Posts Tagged ‘Pallava’

Aug

The Pride of Panamalai - recreated -part 1

We were overjoyed with the overwhelming response we received for our attempt to recreate the Pallava Somaskandar Paintings in Kanchi Kailasanathar temple which we carried as three parts - part 1, part 2 and part 3. Thanks to the stupendous work of Smt Subhashini Balasubramanian for whom art flows in the blood, coming in the line of legendary artists Sri Maniam and Sri Maniam Selvan, we proceed to attempt another difficult project.

It was in 2009, when we led a team of Ponniyin Selvan enthusiasts up the small hillock near Sengi - Panamalai.

To catch sight of the brilliance of Sri Rajasimha Pallava’s stupendous creation - The Panamalai Talagirisvara temple.

There is something about the graceful symmetry of Rajasimha’s Vimana’s that give them a lasting allure.

But this one contained something more exquisite inside it. We have already seen how the great connoisseur King, had embellished his entire creation from wall to wall with stunning works of art - yes, every inch would have been painted, in the Kanchi kailsanathar temple - Panamalai was also similarly jewelled - with art. But sadly, only a few remain. But you will see, how even a single brush stroke of the Pallava artist has an unique brilliance in it.

There are hardly any remnants of the art work in the main Sanctum or Vimana, however, as you move around, just on the right side of the Vimana - there is, at a height of about 4 feet, a Sanctum, having a Shiva Linga. There are no steps and you have to brave the climb, for it holds the treasure.

Do not be fooled by the first casual glance, for the inside walls of this shrine hold possibly the most beautiful of maidens in all of land south of the Vindyas.

There is more to be seen, but we start with her today.

The Pride of Panamalai - Umai. She reveals herself to you, as you go near and words fail to even form, as the sensory overload stuns you.

Despite the ravages of time and human neglect, the perfection of the lines, the mastery over color, form, shade and the effects which their confluence create, the emotion that they bring out in so lithe a form.

Much of the plaster had fallen off and what remained of the background was tough to decipher, except for the colorful Umbrella. For eg, the outline seemed to resemble a typical Pallava cave pillar ( to her left)

You would have noticed that Umai is on the right wall, the main back wall too has very faint lines.

On closer study, we realised that it was Shiva dancing his triumphant Alidhanrita dance after destroying the three cities ( Tripurantaka). We will try and see more in a subsequent post, but why we need to know that , is because a similar composition of Rajasimha exists in Kanchi Kailasanthar, not in paint but in Stone.

Here too, we see Umai or Tirupurantaki in a similar ( slightly different) posture

Armed with this knowledge, would it be possible for us to recreate this lost painting and try to show her in all her glory. Well, we let you judge. Over to Subhashini

The colors and texture being worked upon.

Its important to mention here that as with the previous attempt where we got help from Jagadeesh, this time, we got help from another unexpected quarters. For quite sometime, there were very few images of Panamalai on the net and the best were those of Mr Franck RONDOT. I wrote to him explaining our intentions with samples of the previous attempt and he readily sent us his original pictures. They are of immense value to us both for this and also our future attempt for the Alidhanrita, since his were taken many years back and could have more of the original lines and colors !

Our thanks also to PSVP team of Saurabh, Shaswath, Shriram and many others for making the trip and sharing their pictures.

and we start with here

To be continued..

The earliest Vishnu Bronzes and their current state

“Ignorance is Bliss” they say and so too ” A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”! The real meaning of these two dawned on me via the events that unfurled over the last couple of months.

A fortuitous visit to London made me avail of an exciting visit to the Museums in London and the honeymoon with bronzes continued in their splendid confines. The little initiation into Bronzes led me to the smaller exhibits as the early bronzes were diminutive in size but enormous in value - not just in $ terms but the wealth of information they held within them.

The object that caught my attention was an early Vishnu bronze, dated to the 9th C. The beauty of the exhibit was matched by the quality of the display thereby offering it the respect it deserved.

The characteristics of this bronze beauty, the pronounced Srivatsa mark, the Yagnopavitha etc give it a late Pallava or early Chola date. Why early Chola is simple to understand - firstly due to its smaller size, the Prayoga Chakra etc.

Why late Pallava needed further study. ( we will study them all in detail in the coming posts). This is where the pursuit started to find bronzes that would predate the above beauty.

Once again, the 1963 publication Bronzes of South India - P.R. Srinivasan, came to help. The earliest Vishnu Bronzes assigned to the Pallava period - 8th C CE are the Perunthottam bronzes ( Mayavaram region).

The earliest of course is this beauty - dated to the early half of the 8th C CE

The other follows closely - second half of the 8th C CE.

They are so important that their features are studied in 5 pages in the seminal work by Sri P.R. Srinivasan. Before, we dwell into that, the current location mentioned is what sent my heart racing - Tanjore Art Gallery ! It set my mind racing as there was no memory of seeing such an exhibit there. Checked with our friends and the answer again was in the negative. Not willing to give up, i scanned through the entire database of images from the Tanjore Art Gallery and well past 4 am hit pay dirt in Satheesh’s contributions.

Yes, there they were, relegated to the last row of an unnamed cabinet, with just some numbers painted on them, amidst later statues. Do you spot them now?

I wanted to make sure that it was indeed these priceless exhibits that are suffering this ignominy - so I sought the help of friends and Satheesh again obliged by making the trip to the gallery. This time, they seemed in a much sadder state - with some broken plastic thrown into the cabinet as well. But, yes, there is no doubt they are indeed the earliest known Vishnu Bronzes of South India.

What sickens me is the lackadaisical attitude, am sure that any scholar of repute would know the value of such an exhibit. Infact, the above mentioned book is on sale at the Chennai Museum and its first Hindu article are these bronzes ( following Buddhist statues). I hope someone will help to take this to the notice of the authorities and help to set up a proper display befitting the stature of these priceless treasures.

Coming back to study the bronzes, its really an interesting topic. I would first like to throw up some early Stone standing sama bhanga Vishnu’s for your reference - The famous Vishnu from the shrine sculptured in relief in the Mallai great penance panel, the Vishnu from the Adhi varaha Mandabam, The Harihara from the Dharamaraja Ratha ( thanks Saurabh for the two photos), the puzzling Vishnu from Kilamavilangai cave ( Thanks Shashwath).