Sculpture as Cosmos

Hindu temple sculpture is one of the most ambitious artistic traditions ever developed:

• Temples are conceived as cosmic mountains — replicas of the axis of the universe
• A single great temple can carry thousands of carved figures across every surface
• The tribhanga pose creates fluid, graceful movement, much like Greek contrapposto
• Shiva Nataraja has been compared to modern physics' vision of cosmic creation and destruction

The building doesn't carry the sculpture — the sculpture is the building. From the erotic couples at the base to the divine beings at the summit, every figure forms part of a single argument about the cosmos and the human passage through it.