The painted statues which cover all of the urban temples are quite extraordinary. The books say they are moulded in stucco, but from my experience all of the recent ones are moulded in concrete, used like plaster of Paris. When it is firmly cured it is painted cream and then over painted in the brightest household gloss paints imaginable. The detail is wonderful and as far as I can see, done without any pattern or guide. I have watched young men balancing on bare scaffold poles dabbing with dreadful old brushes but achieving wonderful precision and colour. When looking at the ancient stone carvings at Mahabalipuram (Durga above bottom right for example) you have to remember that originally they would have been painted just as brightly. It is only in recent European history that plain, unadorned stone was felt to be the "right" finish for a stone statue. Even the Greek statues and Parthenon were painted. Greeks used marble because it gave a good finish for painting, not because they though it look beautiful.