The Iconometrical Perspective of the early C?la Images

Iconometry is the study of an icon or image of god/goddess or human being with reference to the measurements of the parts of the icons or images. The original works dealing with sculpture are Kāśyapa Śilpam and Mānasam. Both these works deal with very branch of Śilpa. The texts of Agastya, Kāśyapa and Viśwakarma are followed in carving sculptures in south India. These works describe in detail, the various systems and the material to be used for carving different god/goddess icons. The point to point measurement can be taken for the whole icon from head to toe by defining different parts of the body. This paper delineates the definition of several systems described in the Śāstra and the least square difference between the actual measurements of the icons and the calculated measure with respect to each system taken into consideration for the study. A random sample of the icons of the early Cōla period is collected and clusters are formed based on their classification of the tālamāna system. General Terms Image analysis, Information Processing