15'' Swami Ramanuja | Madhuchista Vidhana (Lost-Wax) | Panchaloha Bronze from Swamimalai

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

It was his legendary theological acumen that amassed him a great following of Vaishnavites, setting the pace of the Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedanta. The sculptural image here pays homage to that non-dualistic religious path by portraying the saint praying in ‘Padmasana,’ a cross-legged sitting meditation pose, atop a high-tiered pedestal. The saint is shown scantily clad in his ‘kashya vastram,’ or ochre robes. His forehead is marked by the Urdhva Pundra, or the stylised ‘tilak’ that Vaishnavites wear to show that they are devotees of Vishnu (with varying degrees, to mark which lineage or sampradaya they belong to). Additionally, Ramanuja’s left and right shoulders bear the distinct symbol of a ‘shankha’ or conch, allowing for fame, prosperity, and the cleansing of the self, and the symbolic representation of the religious movement ‘Pancharatra,’ for which Ramanuja contributed an important Agama, the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya. Another major icon is the ‘tridandam’ in Ramanuja’s hands. The finely-detailed image presents us with the three-split bamboo strips that constitute the tridandam; they signify the three realities of life – Nature, soul, and God. The tridandam, made of bamboo (for the belief that it is full of life; hence also called ‘jiva dandam’), has a piece of white cloth attached to the top called ‘jalapavitam’ which is used as a filter by the saints to cleanse and drink water. In this sculptural instance, we see the jalapavitam carrying the symbols of the conch, the Pancharatra, and the Urdhva Pundra.