The Role of Temple Sculptures in Narrating Mythology and Cultural History
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Keywords

Sculpture
Iconography
Cultural Memory
Temple Architecture
Spiritual
Conservation
Heritage

How to Cite

The Role of Temple Sculptures in Narrating Mythology and Cultural History. (2026). Journal of Asiatic Society for Social Science Research, 8(1), 286-291. https://www.asssr.in/index.php/jasssr/article/view/275

Abstract

Temple sculptures serve not merely as decorative adornments of sacred architecture but as a profound medium for visual storytelling narrating mythology, encoding cosmological symbolism, and reflecting social and cultural history. Through carefully carved deities, mythic narratives, celestial beings, dancers, everyday life scenes, and symbolic motifs, sculptures transform a temple into a three-dimensional text that communicates religious beliefs, moral values, cosmic order, and societal life across generations. These sculptural narratives help preserve collective memory, transmit cultural heritage, reinforce religious identities, and offer insights into socio-economic, artistic, and spiritual milieus of their times. In this way, temple sculpture becomes both a spiritual bridge between the human and divine and a historical record of the civilization that created it.

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References

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2026 Raju Chatarsing Pardeshi (Author)

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