In India, the aim of art was never to imitate nature or to recreate reality through illusionistic devices; rather, the goal was to produce an idealized form. Sculptors did not model their images on living beings: whether the subject was a god or a mortal, the artist strove to convey a stylized ideal.
The prototype for the female torso was the vajra, a double-headed divine thunderbolt, or the damaru, a waisted drum held by the god Shiva. Following such models specified in ancient texts, sculptors invariably produced an idealized female form with narrow waist, broad hips, and high, rounded breasts. The arms, shapely and elongated, were created to resemble the slender, pliant bamboo shoot. Eyes were modeled on the lotus petal or the fish. No specific attributes distinguish human from divine figures; gods and goddesses as well as ordinary men and women are equally sensuous in their portrayal. Given this standardized visual vocabulary, it is rare that the work of an individual sculptor with a distinctive aesthetic style emerges from the dozens of images carved on temple walls.