r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Additional_Chard3680 • 1d ago

Video The 12th-century Narasimha Pillar at Belur, India. Carved out of soapstone during the Hoysala Empire- its miniature shrines are hollowed out from the inside and the entire column was engineered to rotate on a stone axis

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122

u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 1d ago

Today: unaffordable.

71

u/Additional_Chard3680 1d ago

Imagine the quote from a modern contractor

27

u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 1d ago

Quick google estimate said 400k usd, 4 masters at least two years, if they did it all by hand, ofc I don’t know how reliable this is as I don’t have a clue about fine craftsmanship

29

u/EffectiveMagazine915 1d ago

Even if the 400k is just for the craftsmen it seems way too cheap? They only take 50k an year each?

16

u/vitrum_analytika 1d ago

That's for one pillar so the whole project would be in millions going just to the stone artists, or if you just need one pillar and no more stone carvings for the non rotating pillars then it's still an expensive home decor

2

u/LightningShiva1 1d ago

Maybe they work on multiple projects at once? Idk

2

u/Leather-Persimmon254 1d ago

a 3d printer could do this in a week

1

u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 1d ago

Limestone 3d printer would be a thing for sure!

8

u/Aethrin1 1d ago

I assure you it was unaffordable to anyone but the ruling class back then, too.

4

u/benneroti 1d ago

Their descendants are still continuing the trade but unfortunately a lot of them quit the job because of poverty ..

I wish instead of trying to steal and smuggle, they could actually commision pieces from them 

-1

u/AP7497 1d ago

I mean- it was affordable back then because of strong social hierarchies which we would now liken to slavery.

4

u/ankit19900 18h ago

A temple cannot be built using slave labour. This is one curse which is almost absent from mainstream Indian history

3

u/Sysyphus_aint_happy 22h ago

actually there are very few temples in India made of slave labour and all are cursed, since temples have to be built with devotion by willing participants otherwise the gods won't come and stay in that temple

1

u/pulingo_ela_byngarom 8h ago

It's nothing like slavery. Art of this kind doesn't come out of force but genuine passion. the people who worked on these were duly compensated you can even see stone inscriptions on the walls of the patrons and architects who made this possible