Guest guest Posted April 22, 2001 Report Share Posted April 22, 2001 Dwarf trampling in indian culture It is strange and very interesting, that in indian sculptures one can see very always another body trampled under feet. We can note Shiva trampled under Kali's feet, or Dwarf trampled under Nataraja's feet. But as for this sculptures i know the meaning of this (who and why trampled under feet) for the sculptures of yakshini i don't know this... see here .. http://pygmalionproject.tripod.com/stone.html Please explain me what does dwarfs under feet mean.. Was it normal practice of putting the dwarf under feet in ancient india? What does this dwarf meen? I know feet has great meaning, but only on indian sculptures one can see other person under feet. Is it a common practice in india? Vic (russia) ---- Answered by Anantha---------- Siva under Kali's feet is not a dwarf. It is symbolism for passive force restraining the active when the latter goes out of control. The dwarf under Natarazha's feet denotes ignorance. Ancient Shilpasastras of India provide elaborate reference to the fact that the dwarf denotes ignorance, & Manucci mentions this as well. The Dwarf form was a divine avtara of Visnu, the 5th Avtar, Vamana. You need to expand your arid knowledge of sculpture. There are innumerable sculptures of Hitite, Babylonian & other origins of forms beneath the feet. Even off-hand I recall steles of Tiglath Pileser and Shalamansher. While they denote the crushing of enemies, Natarazha denotes the crushing of the enemy of ignorance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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