The Unfinished: The Stone Carvers at Work in the Indian Subcontinent

$169.20

$188.00

In stock

Free & Quick Delivery Worldwide

The sheer number of unfinished stone monuments in India is staggering and examples appear at some of India’s most famous and well-studied sites that include rock-cut Ellora, Ajanta, and Mamallapuram. Unfinished work also appears on built temples celebrated for the intricacy of their sculpted decoration, such as those in Hoysala kingdom or in Orissa. This detailed study provides an overall coverage of India’s unfinished work while addressing a range of issues related to stone-carving by examining a select number of monuments at specific sites. Instead of focusing on a site in its entirety, the study here focuses on specific issues of consequence in the context of unfinished work, as they gain an added weight and significance through discovery of their repetitive occurrence at site after site.

At the heart of this book are the many varieties of unfinished stone carving that merit close observation to see what is there and what is not, and to appreciate that all the finished work has been through these various stages of being unfinished before reaching completion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vidya Dehejia

Vidya Dehejia completed a brilliant academic career at Cambridge University, England, where she obtained her B.A., M.A., and Ph. D. degrees. She has since combined active research with teaching activities at the universities of Sydney, Hong Kong, and Delhi. Presently she teaches at Columbia University in New York. Over the years, she has published a wide range of books and scholarly articles. Vidya Dehejia's doctoral thesis was published in 1972 by Thames & Hudson, London and by Cornell University Press under the title Early Buddhist Rock Temples. A Homi Bhabha Fellowship resulted in a book entitled Early Stone Temples of Orissa. More recently, the National Museum in New Delhi has brought out her Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition. The range of her interests is indicated by her most recent, co-authored book with P. Pal from Merchants to Emperors: British Artists and India. 1 75 7-1930. In this present book on Tamil saints, Vidya Dehejia (nee Rama lyer) turns to elucidate a facet of the art of her own Tamil homeland.