Metalwork in South India is one of the finest chapters of Dravidian art. The art pf southern India was primarily dedicated to the Hindu religion, especially to the worship of Lord Shiva. The popularity of the great Yogin, at once creator and destroyer, began in the eighth century when bands of Saivite holy men journeyed through the country singing hymns with reference to every shrine they visited. The impact of this cult is strongly reflected in the temple architectures as well as South Indian bronze sculptures.

Following the casting method of cire perdue or `lost wax` process the South Indian metal sculptures were predominantly made of bronze with a large copper content. The canons of proportion that the South Indian icons followed was similar to those of the Buddhist sculptures. The total height of the statue in proportion to the number of thalams or palms that comprised it depended on the hieratic status of the deity represented. Similarly three distinct poses were employed to express the spiritual qualities of special deities. These poses included a directly frontal, static position reserved for gods in a state of complete spiritual equilibrium, poses in which the image was broken more or less violently at two or three points of its axis and a pose reserved for the great gods personifying cosmic movement or function. Besides these, mudras were also depicted in South Indian bronze sculptures. Whilst admiring these exquisite pieces of art one will notice a fixed pattern of head-dresses and jewellery that were used to drape the icons deities of the Hindu pantheon.

The best instances of South Indian bronze sculpture in the 11th century are the images of Shiva saints. One of the most popular of these is Sundaramurtiswami, whom Shiva claimed as his disciple on the youth`s wedding day. This figure is cast in tribhanga pose reminding the onlooker of the sculptures belonging to the Sunga period. A unique combination of traditional elements, subordinated to a kind of elegant attenuation and litheness, is an impressive feature of the South Indian bronze sculptures. Similar to some of the pieces of the Gupta period, the figurines of South India appear as marvellous realisations of a moment between movement and tranquility, together with a suggestion of a quality of breathless rapture denoted by the gestures and the tension of the form. Such statues of Shiva saints personify the readiness of the devotee for his divinity. However these statues can be differentiated on the basis of types and attributes.

Most of these bronze sculptures can be traced back to the 8th century BC. The Pallava rulers mainly constructed them being inspired by the devotional literature of that period. During the rule of the Chola kingdom, the temple building reached a new height creating a need for idols. The Chola Empire was full of skilled craftsmen and necessary materials. They got the royal patronage and along with growing temple ritualism enriched by passionate bhakti, bronze sculptural art in South India touched great heights.

The Pallavas laid down the base of the bronze sculptures in South India and the tradition was continued and enriched by the Chola rulers and Nayak rulers. During the British period, the patronage was decreased and thus the art form deteriorated but it has somehow survived the colonial rule. Thereafter, the art of making bronze sculpture left the royal courts and took shelter in the countryside. Thus, the steady influence of folk art in the physiognomic details of the figures can be seen in the bronze sculptures of South India. The beauty of the figures of these sculptures was thus tarnished sometimes by excess ornamentation. The South Indian bronzes are considered to be excellent from the point of view of technique and workmanship.

The most outstanding image of south Indian bronze is that of Nataraja or Shiva, the lord of dance. To the Dravidian imagination, Shiva`s dance, the Nadanta, is the personification of all the forces and powers of the cosmic system in operation, the movement of energy within the universe. In him is their dayspring, in him their death. This superb piece of art connotes the unity of human consciousness by depicting religion, science, and art equally. Lord Shiva is seen in dancing pose; a dance (tandava) that personifies his universe in action and destruction. The bronze images in the South Indian sculptures, thus, present a quality of everlasting nobility. The perfect tenderness of feelings in the figures, the grace and rhythm of the dancing figures, the power, life and action that is manifested, ensure their place among the masterpieces of the world.

The bronze images of South India are classified into three classes mainly.

These are -

`Chala` i, e, moveable, which are in bronze and are easily portable;

The `utsava beras`, or procession deities;

`Achala` (immoveable), in stone, large and very heavy and are usually the malavigrahas which are fixed permanently in the central shrine, as the statues in the sanctum, and chalachala (moveable-immoveable).

According to another classification of the bronze images of South India, there are three kinds namely-

Chitra - images are round with limbs completely shown;

Chitrarda - figures in half relief and

Chitrabhasa - images painted on walls.

The South Indian Bronze images are unique and have different styles of each of the five periods such as the Pallava, early Chola, late Chola, Vijayanagar and modern.

The South Indian bronze sculptures follow a canon of absolute beauty, mathematical purity and clarity of form. Thus, in a way these images represent the Indian ideal. Like all Indian images, they were emblematic evocations, not descriptions, of a deity that the worshipper had always in his heart and mind. Hence the art of these South Indian icons does not embrace the language of any one time or any one place, but a language that can be understood universally and eternally.