The 'festival image': the portable (usually bronze) form of a temple deity, carried out of the sanctum in procession during festivals, as distinct from the fixed stone image (mula-murti) in the shrine. The Chola lost-wax bronzes, including the Nataraja, are the supreme examples.

Where this term appears

• The Chola Age and the Temple as Institution History →

  They cast these as utsava-murtis , "festival images," the portable form of the god that is carried out of the dark sanctum in procession through the streets, dressed and garlanded and shown to the people, the g…

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