• A block of black granite for a panipitha

    PP2, temple
    black panipeetham lingam granite precarving

    After a very long wait finally my granite block for the new panipitha has arrived. Premium black, so that should be dark enough. It is 70 x 50 x 46 cms tall, a piece of over 500 kilos. This afternoon I first began to cut away the excess material around the spout , so that a square piece of 50 x 50 x 46 with a spout was left .

    I found a sandwich saw blade for an angle grinder on the internet, which means it was incredibly low in noise. But best of all it cut through the stone really fast !

    precarving black granite panipeetham lingam

    I made some top- and side view templates, based on the green foam model and the computer design. I traced those on the stone, and tomorrow I can start with cutting the ogee profile in the round.

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  • A model for a new panipitha

    PP2, temple

    The last few days I spent doing the preliminary work for carving a granite panipitha. Other than earlier panipithas this one will be square. A panipitha, often called a yoni however, is a base for a Shivalingam, which in itself is a symbol for the infinte Divine. Panipitha means water chair. Lingam and panipitha together stand for Shiva-Shakti, or Being-Consciousness-Bliss and Manifestation thereof. Initially I made a drawing on the computer in Sketchup when he, but I'd rather see it live.

    To see if the proportions were right and to practice on carving the lotus leaves, I started with a full size working model in green foam (50 x 50 cm on top, with a spout of approximately 20 cms wide, and about 43 cms tall). In this foam, which is very easy to work by sawing, rasping, cutting and the like, I can still easily adjust the shape. After that I started with a leftover piece of granite to carve a test piece, to see how it works with the lotus leaves.

    In the meantime, I am also working on other assignments, including the plaster sculpture of Pan. When that is finished, I'm going to find a piece of red granite to carve it out of.

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