Secular art from the temples of Rajasthan

Mother and Child from Ranakpur Jain temple
Mother and child as I travelled to Boroli temples recently

the Sun Temple Jhalrapatan--Mother child
Shantinath Jain temple--Mother Child

The artist who did the Ranakpur sculpture above has shown the child holding the necklace of the mother. While I travelled to Boroli Temples near Kota I came across the mother in photo above. Her child also holds the necklace while nestling in the comfortable lap of his mother.
When i moved like an energised horse from one area of Rajashtan to another studying temples as old as 4th 5th century or earlier, i started building up a vocabulary of social life of the time. the artists of those times worked hard to create godly art by using the obligatory books on Shilp Shastra as guide post. but they also sculpted ordinary people and also their emotions and their life.
Mother and child is a perennial subject and from the Nativity of Christ and Virgin Mary to Bal Gopal--the child Krishna have all been depicted by artists. The celebrated Thanjaur paintings studded with gold leaf and precious stones are all about the charms of child Krishna.
The love of mother for her baby is about continuity of life in all forms on this planet.the feeling of love for the child in a mother's heart is called 'Vatsallya' in Sanskrit. most of the temples that i visited had on the outer portion of the temples large sized mother sculpture cuddling her child holding her across her midriff while the child holds her mother's breast with one hand.
Life is a celebration in Hinduism and mother's love is the height of the sacred celebration of humanity. the love of a mother is no different from one time to another. the mother and her child i met on my way to Boroli temples was the one depicted in temple wall more the 1500 years before!!