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| Sculpture Review |
| Winter 2004 |
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A Sculptor looks at Khajuraho
by Tuck Langland
The carvings at Khajuraho follow the Indian tradition of refining the human form into a simplified code. Inflating shapes, as though they are puffed out by an inner pressure of air, straightening out the limbs, removing the muscles so beloved by the Greeks, and working the faces into masks are all earmarks of this style. At Khajuraho, there were originally about 80 temples, each with several hundred figures which had to be carved in a relatively short time, so a large number of sculptors were trained to work in a seamless style from one temple to the next, with no individuality showing through. Those in charge chose a simplified way of depicting the human form, which would work for virtually any figure, in any pose.
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