopress Archaeology
Year
2022
eBook ISBN
9781803272559
Topic
Art
Subtopic
Archaeology

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Map
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Contents Page
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Note on names of towns
  8. Art of Devotion
  9. Figure 1. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, Kerala, c. 12th century, 6.5 inches, Collection of the late Dinesan Natesan, Bengaluru
  10. Figure 2. Oil lamp, Egypt, Mamluk period, c. 1360, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. F1957.19
  11. Figure 3. Wall of lamps, Mahadeva temple, Ettumanar, Kerala,
  12. Figure 4. Metal shop employee inscribing a new kindi, Mannar, Kerala
  13. Figure 5. Tree--shaped lamp, inscribed 1555, Denver Museum of Art, Colorado, height 25 inches, diameter 15 in, Gift in Life Trust from Mrs. Irene Littledale Downs in memory of William H. Downs, acc. no. 1964.8A-E. Photo Courtesy Denver Art Museum
  14. Figure 6. cleaning disassembled oil lamp
  15. Classification
  16. Suspension Lamps
  17. Figure 7. Shasta riding his elephant vehicle, Chola, Government Museum Chennai,
  18. Figure 8. Pooram festival, Kerala
  19. Figure 9. Elephant-shaped suspension oil lamp, Dadigama, Sri Lanka, c. 1100-1150, Archaeological Museum, Dadigama, acc. no. 2.12
  20. Figure 10. hydrostatic oil release
  21. Figure 11. Elephant-shaped suspension oil lamp with chain figures, Jogeshvari, c. 1100-1150, CSMVS, acc. no. B84. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya
  22. Figure 12. Chain detail figure 11
  23. Figure 13. Chain figures detail figure 11
  24. Figure 14. Elephant-shaped suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/3, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  25. Figure 15. Elephant-shaped suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/4, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  26. Figure 16. Temple elephant with caparison jewelry and kolam, Kerala
  27. Figure 17. Elephant-shaped suspension oil lamp with Shiva, Kuthira Maliga Museum, Thiruvananthapuram
  28. Figure 18. Temple-shaped suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/34, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  29. Figure 19. Arjuna and Shiva hunting a boar, detail of Figure 18
  30. Figure 20. Temple-shaped suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/2, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  31. Figure 21. Temple-shaped suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/1, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  32. Figure 22. Deity in sanctum, detail of Figure 21, Thrissur State Museum 10/1 Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  33. Figure 23. Vadakunathan Shiva temple, Thrissur, Kerala
  34. Figure 24. Temple-shaped suspension oil lamp, Nepal, 19th century, Courtesy of the Trustees of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya, 22.2316, 21.75 by 13.5 inches, Sir Ratan Tata Art Collection
  35. Figure 25. Gaja Lakshmi suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/36 (reverse of Figure 26), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  36. Figure 26. Shiva Kudumban suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/36 (reverse of Figure 25), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  37. Figure 27. Krishna Fluting, suspension oil lamp, British Museum 1880.4063, (reverse of Figure 28), height 12.5 inches by diameter 10.75, Gift of Richard Payne Knight in 1824, Photo courtesy British Museum
  38. Figure 28. Gaja Lakshmi, suspension oil lamp, British Museum 1880.4063 (reverse of Figure 27), Photo courtesy British Museum
  39. Figure 29. Gaja Lakshmi, part of a suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 12/12 (reverse of Figure 30), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  40. Figure 30. Processional scene, part of a suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 12/12 (reverse of Figure 29), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  41. Figure 31. Gaja Lakshmi suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/5 (reverse of Figure 32), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  42. Figure 32. Foliate design on suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/5 (reverse of Figure 31), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  43. Figure 33. Gaja Lakshmi suspension oil lamp, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 322
  44. Figure 34. Gaja Lakshmi suspension oil lamp, c.14th century, height 15 inches, Natesan Collection, Mumbai
  45. Figure 35. Padmanabhaswamy suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/35, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  46. Figure 36. Foliate design on reverse, Thrissur State Museum 10/35 (reverse of Figure 35), Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  47. Figure 37. Postcard of Padmanabha in Padmanabhaswamy temple sanctum, Thiruvananthapuram, length 18 feet
  48. Figure 38. Padmanabha suspension oil lamp, Honolulu Museum of Art, 14th century, height 15.25 inches, diameter 12 inches, Gift of Christensen Fund, 2001 (10773.1) (reverse of Figure 39) Photo courtesy Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii
  49. Figure 39. Vishnu on Garuda, suspension oil lamp, Honolulu Museum of Art (reverse of 38)
  50. Figure 40. Padmanabha carved on wood temple part, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  51. Figure 41. Procession scene carved on wood temple part, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  52. Figure 42. Shri Poornathrayesa, temple base stone relief figure of Shri Poornathrayesa
  53. Figure 43. Padmanabhaswamy, suspension oil lamp, British Museum 1880.1610 (reverse of Figure 45), Photo courtesy of British Museum
  54. Figure 45. Rama suspension oil lamp, British Museum 1880.1610 (reverse of Figure 43), Photo courtesy British Museum
  55. Figure 44. Bhudevi, c. 14th century, height 10 5/8 inches, Bhansali collection, New Orleans
  56. Figure 46. Mounted horse suspension oil lamp, Padmanabhapuram Palace, Thiruvananthapuram, 18th century
  57. Figure 47. Horse head suspension oil lamp, 19th century, Dakshina Chitra, Chennai
  58. Figure 48. Kuthu on staff in procession, Photo courtesy of Pepita Seth
  59. Figure 49. Female acrobat suspension oil lamp, 11 inches, 18th century, Karnataka, Kelkar Museum, Pune
  60. Figure 50. Mythical parrot suspension oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum 10/16, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  61. Figure 51. Lotus suspension oil lamp, height 12.5 inches, Thrissur State Museum 10/11, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  62. Figure 52. (Detail of Figure 51), Thrissur State Museum 10/11 with inscription, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  63. Figure 53. Ladies procession with suspension oil lamps, Photo courtesy Pepita Seth
  64. Stationary Lamps
  65. Figures 54-57. Wall niche lamps, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  66. Figure 60. Wall niche lamp, Dakshina Chitra, Chennai
  67. Figures 61. Wooden lamp stands for mada, Dakshina Chitra and Vijayaraghavan collections, Chennai
  68. Figures. 58-59 Wall niche lamps, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  69. Figure 63. Tree-shaped oil lamp, Shiva temple, Ernaculum, Photo courtesy Srikumar M. Menon
  70. Figures 62. Wooden lamp stands for mada, Dakshina Chitra and Vijayaraghavan collections, Chennai
  71. Figure 64. Deepastambha, 16th century, Mahadeva temple, Ettumanar
  72. Figure 65. Dharmavijayastambha, Mangalore, Karnataka
  73. Figure 66. Flagstaff collar detail including Krishna Venugopala and 21 other gods in relief, 15th century, height 5 inches, diameter 13.75 inches, British Museum 1880.1609 Payne Knight Collection, Photo courtesy British Museum
  74. Figure 67. Deepastambha, Thrissur State Museum, acc. no. 10/33, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  75. Figure 68. Tree-shaped ground oil lamp, Sri Mahadeva temple, Sreekovil, Vaikom, Kerala, height 5-6 feet, now retired.
  76. Figure 69. Tree-shaped ground oil lamp, 13th century, Kerala, height 53 inches width 31 inches Honolulu Museum of Art, HI, Gift of Christensen Fund 2001, acc no. 106.46.1, Photo Shuzo Uemoto
  77. Figure 70. Krishna fluting, (detail of top portion of Figure 69)
  78. Figure 71. Tree-shaped ground oil lamp, 14th century, Kerala, height 45.5 in, width 31 inches, Collection of the late Mahadevan Natesan, Bengaluru.
  79. Figure 72. Gopis at base, (detail of Figure 71)
  80. Figure 73. Peacock tree-shaped ground oil lamp, height 37.4 inches, Thrissur State Museum, 10/18, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  81. Figure 74. Peacock tree-shaped oil lamp, height 48 inches, c. 17-18th century, Thrissur State Museum 10/17, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  82. Figure 75. Tree-shaped ground oil lamp, height 4-5 feet, missing crowning element, Kuthira Maliga Museum, Thiruvananthapuram
  83. Figure 76. Tree-shaped ground oil lamp in temple, Kavara vilakku.
  84. Figure 77. Branching oil lamp, height 37 inches, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram 110A
  85. Figure 78. Branching oil lamp, Kumaranallur temple, Kerala, 15th century, height 44 inches, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2005.75, Friends of Indian Art and Oak Lodge Foundation in memory of Barbara Hunt, and the Kathleen Boone Samuels Memorial Fund, Phot
  86. Figure 79. figures on shaft (details of Figure 78)
  87. Figure 80. Branching oil lamp, height about 5 feet, 16th century, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  88. Figure 81. Branching oil lamp, inscribed on base, 17th century, Thrissur State Museum 10/11, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  89. Figure 82. Ground oil lamp, Thrissur State Museum, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  90. Figure 83. Ground oil lamp, 36.75 inches, Thrissur State Museum 10/24, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  91. Figure 84. Ground oil lamp, c. 17th century, Thrissur State Museum 10/20, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  92. Figure 86. Ground oil lamp with rooster-like crowing element, height 39 inches, c. 18th century, Thrissur State Museum 10/19 Department of Archaeology, Kerala.
  93. Figure 85. Ground oil lamp, height 33 inches, c. 17th- 18th century, Thrissur State Museum 10/27, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  94. Figure 87. Ground oil lamp with peahen crowning element, Kuthira Maliga Museum, Thiruvananthapuram
  95. Figure 88. Ground oil lamp with doves crowning element, Kuthira Maliga Museum, Thiruvananthapuram
  96. Figure 89. Ground oil lamp with swan, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  97. Figure 90. Female figural oil lamp, Doll, c. 17th century, height 11 inches, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram, acc. no. 574, open access photo
  98. Figures 91-92. Female figural oil lamp of a donor couple, 17th century Nayak period, Karnataka, height 86.4 inches, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C. S 2000.9.1, Photo courtesy Sackler Gallery, and details.
  99. Figure 93. Female figural oil lamp, c. 16th century, height 23.5 inches, Crafts Museum, New Delhi, 7/2134
  100. Figure 94. Female figural oil lamp, c. 16th century, height 23.5 inches, Crafts Museum, New Delhi, 7/2134, detail of 93.
  101. Figure 95. Female figural oil lamp, height 11 inches, 17th century Nayak period, height 11 inches, Karnataka, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO, 35-309
  102. Figure 96. Female figural oil lamp, lower part, Thrissur State Museum, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  103. Figure 97. Female figural oil lamp, silver with partial gilding, 1850-1890, Karnataka, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, From the Collection of William K. Ehrenfeld, M.D., 2005.64.180.a-b. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Size: H. 14 1/2 i
  104. Figure 98. Kindi oil lamp, Napier Museum, acc. no. 112, H. 15 ¾, W. 4 1/3 inches
  105. Figure 99. Kindi, Radeesh Shetty collection, Bengaluru
  106. Figure 100. Kindi, 19th century, Portuguese oil lamp, Ebay
  107. Figure 101. Kindi, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  108. Figure 102. Nagathiri, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram, 164
  109. Portable Lamps
  110. Figure 103. Pidi, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram, #576
  111. Figure 104. Lady, Karnataka, height 4 inches, length 14.5 inches, Shankaranand Natesan collection, Bengaluru
  112. Figure 105. Lion/man, Shankaranand Natesan collection, Bengaluru
  113. Figure 106. Cambodian lotus arti
  114. Figure 107. Tree arti, Thrissur State Museum 13/11, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  115. Figure 108. Arti, drawing from Illustrations of Metal Work in Brass and Copper, Figure 144
  116. Figure 109. Arti in ritual use, Meenakshi temple, Madurai
  117. Figure 110. Changalavatta in ritual temple procession, Photo courtesy of Pepita Seth
  118. Figure 111. Changalavatta, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  119. Figure 112. Changalavatta, drawing from Illustrations of Metal Work in Brass and Copper Figure 125
  120. Figures *113-114. Changalavatta, Denver Art Museum, acc.no. ?, credit line ?
  121. Figure 115. Oil pot, Thrissur State Museum 13/6, Department of Archaeology, Kerala
  122. Figure 116. Oil lamps, Mattancherry Palace, Courtesy Mattancherry Palace Museum
  123. Figure 117. Vanchi oil lamp, Vijayaraghavan Collection, Chennai
  124. Figure 118. Vanchi oil lamp, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kerala, 9 ¼ by 15 inches c. 17th century, Stella Kramrisch Collection 1994, 1994-148-109a, b, Photo courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art
  125. Figure 119. Vanchi oil lamp, Napier Museum, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 15 by 13.5 inches, acc no. 285, open access
  126. Figure 120. Kuthu, cup type torch horse head, Koyikkal Palace Museum, Nedamangadu
  127. Figure 121. Kuthu, horse-headed cup type suspended on chain, Vijayaraghavan collection, Chennai
  128. Figure 122. ritual use of kuthu oil lamps, photo courtesy of Pepita Seth
  129. Extra Parts
  130. Figure 123. Elephant with mahout, Kerala, Ashmolean Museum, height 11 inches, EA2013.97, Bequest of Douglas and Mary Barrett.
  131. Figure 124. Das Avatar suspension lamp part Thrissur State Museum, 10/12.
  132. Figure 125. Ardhanarishvara from plate of suspension oil lamp, Kerala, c.13th century Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, height 3.5 inches, acc. no. 1987.142.348, Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum
  133. Figures 126-128. Krishna/Ganesha from plate of suspension oil lamp, Shankaranand Natesan collection, Bengaluru
  134. Figure 129. Bala Krishna suspension oil lamp, c. 15th century, Vijayaraghavan Collection, Chennai
  135. Figure 130. Krishna Venugopala suspension oil lamp, Vijayaraghavan Collection, Chennai
  136. Figure 131. Krishna Venugopala suspension oil lamp part, (Gaja Lakshmi on reverse) British Museum1979.06251, donated by Mrs. Edith Lande, height 3.5 in, width 15.2 inches, Photo courtesy British Museum
  137. Figure 132. Birds from oil lamps, collection of Uma Rao, Bengaluru
  138. Figure 133. Kartikeya riding his peacock, part of a suspension oil lamp, Kerala, c. 14th century, height 11 ¾ in width 7 ½ inches, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem MA, Gift of Marilyn Walter Grounds, 2002, acc. no. E302038
  139. Figure 134. Peacock suspension oil lamp (missing figure of Kartikeya?), height 13.5 inches, with chain 47 inches, Photo courtesy Skinner, Inc. www.skinnerinc.com
  140. Conclusion
  141. Figures 135-138. Guardian pair, Thrissur State Museum, from Iranikulam, Kerala, bronze, less than human size.
  142. Figures 139-140. Ablution of Venugopala, former Lenart Collection.
  143. Figure 141. Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Irinjalikuda temple, 10th century
  144. Figure 142. Natesa, Kalmariaditya tandava, height 8 inches, Sotheby, lot 279, 19 Sept. 2008.
  145. Figure 143. Yoga Narasimha, Kerala, height 8.5 inches, former Pan Asian collection.
  146. Bibliography
  147. Index
  148. Back cover