Article by Ron du Bois

Photos by Ron du Bois, 1980, unless otherwise stated.

Massive terracotta horses have been built by Tamil villagers in south India
for thousands of years. Stephen Inglis states that "technically they are the
most ambitious achievements in clay found in India and by any survey
probably the largest hollow clay images to be created anywhere" (1).

Massive terracotta Horse.

Environs of Puthur,
Tamilnadu, South India. This
fifty year old massive clay
image was fired on site.
Because the fired surfaces
are porous a solution of
oxides used as colorants are
easily absorbed and thus
made durable. Fifty years
have altered them only
slightly. Although the annual
rains soak the porous clay, no
harm results because
Tamilnadu never freezes. In
other climates water
penetrating the clay could
freeze and expand causing
disintegration within a
season.
Created from sacred temple
ground, this horse now
stands purified by fire. No
cracking or breakage due to
trapped air or moisture
occurred. The non-ceramic
decoration of calcium
carbonate and water
penetrates the porous clay
and thus becomes durable.
Rain and subsequent freezing
weather could spell the the
disintegration of such
massive clay images within a
season...but the temperature
 in Tamilnadu is always warm,
and thus the images stand for
generations.

The methods used to construct and to fire images nine to fifteen feet or more
in height are unique in ceramic history and of unusual interest to clay
specialists. They differ dramatically from the images of horses and soldiers
recently excavated in China, in that they are larger than life-size and fired in
situ. Not only is the size impressive, but the proportions and embellishment
are superb. These works are created by a caste of hereditary potter/priests
who are products and heirs of an ancient tradition in which clay and religion
are inseparably linked.

This massive terracotta

Aiyanar horse image was
built around 1955. It is
distinctive for its high relief
modeling. Much the original
white wash is still extant.
The high relief elements are
technically possible because
copious amounts of temper
(rice straw) are mixed in the
clay.

Detail of relief
modeling, 18
inches high,
on neck of
ancient
Aiyanar
terracotta
horse.
Environs of
Puthur, near Chidambarum,
Tamilnadu, India.
Yet because the images are built in remote village shrines they have been
virtually ignored by scholars. As Inglis observes, "visitors to Tamil Nadu may
catch a glimpse of such images from the window of a bus or train yet an
interest once aroused is difficult to pursue.

Katervil, master craftsman in clay, is known

throughout the region as a specialist for his skills
in building votive terracotta horse images as well
as those built in cement. He can make every type
of utilitarian pottery as well. Heir to an ancient
tradition, his ancestors have practiced similar skills
for thousands of years. He is a "velar", or Tamil
potter-priest. Here he rests beneath the breast of
of the horse on which he has just completed the
modeling of "Yallee", spirit guide, protector of Aiyanar, able to
see in all directions, able to see into the future. Mystical skills
enable him to guide the horse safely.

Tamil people of the cities know little of them and for the ordinary village
people, work on such images involves skills and a sacred ritual of which they
have little knowledge. The work is almost never seen in big towns or cities,
sold in fairs, or otherwise displayed. Although some attention has been given
by scholars to the religious complex in which they playa part, information
about massive images and the craftsmen who build them is not to be found
in the literature on south India" (2).

In May, 1980, as an Indo-American Fellow, I was able to observe at first hand,

in remote and abandoned village shrines, ancient examples of these massive
terracotta horses "with fiercely noble heads standing ready to carry god or
demon" (3). As I looked at them, numerous questions came to mind: How old
were they? Who made them? What was their purpose? Were they still being
made? How could such huge clay images be fired? How could passages of
clay varying in thickness from two to sixteen inches be dried and fired
without mishap of any kind?

The answers to these questions would shed new light on the methods used
in the past by the Etruscans, the Chinese, and pre-Columbian peoples to
create such larger-than-life terracotta images. The craftsmen who made
them clearly used methods of construction and firing outside the spectrum of
Western ceramic skills and processes. Few, if any clay specialists in the
Western world would attempt to build and fire on-site ceramic sculpture of
such monumental scale.

Through the unfailing support of Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith of the
Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, I found some important answers.
Former students of Susan Peterson, they are the only American potters
successfully producing hand-thrown stoneware in India at present.

Their plan of organization made the documentation possible. Intrigued with

the projected filming of the construction of an Aiyanar horse, they offered
me the use of their recently purchased jeep to search for Aiyanar shrines and
potters. The three of us, together with Ray's assistant, Ratchagar, to serve as
translator, set out on a four-wheel drive field trip.

On a single day's outing, we sighted five Aiyanar shrines in the outskirts of

Chidambaram. Each of the sites held one or more terracotta horses, each ten
to twelve feet high constructed within the last one hundred years. The
surface decoration, in most cases, had weathered away and the patina
indicated considerable age. There was nothing to indicate the date or the
names of either the potters or donors. Such facts were never recorded.

This ancient terra cotta horse

was built and fired on site
some one hundred years ago.
It measures over ten feet in
height. The high relief images
on the neck of the horse
image were modeled of clay
with an admixture of straw.
The images symbolize spirit
attendants who ride with
Aiyanar at night to guard the
village boundary.
Detail of ancient horse (with
villager standing in front):
The high relief images on the
neck of the horse were
modeled with the solid clay
mixture. They symbolize
spirit attendants who ride
with Aiyanar at night to
guard the village boundary.
About 100 years old, four
massive terra cotta horses
constructed and fired on site
stand in a seemingly
abandoned Aiyanar shrine.
Were such horses still being built? Thanks to my friends' fluency in Tamil we
soon found a pottery community reputed to have horse- building skills in the
village of Puthur, sixteen kilometers from Chidambaram. When we found the
earth and thatch dwellings of the potters, we discovered an Aiyanar shrine
nearby complete with a huge standing terracotta horse, which the potters
claimed was more than one hundred years old. Near the older form was a
more recent horse built of cement, a material that has now almost
completely replaced clay as the medium for shaping ritual images. To the
west stood a large cement image of Aiyanar and to the south, a shrine
housed a much smaller image flanked by two consorts. The shrine is in
active use. Each evening some forty villagers worship there, the women
touching their foreheads to the ground and the men prostrating themselves
completely.

The indigenous religious system, involving the belief in a male deity, at once
hero, protector, companion, and councilor, is Dravidian. It predates by
centuries the Aryan introduction of Hinduism with its complex pantheon of
deities in the second millennium B.C. During the Middle Ages, in order to
upgrade and legitimize Aiyanar through association with mainline Hinduism,
devotees evolved the story of his birth as a son of Shiva and Vishnu (in the
form of a beautiful woman). Aiyanar helps on many important occasions in
life -to choose a bride or groom, to cure sickness, or to punish a wrongdoer.
He holds a metal sword in his hand on which devotees thrust paper
messages stating their various problems. Often the solutions are revealed in
dreams.

S. Kalia Perumal This potter's wife

was an standing before the
important shrine is in a state of
member of the trance. The closer
four man crew presence of Aiyanar and
who the forces of village
constructed the deities stimulate states
horse. of possession. For some
their bodies temporarily
become containers of
the divine.
We learned that the last large Aiyanar horse was commissioned more than
twenty years ago. But the potters assured us they still knew how to build
one. Would they do it? Would they accept a commission from a non-Hindu - a
foreigner? I was impressed with the potters and had a genuine sympathy and
liking for Aiyanar and his shrines. Unlike Hindu temples, his shrines were
always located in secluded country areas in which trees were a necessary
and auspicious component. They were restrained-the sculptural quality of
the clay or cement images was stable and impressive. Perhaps the potters
were moved by my positive attitude and interest in Aiyanar; at any rate, they
decided to accept the commission. They agreed to build a horse nine feet
high in twenty days; it was to be situated next to the existing horses. They
quoted a price of 500 rupees. After haggling, they reduced the figure to 400
rupees- ($48.00) - a good price by Indian standards but by Western
standards extremely low when one considers that four or five men would
work for twenty days to complete the commission.

Day One:
They knew their business. On Monday, May 26, 1980, a puja (ritual) was held
to ensure the success of the project. To consecrate the ground on which the
horse was to be built, the potters encircled the area using the blood
streaming from the neck of a decapitated rooster. Coconut halves were
placed to each side of the area. Liquor, an essential ritualistic ingredient, was
present although Tamil Nadu is a "dry" state. Technically, liquor is illegal but
this was "home brew," which escaped official scrutiny. Food offerings to
Aiyanar completed the ritual. Secure in the assurance that Aiyanar was now
companion to the project, the potters began construction.

The preparation of the clay had taken place the day before. A circular earth
pit about four feet in diameter served as a mixing trough. One part
sedimentary earthenware is mixed with one part earthenware topsoil.
Although fine-grained, it contains silt. To this enough water is added to
produce a medium-viscosity slurry. The potters knew this clay would fail as a
medium for building large sculpture. Large quantities of non-plastic
ingredients are essential to prevent shrinkage and hence cracking, as well as
to permit thick passages of clay. The non-plastic ingredients consist of three
parts rice hulls and approximately one part (by volume) of three-to-four-inch
lengths of rice straw. The potters added this to the earthenware slurry and
mixed it by foot to produce a medium soft mixture possessing all the
qualities of a "castable."
 First Day of Construction.
Aiyanar Shrine, Puthur,
Tamilnadu, South India, 1980.
Holes 12" deep and 12" wide
were excavated in the ground
possible to relieve air pressure
during firing. Katervil applies a
heavy coil of clay with an
admixture of rice straw to
form the "hooves", the first
stage in the construction of a
massive terracotta horse.
These constitute the first
procedures in the construction
of a massive Aiyanar horse
image. When completed it will
stand ten feet high. In the
background stands an ancient
terracotta horse said to be 100
years old.

Large coils of this material were used to form rings around previously
inscribed twelve-inch circles on the ground marking the four "hoofs" of the
horse. A second coil of clay joined to the initial ring extended the diameter to
sixteen inches. Four of these clay rings were formed to establish the four
"hoofs" of the horse's legs. This accomplished, a potter, using a metal
excavating tool, dug holes approximately twelve inches deep inside each
ring of clay. A potter set a wooden pole about six feet high inside one hole
and held it while a colleague quickly filled the entire hole with clay thus
supporting the pole in a vertical position. In a similar fashion, vertical poles
were set in the three remaining holes. Each wooden pole, therefore, was
supported by a solid mass of clay mixture about sixteen inches across and
twelve inches deep. Without the use of rice hulls and straw such passages
would shrink and crack.

These ingredients are the major part of the mixture by volume and are
essential to this type of monumental clay construction. The last part to be
constructed was a clay base for the central rectangular support, 24" x 24".
This completed the first day's work. Nothing further could be done until the
moist clay mixture stiffened.

The potters spent their time in the afternoon preparing ropes made of rice
straw. Wrapped around the wooden uprights these ropes create a
compressible internal support system for the application of about a four-inch
wall of clay thereby eliminating any possibility of the clay cracking as it dries
and contracts.

Woman Creating a Colam. Colams are

ritual diagrams or drawings that welcome
the dawn, or gods to their festivals. They
illustrate the power of geometricity to
create a force field or maze by which
untoward forces are confused and thus
kept at bay. Mostly women create the
geometric designs with rice flour. Colams
celebrate the impermanence of art and art as an essential aspect
of daily devotion. Their beauty of form and endless variety are at
once decoration and ritual.

Day Two:
On the morning of the second day of construction the potters completed the
task of winding the straw ropes around the four wooden uprights. They then
applied a four-inch wall of clay so that four large tubes about 40 inches tall
were formed, each serving as a metaphorical leg. Next, four vertical uprights
were fixed at the inside comer of the base of the central rectangular support
previously completed. Straw ropes were wound around them to create an
armature for a thick application of clay. The potters worked surely and
quickly in spite of a 112 degree Fahrenheit temperature. Descendants of
generations of clay craftsmen, they have learned the skills from childhood
and are concerned only with the work at hand, In the afternoon they
completed the front and rear legs and the central rectangular support. The
front legs now stood as a single unit 44 inches high, 38 inches wide, and 17
inches across, measured at the top center. By fixing wooden supports to the
wooden uprights, the potters created a horizontal passage of clay that
bridged the two front and rear legs. The clay mixture was laid over and
under these supports to create a level horizontal surface. This completed,
nothing more could be done until the horizontal passages of clay stiffened.
 The legs of the horse
are constructed of four
wooden poles, rice
straw, and rope. Clay
slurry is applied over all.
The potters bridged the
front and rear legs.
The two front legs
are now stiffened.
Katervil uses a
wooden support
covered with rice
straw to form a
compressible
internal support. As
the thick clay
passages dry and
shrink the internal
straw support
compresses to
prevent cracking.

Day Three:
On the morning of the third day, additional wood supports were placed
horizontally to connect the front legs to the central support and. then to the
rear legs' unit. The potters molded the horse's under-belly by laying "gobs"
of the clay directly on the wood supports (both above and underneath); this
process produced a slab four inches thick, seven feet, ten inches long, and
thirty-four inches wide! Such a feat was possible only because of the wooden
internal support system.

Third Day of Construction. To bridge the

pillars forming the legs and the central
support unit clay was applied over
horizontal lengths of wood wrapped with
rice straw held in place with rope. To
prevent cracking rice straw is essential
as an internal support because it
 compresses as the clay dries and
shrinks. Four wooden poles wound with
rope and rice straw formed an internal
support on which clay was applied to
form the central support unit. The height
of all three units is three feet, eight
inches.

After the burning rays of the sun had stiffened the slab, the potters next
added coils of clay to form the curve of the belly, a process which added
seven inches to the height. They tapered the edge of the final coil. When the
clay was stiff, the diagonal slant provided a broader surface and hence a
good join for the next application of clay.

Day Four: In the afternoon the potters, using thick gobs of the basic clay
mixture, modeled the figure of the guardian (or groom) of Aiyanar's horse
directly on the surface of the central support form.

The modeling of the image of Aiyanar's groom starts with massive

gobs of the clay mixture and will be finished with a levigated slip
mixed with sand. This older, mustached image symbolizes the
neither aspects of the deity's nature. Katervil's deft fingers bring the
image to life and vitality. Potter-priest and master clay craftsman of
both utilitarian and sculptural forms, he models the groom of
Aiyanar with thick gobs of clay on the central support of a massive
Aiyanar horse image. He, poses beside the completed form which
took two hours to complete.

An older, moustached
image on the opposite side
of the central support
column symbolizes the
neither aspects of
Aiyanar's nature...dark
and problematic. The
smooth, ever youthful groom seen here
symbolizes his divine nature.
 Day Six: lengths of bamboo are placed inside the figure to complement
exterior supports.

Katervil laid wooden sticks

horizontally to connect the
front legs, central support
column and rear legs. He
applied the clay mixture
around these supports to
form a horizontal slab,
thirty-four inches wide by seven feet ten
inches long.

Horizontal lengths of bamboo (one visible on the top interior

wall) are used to support the walls and to reduce accidental
damage by children or cows. Because the shrine is sacrosanct
there is no intentional vandalism.

Some of the passages were four inches thick, attesting to the

non-plastic nature of the basic clay mixture. An application of
pure clay over the coarse basic clay followed, and detailing was
done with fingers and a wooden modeling tool. The modeling
skills are of a high order and result in a figure with remarkable spring and
incipient energy.

Katervil and two assistants are shown in process of hand

modeling in high relief the bells associated with Hindu and some
village deities. In the modeling of the jewels, bells, and other
decorative details, the intersection of the potter's skills and the
common elements of Indian design are seen. The decorative
clay bands are identical to those applied to mounts on great
temples by stone carvers, and to processional mounts and
decorative architecture by wood workers...the skills of the
garland and harness maker all flow behind the potter's skill.
 Ron du Bois and 16mm 7th Day of Construction.
film camera. Aiyanar Ron du Bois, Indo
Shrine, Puthur, American Fellow, with
Tamilnadu, South India, massive terracotta
1980. An attendant horse in process of
holds an umbrella over construction. The final
the camera to protect it height of the massive
from the blistering sun. sculpture was nine feet,
At 114 degrees F., the ten inches. An ancient
camera could become terracotta horse built
burning hot and the over 100 years ago is
canister of film inside seen in the background.
ruined. A homemade Photo by Ray Meeker,
evaporative cooler was 1980.
devised to store and
save the 16mm film
canisters from damage.
They were kept dry by
placing them a lidded
plastic container. This in
turn was placed within a
large terracotta vessel.
Sand poured around the
plastic storage container
was then watered to cool
the film by evaporation.

The basic clay mixture is similar to what, in the West, is considered to be a

"castable" -a clay body suitable for bricks, refractory linings, or kiln
construction but rarely considered as suitable for ceramic sculpture. Again,
to the Western craftsman, a kiln for firing ceramic sculpture would appear
essential. As a result he limits himself to forms that can be lifted and moved
into a kiln. The idea of firing "in situ" at the site of construction rather than in
a studio/workshop has never been the practice. Permanent kilns, plumbing
and wiring for gas, oil, or electricity have all been part of the Western
paradigm - yet the Etruscans, pre-Columbians, Africans, and the potter-
priests of India as well all constructed temporary clay walls for on-site firing
of monumental ceramic forms.
 Only a portion of the The back is then
back form is closed. To completely closed by a
form the tail a wire massive clay slab
serves to support solid supported by shards
masses of the soft clay placed on sticks within
mixture. the horse.

A red slip or sigillatta is applied to

seal and to smooth the course
surface. The length of the horse is
thirteen hands, the height of both
torso and legs is each four hands.
The length of the still to be built
neck will be four and one-half
hands. These proportions passed
from father to son may be adjusted
only slightly depending on the
judgment of the team leader.
The face on the breast of the horse
is Yallee...it's fierce gaze guides the
god on his nightly rides. Developed
over the ages this image is shared
with the Hindu art of large towns
and cities, but is now part of the
village modeling tradition. Able to
see in all directions, able to see into
the
future. Because of this he guides
the horse safely

Day Nine: The entire neck, saddle and tail are complete.

Right: To prevent sagging a

wooden brace was used to
support the mass of soft clay
used to form the head. It is
now the 10th morning and
the clay has stiffened
overnight. The potters work
 to complete the final details -
eyes, ears, bridle, mouth,
teeth and tongue.

Day Twelve: Moist earth chopped from an adjacent drainage ditch was
carried by baskets to the construction site to form the wall for an "open
Field" firing. At a height of 18 inches it is left to stiffen before adding more
earth. A 10 inch wall thickness is maintained until the final height of five feet
is attained.

Right: The image peeks out, almost completely

covered by earth, clay vessels, wood, dung, and
straw. As the wall grows around the image, the
image of the beast inside is felt. The horse
remains an almost mythical creature in South
India ...imported in small numbers for the ancient
kings, and now transformed from clay into the
mount of a god.

A slurry made from ditch mud and water is

carried in baskets and poured over the
straw...five men take only twenty minutes to
spread the thick slip over the entire surface and
to overlap the clay wall. The fire is started
through a firehole igniting the layers of straw,
dung and wood that surround and support the
figure.

Day Fourteen: The firing is completed within three hours.

The potters brought the project to a conclusion with a final puja (religious
ceremony) and a "bringing to life" of the successfully fired and decorated
horse. It is hoped that these notes and photographs will benefit Western
craftsmen and serve to enhance internationally the most impressive but
little-known skills of Indian potters.

In southern districts of Tamilnadu, almost all villages have the Ayyanar

(another form of Lord Aiyappa in Hindu Mythology) or Karuppasamy (a Deity
worshipped as a Guardian for Villages) temples. In Such temples the Clay
Horses are placed and worshipped by the people as it is considered as a
Vehicle of Lord Ayyanar. There are numerous Clay horses in Sree SiraiMeeta
Ayyanar, Sree Seguttaiyanar temples in M.Soorakkudi, a village of 50-Kms
away from Madurai. It has very famous Festival of carrying such horses from
the place where they built to the temples in the months of May/June Every
year.

Thus India leads the world for Places of traditional Culture and Heritage
Monuments.

Footnotes:

• 1-2 Stephen R. Inglis, "Night Riders: Massive Temple Figures of Rural

Tamil Nadu, in V. Vijayavenugopala (ed.) A Festschrift for Prof. M.
Shanmugam Pillai, Madurai University Press, 1980.
• 3 Stella Kramrisch, Unknown India: Ritual Art in Tribe and Village.
Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Ron du Bois, an emeritus professor of art, taught ceramics and studio art at
Oklahoma State University, USA. He was Fulbright professor to Korea in
1973-74, where he taught ceramics at three Korean universities. His award
winning documentary, The Working Processes of the Korean Folk Potter, was
filmed at that time. In 1979-80, du Bois traveled extensively in India as a
1979-80 Indo-American fellow to research and document the work of Indian
potters. Among other projects he filmed the entire construction of perhaps
the last massive terracotta horse to be built in India. The documentary, "The
Working Processes of the Potters of India: Massive terracotta Horse
Construction" was completed under the auspices of the National Endowment
for the Humanities and deals with the subject matter of this article. In 1987,
du Bois was awarded a 10 month Fulbright Senior Research Scholar grant,
African Regional Research program, to research and document Nigerian
potters. For information on his POTTERS OF THE WORLD FILM/VIDEO SERIES
contact: Ron du Bois, Professor Emeritus,
http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/dubois, 612 S. Kings St., Stillwater, OK 74074,
(405) 377-2524, email: duboisr@sbcglobal.net, fax: 1-405-372-5023

Source: www.ceramicstoday.com