The Development of Hindu Iconography

Abstract

Wheter it is the fear of the unknown, or the mystery of death, especially of one's parents and ancestors, or, an admiration for the great heroes who had sacrificed their lives for a cause dear to their heart, worshipping some sort of symbols and icons in their honour, is an established fact in the history of human civilization. Devastating diseases or the furies of nature too might have contributed to the concept of some controlling forces being defied and appeased. Such 'gods' could have been represented originally by heaps of stones or pillars or even some crude figures. Thus might have originated the science of iconography, called 'Murtisilpa-sastra'in