The holiest sanctuary of the Muslims is Kaaba, the Black Stone in Mecca. It is a stone of great sanctity. It represents divinity on earth for the Islamic world. The ancient Greek civilisation worshipped the images of pagan gods in stones. King Ashoka’s edicts, carved on stones, speak of the socio-religious history of his time.

The shrines chiseled out of big boulders in the form of temple chariots, known as ‘Panch Pandava Rathas’ and the shore Temple at Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), stand as the soaring spiritual aspirations translated into cosmic images on stones. The Hindu, Buddhist and Jain icons and idols, cut and carved on rocks in the caves at Ajanta and Ellora and Elephanta in Maharashtra, are divine spectacles.

Stones speak. And stones cut and carved into shapes and images speak eloquently. Idols in stones are esteemed to be the manifestation of the Supreme Being. Even uncut stones had a highly symbolic meaning for ancient and primitive societies. They were believed to be the dwelling places of spirits, gods and goddesses and objects of religious veneration. They Vaishno Devi cave shrine in J&K is one example. Another could be the uncut stone image of Lord Shiva at Kedarnath.

For lingayats in South India, Lord Shiva is the archetypal symbol. The lingayat-women wear small replicas of lingam in black stone around their necks to propitiate Lord Shiva, the God of fertility and prosperity.

Men expressed in graven images what they felt to be the soul of a rock by working it into a recognisable form. In many cases, the form was, more or less, definite approximation to the human figure. As the self-expression of the artist, stone speak for themselves. Thus, temple sculptures, all over India, manifest the moment of divine inspiration, the moment of unselfconscious awareness.

Even erotic sculptures carved on the sacred surfaces of the temples at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, were prompted by the philosophy of religion. The exquisite temple edifices tell the tale of love inscribed on stones. They were created with the noblest of human aims, merging of soul with self, of man with God.

The history has it that the Chandella rulers fought a series of battles. Many young men, fearing conscription, deserted their homes, renounced the world, and became ascetics. It was to get such ascetics return to a life of conjugal bliss that the Chandella rulers got erotic sculptures erected to sexually incite young mendicants, visiting temples for religious rituals and prayers.

Lord Krishna in the Gita preaches "renunciation not of life, but renunciation in life". This is true of the erotic sculptures, which represent the celebration of life. When love and faith (shradha) mingle, it leads to the stage of devotion, (bahkti).

It is this devotion, this service of the Lord, this loving attachment to God, that graven images seek to kindle. The stone acts as a ‘mediator’ between man and God.