Tag Archives: Elephants

An assisted Elephant calving

Happy new year 2013 to all readers and we start the new year with an amazing miniature from a little known but beautiful Siva temple in Srimushnam.

Thanks to Pradeep Chakravarthy the new year begun with a trip to Srimushnam with expert scholar Dr. Marxia Gandhi . There were many highlights to the trip but to start with let me show you the rarest…

As we finished visiting the Boovarahaswamy temple and walked around to the Siva shrine…a massive brick wall welcomed us – we were not expecting such a large premises.

( second image is from Sri Rajendran – Raju’s temple visits

One look at the main shrine was enough to pump energy into the tired legs – an early Chola temple.

But the highlight was….before that, a short introduction .. its been on my mind ever since i saw the article ( in tamil) in Varalaaru.com

The description of 3 adult elephants playing mid wife to mother as she delivered her calf was etched into my memory. From then on have been on the lookout for a similar sculpture. So, to my utter surprise and delight, a small decorative column found in-between the Devakostas seemed to be vaguely similar.


The sculpture was so small which accentuated its beauty.

The centre swirl was the one that had caught my attention. Initially apprehensive if it were depicted something else naughty, on closer inspection it did reveal its true intent.



Thanks to Raghavendra Prasad for quickly making a sketch for us to understand better. The way the mother is shown as holding on to the creeper border design with her trunk is scintillating.

These two depictions follow a pattern – where one of the mid wives seem to man the front, the middle one is maybe assisting in constricting the stomach or holding the mother up on her legs and the third one seems to hold up the tail for easy exit ! It would be interested to compare any study or footage in the wild and know if this does happen so in the wild as well.

Sittanavasal – the zenith of painting

Everything about Sittanavasal is clouded in mystery. Partly due to the sheer ignorance of common folk and largely due to ridiculous apathy of our system. How else can I describe the continued neglect of this zenith of painting excellence. Had even 1% of what is here, been in any other country, it would be celebrated as a nation treasure !! We have already seen couple of posts which showed the pathetic condition of these fantastic creations. Today, thanks to Mr Ashok Krishnaswamy – who is planning on bringing them out in the medium and in the form that would befit their worth. They are his copyrighted ones. I am forever indebted to him for willingly sharing these with us, so that we might bring out the beauty in this stellar composition and hopefully save what is left of it, at least digitally.

I was first introduced to the magnificence of this particular composition during a session with Prof Swaminathan. From that day, onwards its been more of a penance to bring this as a post, showcasing its true beauty to all. Me and Arvind were there last December, the terrain was harsh and we didn’t have the necessary paperwork to get them on our cameras. Good thing at that, for what we saw needed the expert hands of a professional. ( incidentally This Jaina site and its paintings were first noticed by a local historian S. Radhakrishna Iyer in 1916)

The rockface you see holds two treasures. One on top and one at its bottom. We will see the top one some other time.

We reached the cave front and were immediately taken aback at the site of the front pillars. They were not really the ones you expect of a cave of that date – clear later date additions !!

The rock cut cave could be stylistically dated to the 7th C CE ( notice the chunky pillars ala mahendra style) and was extensively renovated in the 9th C as we glean from an inscription that is on the pillar to the left of the original cave front ( once you step inside – to your right).

The inscriptions is in Tamil and talks of a Jain Ilan Gautaman who renovated the ardta mandapam during the reign of पंड्या king Srimaran-Srivallabhan (815 – 862 AD).

We already saw the location of the two dancers in the previous post, now we go to the main course. The piece de resistance of Arivar Koil ( yes, thats the original name of cave)

The painting style has been done in what is called Fresco Secco – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresco-secco

The treatise Silparatna by Kumaradeva (8th century) gives an account of the Fresco-secco painting technology in detail. According to this text, a picture should be painted with appropriate colours along with proper forms and sentiments (rasas), and moods and actions (bhavas). White, yellow, red, black and terraverte are pointed out in the text as pure colors. Different shades were also prepared from these original colors. Five types of brushes with various shapes and size (flat, long, medium etc.) made of animal hair and grass fibre are also recommended

Whats great about this work, is the difficulty quotient. Working on raised platforms, the artist would have had to work long hours lying down, mixing colors ( mineral dyes at that) and applying them in that position, would have been such a pain.

I can see some of you getting impatient, lets bring it on. Here come the paintings.

Well, whats so great about this work. Let me take you through this journey – visually. Let me mark the areas where you have to focus on.

Still finding it tough, Ok, let me try another way. This is a lotus pond and is filled with lively fishes.

Lets zoom in on a few frolicking fish and see the detailing of the fish.




There are many more hiding in the pond, take your time, go back and see if you can spot them.

Now, this is a huge pond and there aren’t just fishes. If i were to tell you that there is a bison, a buffalo, a cow, an elephant family and a whole herd of frightened geese in that frame, you are not going to believe me…are you.


Ok, lets start with the biggies first. There is actually a small baby as well, try and spot him. ( very vague though – come on – its a 1100 year old work). The large elephant seems have his trunk around a bunch of lotuses and pulling at them !!

Now to the bovines, focus on the top left of your screen. You can see a massive Bison who is starring back at you, just behind him is his mate.

Notice the construction of his massive horns and differentiation provided to those of the cow.


There is one more, but a different species to the bottom center. Yeah, a water buffalo ( must have been my dad’s favorite for he must have called me with that far more times than my own name !!). Notice how the three are expertly handled by the artist.

Now, there is one more badly faded image, which i presume to be that of a horse.

To add to all this fun, there are a whole bunch of geese as well – you could have noticed quite a few already along with the elephants.

But do you notice something in the eyes of these birds. The expert artist has brought forth a sense of alarm in their eyes.

What is it that is causing their alarm. Take a clue from the painting itself, look in the direction of their gaze.

Except for the bottom pair, who seem to disturbed by the elephant to their left, all the rest are looking at a single point in the pond.

Yes, there are two charming men in the pond, the main subjects of this theme. They are part of the Samava Sarana, a Jaina motiff. They are shown as collecting flowers.


One of them seems to be of a darker complexion and is shown in the process of plucking a lotus flower, while on his other hand hands a wicker basket with plucked flowers. Look at the mastery of the artist, you can see the pressure on the stalk as its been pulled !!

The second monk, behind him, is depicted even more spectacularly. He has this serene calm radiant beauty in his face and a gentle grace in his action of pointing the next flower to his friend.

The last exhibit needs a second look.If you notice the three stalks behind the young monk, you will notice a subtle difference in them. Yes, indeed. There are both lotuses and Lilly’s in this pond – a lily stalk is smooth whereas a lotus stalk is serrated.

Thanks to Doyen Sri Sivaramamoorthy’s sketches, we can also see how the outline would look


Such mastery over his art and total understanding of his subjects. Not to take away the variations of different stages of flowering of each – from bud onwards. But wait, we have only finished half the pond. We will see the other side in part 2 of this post.

A Sculpture Monalisa

This is an amazing sculpture of Shiva as Gajasamhara murthy ( gaja – elephant), samhara ( vanquish) ins sanskrit or Yaani uri porthia murthy ( yaani – elephant, uri – skin, porthia – cover or clad in) in Tamil. This beauty was brought from Darasuram to Tanjore museum.

We have seen many sculptures of this episode before, so whats so great about this one? you might ask. Well when i met one of my mentors Shri. Kudavoil Balasurbramaniam, i asked him about his favorite pieces. ( incidentally the same one was picked up by master sculptor Sri Umapathy in our recent interview – will post it – he is trying out a new form of showcasing these beauties in plates !!)

Well, K Balu Sir explained to me the splendor of this creation. At first glance, i did not pick the amazing details of this sculpture. There are many repetitions of this pose in later chola temples and also in other places, but the chola style is unique. Here is one from Chidambaram.

Chandra of course will pick the Pullamangai sculpture we saw earlier as his pick – since its a miniature and the delightful baby skanda jumping off parvathi’s hands.

But the beauty of this creation – standing at almost 6 feet, the sculptor really used the proportions to bring out at sculptural marvel.

Inorder to fully appreciate the greatness of this magnificent piece, i requested my good friend Mrs. Lakshmi Sharath who was going to Tanjore to get me some closeup pictures. ( Kathie also helped with her snaps!!!)

We have already seen the episode in detail in the earlier post, however the dynamic post, quote from Sri Vidya Dehejia’s book – Art of the Imperial Cholas

Also from Darasuram is a dynamic relief carving of Siva’s jubilant dance of triumph after killing the elephant demon Gajasura. Having flayed the elephant, Shiva held its skin in his outstretched hands and danced a tempestuous dance. The exaggerated twist of his body dramatically conveys his frenzied movement. One cannot but appreciate the sentiment of Saint Manikkavachakar, who described Shiva as a madman:

i shall call you
madman draped in elephant skin
poison throated madman,
madman dancing
amid the trees
of the burning ground,
madman clad in tiger skin,
madman who enslaved
even me.

But the beauty of the piece needs more elaboration. He has four hands on each side – look at how his fingers have torn into the elephant hide and protrude out. Oh! such splendid detailing.

Look at the ornamentation on the hands, legs, neck. The elaborate headdress, flowing locks forming a crown held back by a Skull shaped diadem, his knotted waist cloth swaying in the power of his dance. Exemplary art. But what is his lower left hand doing, its pointing the viewer towards the extreme left of the sculpture ( right as you view it).

Well well well, we see Parvathi in a kind of sidewards stance – her right shoulder is slightly pushed up, as though she is shielding someone, Oh!, there he is, baby skanda, cocooned by his mother, who doesn’t want him to witness the gory scene.

Here lies the magnificence of this sculpture. As you bend down and look upwards from the position of baby skanda, parvathi’s body would block the action of Shiva totally. But we return to the face of Shiva now, for the final flair of the artist, as a singer would finish off his masterful composition with a delightful alapana. Look closely at the face of shiva.


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The side facing away from Paravathi and Skanda – the right side ( left as you view it) – eyes brows are arched in anger, while the other side is more gentle

What is the inspiration for a sculptor – Pallava Mallai – my interpretation

I had asked this question in the original post – What is the inspiration for a sculptor ? True Mallai abounds with animals – the great penance panel with its whole forest / zoo of animals, the Govardhana panel with its cows etc, but this is a very unique sculpture, as it depicts no divine legend, no god figures – no puranic myth.

It would have taken the sculptor months of hard work – to sculpt such a realistic natural scene. But why did he do it. Doubt if the King would have commissioned him to do such a work. It is also not a causal fling, like a half hour sketch by a caricature artist.

This line of thought made me try to come up with some other reason, to explain the sculpture.

Here it goes: consider this – the sculptors of mallai were experts, clearly the work in mallai is not that of novices. So it couldn’t be like some finishing school, the degree of perfection in form is much too advanced. Their stone craft could not be mastered by common people and would have called for years of study under expert teachers – most probably, right from childhood, these sculptors would have been exclusively tutored in stone craft, with single minded devotion. Whether there was the system of father teaching son or established gurukulam like – we don’t know. But one thing is clear, to achive this kind of mastery over any art, the heart soul and everything else had to be devoted into the work.

Keeping the above in mind, my interpretation of the panel is :

The sculptor is the monkey

In sculpting the visibly joyous, frolicking , happy elephant family, he depicts what he has missed – loving family life, for he would have had to be in sculpture school at a very young age, missing the years of fun and frolic which a normal
kid would have got, which he is lost when he decided to pursue his passion.
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The peacock could be his lady love – again am sure these guys would never had time to lead a normal family live, most probably would have been geeky nerds with single minded approach to sculpture. Even if they married, they wouldn’t have spent much time in the pleasures of it.

Now look at the monkey again in the sculpture, he is visibly sad, has a sense of great loss but is also having a kind of searching / questioning face. He is looking at the viewer,as if asking, if all his sacrifices were worth it. what do you say, was it worth it

What is the inspiration for a sculptor – Pallava Mallai

Talk of abstract art, the sculptors of Mahabalipuram have for long captured my imagination. But despite breathing through all their works, i am still not able to comprehend their motives. For their class and perfection, why did they choose such subjects. Sculpting into the hardest stone and sculpting images of Gods is one thing – but take this little known Bas relief in Mahabalipuram – its right behind the Trimurthi cave, is purely a work of master art. The beauty of
this creation mimics the grace of nature.





From the bull elephant’s majestic grace, to its baby playing digging into the sand and its swirling trunk, the mother elephant’s head alone is shown above the Bull elephants body – Oh, such life. Sadly the bigger baby’s head is broken, but from the other three Elephants – look at the skill of the sculptor – the male elephant is shown with manly charm, majestic, the female with a loving almost motherly smile,while the baby is all mischief.

There is no parallel to Pallava sculptor when it comes to this – look at the graceful lines of the peacock. And to top it, the monkey – Oh, i am lost for words here. He seems to be alive and looking up at the viewer. Maybe the Pallava sculptors were alchemists or magicians who could turn living beings into stone by casting a spell or waving a wand. I cannot see these as hammered with chisel on stone, for they are breathed upon. A surreal experience.

The puzzle is as to why they toiled so hard on this panel – for it represents no God, no legend, no mythological scene. Almost like an elaborate florish of an artist on seeing a sunrise, an extempore speech by an orator on a hot debate, an outburst of poetry by a poet on seeing his lady love, the cheruby smile of an infant on seeing his mother – as if the sculpture wanted to capture a scene, just that this was not a mere brush stroke – but years of work! Why did he do it?

Images courtesy : Ponniyin Selvan egroup mallai trip – Mr. Shriram and Mr. Vinjamoor Venkatesh.

Art Inspired by sculpture Series – Belur Elephant – Prasad’s Sketch

its been sometime since we ventured into our art inspired by sculpture series. Our good friend Prasad has come up with a splendid sketch to take us to Belur today.
you can see all his works at his site here
Prasad’s Sketches blogsite

Prasad is uniquely gifted to be able to sketch in such a splendid fashion by just looking at just the picture from a photograph. Inorder for us to understand the task – view the photo and the sketch side by side.

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One interesting point to note, ( actually it was the reason for this post to happen) – is this picture. Is it the same elephant ? Got us confused for a sec.

My initial exposure to reading magazine especially tamil ones was the feature where you got to spot the 6 differences. Can you spot such…between these two sets.
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Lovely work Prasad, and keep them coming. The sculptor would be mighty pleased.

The Majestic Elephants of Mallai

A full grown tusker marching majestically is a sight that will always inspire you. No doubt it inspired the Pallava artist as well. But then the greatness in him that he breathed life into the hardest of stone and left us this superlative herd of elephants. They have been exposed to the elements for a 1000 years ( ok 1300 years), yet they still retain their essence inside this maze of characters in the great penance panel.
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Inorder to truly appreciate this, we need a series of pictures. How much the pallava artist observed the elephant, to not just depict it in stone – meaning like a fixed sculpture, but to show it with grace, elegance, the majestic walk, the slight twist of the trunk, the fullness of the tusk, the delicate flap of the ear….the bump of the forehead.
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Well, a friend did me a favor by framing these goats, to give new viewers an idea of space and dimension of the panel.
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Compare this with a live elephant picture may assist in appreciating his craft more
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Throw in the cute babies of the family happily sporting under the protective masses of their parents…not a full body, just a profile, a head here, a small cute trunk there. enough to bring you cheer. Its fills your heart with joy, love. truly a moving composition, a timeless beauty.
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Whats the elephant doing amidst all the art work in Mahabalipuram

Many a tourist has taken a picture having it as their backdrop. The immaculate proportions of this sculpture defy imagination. On a moonlit night one would easily mistake its silhouette for a real elephant. But what is it doing inside the `so called’ five rathas complex.

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To understand this you got to understand the evolution of the humble temple towers of south India…however to make it short, we are taking you on a pictorial tour….just keep in mind that the sculptor did not just try to exhibit his art here but also wanted to educate the viewer…only 1400 years ago ! such was the knowledge pool then, that these places of worship were not confined merely to awaken religious thoughts but also served as veritable treasure houses of art, literature, theater, community etc.

Ok, back to the question .. Whats the elephant doing amidst all the art work in Mahabalipuram.

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Seeing it as you walk towards the ratha complex you cant still make out the significance.

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A few careful pointers …and you are focusing on the elephant and then the building next to it.

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seeing them in isolation…no get them both into the same frame…not like that …not from the front…

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move towards the side , the rear….now does it dawn on you. ….

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yes, the style of the mandabam is called gajapristam …( Gaja – elephant, pristam – back…in sanskirt)…the greatness of this composition is the positioning of the two. Keep in mind both are carved out of live rock…and done specifically in that fashion …so that generations to come understand.

The three headed Elephant, Airavatham

The proverbial white elephant is an actual reality in Indian literature. This noble creature is the vehicle of the King of the Devas ( celestials)…Indra …. a la Zeus with his Thunderbolt. Not only is he white but has 33 heads.

Here is a depiction from a mural painting …

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Though there are other white elephants.. the Airawatam ( Erawan in thai/cambodian culture )is said to be the most powerful of all. Described as a huge elephant with silvery white body of 33 heads, each head has 7long ivory tusks. Each of his tusk is 16 million meters long, so huge that it can house 7 large lotus ponds, within each tusk also live thousands of angels and their servants.

This massive modern sculpture greets visitors at the entrance of the Erwan Museum in Thailand.

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Without doubt its almost impossible depict this creature in stone…and hence quite rare to see the full version of Erawan elephant with 33 heads, instead, many artists prefer to draw Erawan as a 3 headed elephant instead.

The Irrawaddy River in thailand is also named after Erawan …

We find the workship of indra and airavatam among the temples of ankor,
prasat preau, siam reap …

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In india some wonderful depictions exist…. in a cave at Bhaja not far from Mumbai that was the site of a Buddhist monastery – there is a stone relief carving showing Indra, king of the gods.

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He is seated upon Airavata with his thunderbolt in hand …in somnathpur.

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In The famous chola murals of tanjore big temple…there is airavatham…oh thats the subject of an entire new post….

Whats amazing is that the indian sculptor restricted to just one head while his cambodian couterpart depicts him with three heads.