Sculptors mold images from hard beeswax mixed with a small amount of dammar (resin)
from the shal tree. The wax is carefully molded into that separate parts that comprise
the sculpture and then lowered into a basin of cold water where it hardens instantly.
in order to join the individual pieces into a whole, they are returned to a ,alleable
state throught brief reheating. Simple tubular struts connect the hands of images
to the body provindind both stability to the wax model and channels through which
molten bronze will be poured. While the wax is still soft, details, down to the
individual beads of a sculpted necklace, are added with a sharp wooden chisel.
We too specialized in making the panchaloga statues which are connected with Hindu
religion and Hindu Gods,Religious statues, Indian Bronze statues and sheet metal
works, Kavasams, Creative Lamps in Brass and Silver.
The heavily clay-encased mold is then baked in a fire pit, melting the wax, which
runs out through the channels leaving a perfectly detailed, hollow clay mold. Specialisedmetalworks
now take over, heating copper with a small propotion of lead and tin (and in earlier
times, small amounts of gold and silver). This alloy is carefulley poured into the
clay mold, which has been heated to the temperature of the molten metal. The sculptors
carefully chip away the clay and then smooth and polish the bronze, a process that
can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. During the Chola dynasty, only
the barest minimum of finishing work, such as removingthe channles of bronze connecting
hand to torso, would have remained at this stage. Today, however, artists resort
to an extensive amount of cold chiseling that gives a distinct, sharp finish to
the details.
After cooling for several days, the clay mold is broken open to reveal a rough version
of the sculpture.