One of the things I enjoy about blogging is the opportunity to learn from other bloggers about parts of the world that I have never visited. A couple of days ago I visited the blog website of S. Jayaraman and found some very interesting photos of horse sculptures. Here is the first one that captured my attention.
The photo above is of a carved wooden horse that was taken when S. Jayaraman visited an ancient village known as Thiruvathigai in the Tamil Nadu State of India. S. Jayaraman had visited a wood workshop where the carvers are the ninth generation to carve and paint wooden sculptures.
Here are photos S. Jayaraman took of the carvings in ancient Hindu Temples. that also feature horses.
I am interested to see that in these ancient sculptures there are human figures , dogs and an elephant supporting the horse from beneath. In the modern wooden sculpture there is a man , possibly a deity, supporting the horse. Ancient or modern the horse is an important figure in India as well as in the Western world.
Please visit S. Jayaraman’s blog to see more of his photos.
Good one.. Nice photographs
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Great writing. Recently horse chariot remains of ancient times have been found from the archaeological site of Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh in Inda.
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Really! I did not know of this. I will try to research this. Thanks for letting me know.
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Research about it. It is really interesting.
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They are very beautiful! Thank you for sharing them!
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You are most welcome!
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I used to work at a café in my early 20’s, with a beautiful horse statue in front of it. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_IX:s_ryttarstaty_i_Göteborg
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Yes that is a very impressive statue. Thanks for the link that allowed me to see it.
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Glas you could see it. The stairs to that statue was our daily meeting point for many years.
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I once went to Tamil Nada (in 1998, the last time I flew long haul anywhere). It was a fascinating place (very hectic) and I did visit some ancient temples…I think I was more fixed on looking at elephants than horses at the time.
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That must have been interesting. I have never been to India.
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It’s a crazy, hectic, exasperating and utterly brilliant country.
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I had several actor friends I knew in England who went to India to work on films (Passage to India, Jewel in the Crown) and they all had amazing stories about their time there,all positive but just as you describe.
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Lucky them!!
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Nice balanced seat on the leaping temple horse’s riders. I love to see that equine biomechanics stays the same regardless of culture ( ok I am a bit obsessed with the whole biomechianics thing..)
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The other thing I have noticed is that horses in statues in all cultures ridden by military leaders , deities or others all have their mouths wide open. I think this is to make them look like fiery steeds.😀
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I was given a book, the Royal Horse and Rider, that documents the meaning of the horse’s stance and some about the head position- one foreleg raised, rearing, diagonal support were all intended to carry meaning. Sadly most of the painters for the nobility painted from a handful of horsey templates most likely Greek. They did not actually go hang out in the riding arena and paint what they saw…
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Reblogged this on Dream Big, Dream Often.
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Thank you Danny!
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I am pleased you are very interested to know about horses from any part of the world. Next time if I learn any interesting information I will surely let you know ma’am. Horse sculptures are found in almost all of the ancient temples. In many south Indian villages there will be small God as that village’s own God that will be guard to that village most of them are sitting in horse especially white.
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Interesting that the white horse is the color of choice. Military leaders , notably Napoleon, choose white horses as well. Thank you for this comment Subbashini.
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Very interesting.Your passion for horses is commendable.Keep it up.😊
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