South India has a rich heritage of bronze sculptures at various temples and ancient palaces. These sculptures are able to fascinate the senses and full with of mystery and ecstasy and the artistic appeal of them is undeniable.

The bronze images in the South Indian sculptures 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. 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 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 got 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.

There are mainly two methods of casting. One of them is known as `cire perdue` because the wax model, which served as the core of operation, is coated with clay and then melted out leaving a mould into which liquid metal is poured to cast a solid image. After the image is cast, the mould is demolished so that no two images look alike. The second method involves the subject is modelled in clay and then the core is coated with wax that in turn was covered with a coat of clay. After draining out the wax by heating, the mould is used to make a hollow image.

These south Indian bronze images are made of metal alloy consisting mainly five auspicious metals called the panchaloha- copper, silver, gold, brass and lead. The other metals which are used include tin, lead and in traces arsenic and iron. The presence of lead metal helps the sthapati (sculptor) to chisel and engrave on the icon. It is said that gold and silver are added to the bronze as per the Silpasastras but are hardly found on actual analysis.

The bronze images of South India are classified into three classes mainly. These are -
i) `Chala` i, e, moveable, which are in bronze and are easily portable;

ii) The `utsava beras`, or procession deities;

iii) `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-
i) Chitra - images are round with limbs completely shown;
ii) Chitrarda - figures in half relief and
iii) 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.