Hindu Statues

The art of India can only be understood in relation to the essential characteristics of the country that produced it. Indians have a taste for codifying rules and regulations, a characteristic to be found in the eternal system of castes, and permeating every sphere of activity. The artist, in particular, must conform to a fairly strict system of aesthetic principles; his aim is to create not a work of art as such, but a religious work which, if it is to have value, must scrupulously respect the established rules.