This article by Rema Raghavan explains the ancient tradition of vigraha-making as prescribed in the Shilpa Shastra, where every step, from skeleton to skin, is crafted with precision, sacred materials, and ritual discipline. The author describes how Kadusarkara Yogam, a uniquely Kerala method, builds the deity stage by stage inside the Garbhagriha itself. Drawing parallels with the human body, the process develops skeletal, muscular, and nāḍi systems before the final form emerges. This painstaking art, the author notes, demands exceptional shilpis and over a hundred pure ingredients, resulting in living embodiments of divinity rather than mere idols.
