I came across a very unusual and rare sculpture at the sculpture gallery of the City Palace in Udaipur last February. It was a sculpture of a woman with a smile. What’s so rare about a sculpture with a smile, some of you may ask. Then let me tell you this:
I had seen many types of sculptures — abstract, life-like, larger-than-life, surreal…
I had seen sculptures made from a variety of materials — stone, wood, metal, mesh, ivory, silver, bronze, papier-mache…
I had seen sculptures seen in stylised poses — at dance, at war, making love, in thought, in action…
I had seen sculptures with expressions of anger, agony, pain, peace, serenity and sometimes even with blank expressions, but never a smile. Each time, I left a museum or a gallery or a site where there were sculptures, I would always wonder why. Until I saw this sculpture.
It was a beautiful sculpture. In spite of the damage to the face, I could not miss the lips turned up in a smile. I’m sure that if the eyes were clearly visible, there would have been a naughty twinkle in them. I promptly named her Muskaan, the one with a smile so infectious that I smiled back at her in return. Did you also smile when you saw Muskaan, dear reader?
I hope that in 2014 I see many more smiles around me — on sculptures and on people and on my blog too.
Happy New Year ! 😀
My Favourite Things 
Sudhagee I love your travel posts
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Thank you very much, Arti. You may not believe me but I find writing travel posts to be the most tedious and difficult.
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Thats a happily smiling statue. Happy New Year to you Sudha 🙂
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Isn’t it, Puru? I loved it as you can se. Came across my second smiling statue at Ellora, but this one is part of an elaborate dance panel and part of a larger story that I still have to figure out !
And a Happy New Year to you too 😀
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That’s lovely to see a sculpture smiling. Let us bring out smiles in 2014. Happyy new Year::)
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I second that, Vishal. Let’s bring out our smiles in 2014. 😀
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thats a lovely capture, Sudha! and the perfect start to the new year!!! and while I roamed around the city palace museum for quite a while, I think i missed this dazzling smile
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Thank you, Anu. It’s quite possible that the sculptures are rotated for I find don’t think you would have missed it otherwise !
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That is, indeed, a lovely smile. 🙂 Great post!
I remember the ‘smile’ post you did last New Year’s eve, too.
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Thank you, TGND. Glad you liked it. I am drawn to smiles, probably because I don’t smile so much 😛 I think I have a smile post ready for next year as well – saw a beautiful sculpture at Ellora. 😀
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indeed a cute smile on the sculpture 🙂
http://www.myunfinishedlife.com
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Thanks 😀
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Very well observed I must say – haven’t noticed a smile in sculptures myself. Is that so difficult to bring out? Or, artists are never happy.
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That is something I’m trying to figure out myself. Maybe happiness is difficult to capture, a smile is difficult to sculpt or maybe it is not right for a smile to be captured. Have you noticed when you try to take pictures of people, you actually have to urge them to smile?
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Yes, it may be – not sure why that might be the case though. It was probably not difficult to capture but may be didn’t reflect from the real life models who inspired the artist – which you say rightly about photographs.
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Yes, i smiled at her. She really has a very infectious smile. You know it is quite difficult to draw or paint a smiling face. So, sculpting will be even tougher. Thanks for sharing Muskaa’s New Year smile.
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I didn’t know that it was difficult to draw or sculpt a smiling face. Thanks for telling me this.
Glad you enjoyed smiling back at Muskaan 😀
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Agree with Neena. I smiled widely too. And no, I wouldn’t have been able to zero in on such sculptures. It takes a special eye for detail and the unusual, which I lack 😦 Happy 2014 and keep smiling 🙂
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It is a lovely smile, isn’t it? Thank you, Alarmelvalli. Hope 2014 has us smiling throughout. 😀
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I like your blog a lot… this is really a very interesting travel blog…
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A warm welcome to “My Favourite Things”, Vineeta. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting and for your appreciaton. I do hope that you will keep visiting. 🙂
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Sudhagee, even I have a love for ancient sculptures. They convey a lot more than they seem to. The statues in the temples also had a deeper purpose than just decoration in many cases. I have always wanted to understand the deeper meaning.
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Welcome here, Debanjan, and thank you so much for stopping by an commenting here. I really appreciate it. Yes, sculptures always convey a lot more than what they seem to portray. For me it is not just the sculptures that interest me, but also the sculptor who carved them. 🙂
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