Sculptures are most valuable objects in a gallery
of a museum as a visual representation of the glorious past. They carry a great
deal of social-cultural evidences from the days gone by with them. CU Museum
has 52 stone and 25 bronze sculptures in its collection. A large portion of
this collection has come as antiquities confiscated by the country’s customs
and police authorities. The black basalt stone and metal sculptures are
depicting diverse religious belief. Most of them belong to Hindu cults of
“Pala-Sen” (AD 800 to AD 1200) dynasty. One Surya image of this collection
shows Gupta influence. These Brahmanical and Buddist iconography constitute
belief, attitude, implement, style in textile, ornament and coiffure and other
ideas from antiquity. The stone sculptures are in the gallery with a
chronological order as Vaisnava, Saiva, Saura, Sakta, and Ganapatya
respectively. Those images significantly bear the skill of the sculptors, the
urge of the patrons and the devotion of their keepers. The send stone sculpture
Garudarudha Visnu of 9th century AD found in Mirsarai, Chittagong is
an oldest cult.
In addition, wooden and metal sculptures are also
carrying the fruits of aesthetic impulse of the artists that very much
fascinating to visitors as well as scholars.
We have published a descriptive catalogue on the
stone sculptures prepared in 2011 by Dr Samsul Hossain, former deputy curator
of the museum. It is one of the existing research works of the Iconography of
the Bengal sculptures.
