Unconnected icons – or are they?

Today, we are going to see some unconnected icons. But before that, a long pending paintings inspired by sculpture – aka temple. Not any temple but The Kailasantha Temple in Kanchipuram.

Rendered by Mr B. Sathish !

There are some icons ( and people) who have a magical allure to them and we could Photogenic but not sure if it applies to architecture, but the creations of Rajasimha – be it the Shore temple, the Panamalai Thaalagireershwarar or the Kanchi Kailasantha, they turn even amateur photographers raving mad. So imagine the plight of experts. Take a look at this work of Aadhi arts.

Really stunning are they not?

Now take a look at these.

Seemingly disconnected icons – The famous Bodhisattva mural from Ajanta, a slice of the penance panel from Mallai and the somaskanda painting from Kanchi Kailasanthar.

For regular followers, you have already seen the traces of the pallava artist’s fantastic creation in the
Recreating a lost treasure

Let me first explain the location of these amazing paintings.

You have to twist a bit to enter between the pillars and peep into to your left. If you are lucky you will get to see the four places where the Somaskanda paintings are still visible. Sadly, the rest of the spaces are used as storage for…

But this one is special. Peep inside the tavern while turning your head to the right.

What looks like a portion of black and maroon, is actually a portion of the original Pallava painting that would have adorned the whole side wall.

We step in closer to view the fantastic Kinnara couple. Notice the lovely lady playing a reed flute, the clawed feet and the style of the wings.

Now lets take a look at the Mallai Penance Panel

do you notice the similarity between the two couples – the clawed feet and the wings?

Now, both the locations we saw are from the Pallava school. But if i were to tell you that a similar creature is there in Ajanta as well, and that you have seen it so many times without registering it, would you believe me?

Yes, here we go

( photo & line drawing credits – An Album of Eighty-five Reproductions in Colour, Editor: A.Ghosh; Published by Archaeological Survey of India)

Found them ?

Truly art knew and knows no borders nor boundaries.

A crumbling treasure in Pullalur

It was almost noon and despite my folks showing various signals that it was past their endurance point, I was lost amidst the treasures of kanchi kailasanthar temple, when the jolt of my ( ok loan from Dad) samsung handphone brought me back to my senses.

“Vijay, come over on Kanchipuram Arakkonam route, am waiting near Tirumalpuram railway station. ” It was heritage enthusiast K.S. Shankaranarayanan. We were to go and try and cover the Early Chola temple in Tirumalpuram. Little did i realise what the rest of the day held in store for me. Halfway through, the landscape got the best of my brother’s ford and my folks. Quick decision to send them on their way back to chennai and i shifted to shankar’s vehicle. The next two hours was an amazing experience but that post will follow shortly, as what we witnessed later on during that day, churned our insides out. The image has been haunting me every since, and i sincerely hope and pray that there can be something that we can all collectively do to save this astounding structure from crumbling to dust.

What and where is this structure that i talk of ? Its an area that has surprisingly witnessed two historic battles. ofcourse, the name Pullalur, wouldn’t register as a Panipet would do, however a little flashback – for those who have read Kalki’s Sivagamiyin sabatham – thanks to Pavithra for the online English translation – am sure Sivagami & Gundotharan along with Pullikesi and Narasimha Pallava would come back to refresh our memories.

Sivagamiyin Sabatham – Battle at Pullalur

The site also witnessed an astounding defeat of the British by Tippu and the french in 1780 – read more from Sri Muthiah’s –

The story of Two Obelisks.

Ok, enough of the location, what you are going to see below is possibly a ….

No self publicity here. You will understand the reason for me posing here after a couple of progressive longer shots ! Now, where am ?

Hmm, lets zoom out a bit more.

We were actually returning after visiting the temples in worship in Pullalur, when from inside these bushes Shankar spotted this structure. When we enquired around, the villagers mentioned ” Oh, that’s our tonsured Vimana ( mottai Gopuram)”

It was only when we went nearer, that we could gauge the actual scale of this beauty.

The lower base has been subject to parasitic activity – obviously the bricks have been put to ` better’ uses.

The towering tower really started overpowering us with its imposing presence, like an aged warrior, despite its visible marks of valor, it still held its head high in the skies. We counted six tiers capped by a beautiful shikara ( the top dome is missing now)

There were still a few Sudhai ( lime & mortar) sculptures on the Vimana.

Despite all the destruction around it, centuries of obvious neglect spawning a profusion of vegetation eating into it – the real beauty of this Vimana came to us. What we cannot delivery today, with the best of engineering talent, machines, science, technology, advances in materials – this lonely edifice proclaimed its mastery in silence, with a profound sense of grief and overpowering sadness that enveloped us, touching a raw chord in our hears was its core, which revealed itself to us in a powerful manner as we stepped inside the Vimana.

The engineering skill of the ancients – it was still picture perfect, the sacred geometry of the tiers were still doing their duty. But in that, they seem to place an appeal to us. Duty bound to their task, despite the main deity not being present, they conveyed the essence of the Omnipresent. The Tamil equivalent of the central core of a temple is called the ” karu varai” which essentially means a mother’s womb – such a profound significance for a name and the selfless dedication that is associated with it. Can we do something in return?

The soft embrace of a loving savior Vs the crushing grasp of an abductor!

Happy Deepavali Wishes to friends !! Trying to post on something associated with the basic theme on the origins of the festival. We head back to Mamallapuram, to our favorite relief Panel, to see Vishnu as Varaha, rescuing mother earth – the damsel in distress, rescuing her from the dark depth after slaying Hiranyaksha.

The subtle emotions depicted in this masterpiece of stone crafting – cut into hard granite, as a wall in a rock cut cave shrine, is a feast for our eyes. But then, a chance glance at another sculpture ( haven’t had the good fortune to travel to Rome – yet to marvel at these beauties, but hope someday i would get it – so these images are from the internet and credits given at the end of the post) – a marble masterpiece of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which he fashioned even before he was 23 years of age, made me wonder. If only the Pallava sculptor had tried his hand at sculpting in marble. Why?? Read on.

The piece we are going to see today is the famed The Rape of Proserpina.

The scene depicted is very interesting indeed. The main characters are Pluto, Proserpina and below them Cerebrus !

You can read the full story on wiki, but jist is

” Venus, in order to bring love to Pluto, sent her son Amor also known as Cupid to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Hmmmm, vaguely familiar story. Ok, we wont digress, Proserpina was in Sicily, at the Pergusa Lake near Enna, where she was playing with some nymphs and collecting flowers, when Pluto came out from the volcano Etna with four black horses named Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus and Alastor. He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in Inferi, the Roman Underworld, of which he was the ruler.

Her mother Ceres, the goddess of agriculture or of the Earth, went looking for her in vain to every corner of the earth, but wasn’t able to find anything but a small belt that was floating upon a little lake (made with the tears of the nymphs). In her desperation Ceres angrily stopped the growth of fruits and vegetables, bestowing a malediction on Sicily. Ceres refused to go back to Mount Olympus and started walking on the Earth, making a desert at every step.

Worried, Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto (Jupiter’s brother) to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go he made her eat six pomegranate seeds, because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that she would have to live six months of each year with him, and stay the rest with her mother. This story was undoubtedly meant to illustrate the changing of the seasons: when Ceres welcomes her daughter back in the spring the earth blossoms, and when Proserpina must be returned to her husband it withers.”

Now, this looks as very much a prelude scene to the Varaha. If the Pallava sculptor had sculpted Hiranyaksha taking Boomadevi, lets imagine so and see this beauty in marble.

From Pluto’s side, see the rippling muscles and masculine force

On the side of Proserpine, its all serpentine curves, the anguish and despair gushes through

Lets compare with Varaha. He holds her up majestically and seats her on his thigh , while she is gentleness personified.

Proserpina is pushing out at her abductor and trying to break free

Whereas, Devi is making eye contact with him.

The masterpiece of the young artist, she how he brings in the feel of flesh into stone. How the rough handling of an abductor – The Hands of Pluto on her

and how she pushes at him, the flesh on his face .

Compare the hands of Varaha on Devi, its almost a caress, a loving embrace of the right hand, while the left hand holds a steady yet soft grip on his leg.

You can see the anguish and the tears on the Face of Proserpine

Compare to the shyness in the face of Devi, as her right hand is almost moving to touch and feel the chest of her Lord ( notice the left hand is bent under her chin to complete the expression !!)

A thousand years split the two creations, both great masters – One whose praise is sung to this day and the other who chose to remain anonymous.

Want to end the post with these two once again.

Image and content credits :
Ashok and Shriram for Mallai.
Rest: ( if i have inadvertently missed out please let me know, will include)

http://www.students.sbc.edu/vermilya08/Bernini/Pluto%20and%20Proserpina.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXR2YZxgDV4&feature=player_embedded#!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Proserpina

Recreating a lost treasure – Somaskanda Paintings of Kanchi Kailasanatha – Part 3

Its been an amazing journey taking our readers through the last couple of posts, as we are treated to ring side seats to this delightful recreation of a lost pallava painting, from the Kanchi Kailasantha temple of Sri Rajasimha Pallava ( 700 CE !!), moving with the artist stage by stage.

We had started of by blocking in most of what we could salvage from the surviving pieces and started working on filling the finer details. The main hero of this panel comes up now. Shiva.

Next Umai, takes form.

Working on the divine mother a bit more. We notice that she is wearing a thin yellowish blouse or has applied turmeric on her upper torso.

The coloring starts now, with very light skin tones.

Shiva gets his color including his famous Neelakanta !

Umai matches her beloved now.

Lets see how they both pair up.

Its coming up quite well. lets add more color and fill in the details of Shiva’s Keyuras ( arm bands)

The bottom ganas and stands get colored up.

and as we approach the final stages of the composition, time for a quick stock taking. Have we missed any detail.

We forgot to correct the hands of Brahma, to be in the anjali pose.

This is where we go back to the origins of this study on Somaskanda evolution – the 1971 article of Dr Gift Siromoney.

http://www.cmi.ac.in/gift/Archeaology/arch_somaskanda.htm

“Of Siva’s four arms, his lower right arm is extended horizontally to the side with his hand in the position of holding something, such as a flower, though no object is actually shown. With his upper right hand he holds a snake by its tail. His lower left hand is in the ardha-dhyana mudra. His upper left hand is near his shoulder as though holding a rosary or akshamala. Siva’s left leg is down.”

This is ofcourse his reference to the early pre Rajasimha Style somaskanda sculptures. But there is no reference to the snake in the Rajasimha style Somaskanda. But his pointer made us search for the snake in more detail.

Do we see something in the lower right hand?

Do you see the raised hood of a beautiful Cobra. We incorporate it into ours.

and without further delay, with many thanks to the artist Mrs. Subhashini Balasubramanian and our young photographer jagadeesh, we have our recreation of the 8th Century lost wonder.

We hope you all enjoyed this attempt ( any mistakes are purely unintentional and we are open to comments)

Recreating a lost treasure – Somaskanda Paintings of Kanchi Kailasanatha – Part 2

Its so nice to receive such wonderful feedback from all readers, believe me it was as interesting and thoroughly enjoyable to me and the artist Mrs. Subhashini Balasubrmanian, as it has been to you, to finally be able to fulfill a long pending and cherish dream, of seeing this beautiful panel in one piece. But then, we wanted to share with you the journey of our recreation process, so that you also learn want we learn’t working on this assignment.

Thankfully, a lot of finer detail was made available to us by Jagadeesh’s high resolution photos of the four remaining panels of the Kanchi Kailasantha Somaskanda Pantings. We once again thank him for his timely support.

Having done the general composition of the panel, we returned to study the panels at more depth to figure out the gana and the attendant. The Gana was tough, as only a part of his face was available in one of the panels, so we had to do the rest from a bit of artistic license.

The lady attendant and the details of the beautiful saree pattern of Umai came to us from the panel.

The next was the question of the pitcher or vase, though not there in any of panels – for all the panels have peeled off – we do not have any reference to this portion in the panels, people following the thread on Somaskanda Evolution would have found the small pitcher being a permanent feature in all of Rajasimha’s Somaskanda Panels. Take for example this somaskanda from the Mallai shore temple, though the gana and attendant are not there for sure, we do get to see this prominent pitcher / vase.

So, the vase finds its place in our recreation as well.

The next ofcourse was Brahma. Only one of the panels, has a outline of Brahma.

Depending on this, showing the side faces of Brahma was a bit tricky. So we decided to take inspiration from the splendor of Pullamangai temple.

and fashioned our Brahma. ( the lower hands must be changed to anjali – praying posture – we should do it soon)

Thankfully, Vishnu was pretty straight forward with one of the panel surviving completely giving us a shot at the magnificence of the Pallava artist.

So the next question before us was Skanda.

We needed to get upclose to see if we could spot the features of baby Skanda, it was very important, for isn’t he the most beautiful of Gods and imagine his as a small baby.

While, we were looking at the closeups, we realised that the Throne did not have lion motifs as had envisioned them, but were just decorative patterns.

Now, to get Umai’s face, headdress and posture correct.

Shiva, was especially tough, the toughest being the Hand mudras, ( we were helped by a small note – but we will see that in the concluding part of this series). Take for eg, his upper right hand.

The Makuda of Shiva, was especially tough one, as we wanted to get as close as possible to the original.

There was this particular design on the head dress, that was very vaguely familiar, but searching for it in sculpture and paintings, finally stuck pay dirt in Dr R. Nagasamy sir’s Masterpieces of South Indian Bronzes. This Pallava bronze, had a very unique twin makara clasps.

So,we could add that authentic detail into our sketch as well.

and here we have arrived at a basic prototype, to further iterate and work on adding embellishments.

I am sure, all of your are eager to see the finished color version, but that will be in the third and concluding part of this series.

Recreating a lost treasure – Somaskanda Paintings of Kanchi Kailasanatha – Part 1

The lure of the recreating the lost treasures of Rajasimha’s famed paintings has been on my drawing board for long. Having experienced the sheer ecstasy of seeing the fragments of brilliance that are still remaining, my heart wept with a strange mixture of joy and sorrow. Joy at knowing that the pinnacle of artistic talent that my land had 1300 years ago, that he could still take my breath away – albeit only in traces, the grace of his lines, the versatility of his palette, the excellence of form , stumped me. Sorrow at the realisation, that having survived for so long, the day that these would not be there anymore to inspire and impress a future generation, was not far away.

Modern photography techniques and the net, could help me to a certain extent, to at least capture these for posterity, but then there was always a niggle, a silent wish to be able to see these beauties in their original finery. My imagination helped in painting them in my mind, but to be able to transfer this onto the physical plane, needed greater acumen. My early attempts are tracing them, using manual tracing paper and online trace software, proved that this was not a task for technologically empowered, but for someone who had it in the genes.

Call it luck and chance, or maybe an inner desire of these beauties to be recast and re adored – a causal visit to a Art exhibition, of friends from Facebook, led to an introduction to none other than the clan of Sri Maniam. yes, the master who illustrated Kalki’s immortal works,Immortal works , whose Son Sri Maniam Selvan has continued in his tradition, – his works ,but it was not he, but the granddaughters of the great man. The fertile minds of the master has indeed spawned a second generation of divine artists ! So, i did get to meet Mrs. Subhashini Balasubramanian . We talked about Kalki, his works and obviously about art. Being the greedy guy that I am, I immediately sought her help on the long standing wish, and she readily agreed. We decided to start with the Somaskanda Panels of Kanchi Kailasanthar temple.

The task was not easy, but we didn’t know that fate and destiny had in store for us. The paintings are in really bad state and we had to form a collage of about 4 different works, to compare and pick out missing details. Unfortunately, despite my claims of having a large database, i could not get decent quality / resolution of these paintings. A frenetic search with friends and well wishers didn’t yield the desired results either.

We had to work with what we had in hand, putting together the bits and pieces. Just as i was loosing heart,I got the first cut from Subhasini…

I was clean bowled by the clarity in the work and the inherent beauty in the form. Clearly, the genes have gotten to work and I knew that my objective was not a distant dream but a definite reality. We were working for a week on the details, but the problem of obtaining high resolution photos for closer study loomed large. Just then, a mail arrives from a school boy. He had chatted with me sometime in May through sculpture chat on the site, …he was from vellore and was waiting for his ICSE X std results. The mail reads

“You are invited to view prithviraj’s photo album: kanc
Hello anna! Do you remember me? Am Rajakesari. I would like to share some photographs i took in Kanchipuram with u. I would be happy if these photos will be useful to you.”

And inside we see the exact photos which we wanted, the exact angles and he sent me the high resolution images as well. What a coincidence !! I can see you asking me, why all this about high resolution images, well you will understand as we see the recreation process.

Here is our Hero, Jagadesh, studying 11th Std now in Vellore.

The art of the Pallavas, so superbly nurtured by Rajasimha Pallava, finds release through the lens of a 11std Boy today and feeds our aspirations to recreate them.

Brahma

Umai

Vishnu

The need for high resolution images, comes to the fore as we explore the numerous highlights and new motiffs and features come to the fore. This Gana and lady attendant are spotted.

We try and experiment with Lion motifs for the legs of the throne – like the ones we saw in the Mallai Mahishasuramardhini Mandabam

To come up with the next versions of the sketch.

Its shaping up quite well, but you have to wait for the next part of this post to see more !!

Mahabalipuram – Unifinished Poetry in Stone – Prof .S. Swaminathan, Photographs Ashok Krishnaswamy

This is possibly the sneakiest of sneak peaks you can get. A chance for me to place on record my heartfelt gratitude to one my Gurus, the man who introduced me to the language of stone, educated me on the need to spread the message of awareness and to do so without expecting any reward or accolade, but to silently go about your task. Its not just him, but the efforts of another dear friend, expert photographer cum digital artist Ashok, which have culminated in this – Yes, this is a book introduction ( am not competent to call it a review ) and is on the still hot of the press coffee table book on Mallai.

Whatever was the boon seeker’s objective, standing there on his one leg, arms raised up, he sure has grabbed the attention of the world – be it the ardent art historian or the rookie backpack hugging tourist. By choosing that very sculpture as their cover illustration, one cannot fail to notice , the allegory to the efforts put in my the master historian and the expert photographer – the confluence of their eclectic styles gives life to the stones in Mamallapuram.

True, many works have already been written and will continue to come out about these fantastic treasure trove of stone work, but few before have attempted to capture the essence of being there. The book opens a door and virtually transports you to Mallai, with just the right amount of scholarly diction, like a subtle background score, Prof Swaminathan’s guiding tone accentuates the rhythms that vibrate in the stones captured brilliantly via Ashok’s lenses.

Its been a long pending wish, to see a coffee table book on the splendors of Mamallapuram, for despite the multitude of scholarly works, there was always space for such a endeavor, for among the thousands who throng the site only a few have been properly initiated into appreciating the beauties that are on offer. This book was conceptualized to bridge that gap, to be a companion, which you could take along with you on your visit to Mallai, or come back home to leisurely relish a visit , look back and reminisce at its glory. Lastly, for the select few who are yet to undertake what is a romance for Pallava art enthusiasts like us, its a honey stick lure, for once immersed into the rocky confines of its pages, its hard not to imagine the magnificent pinnacle of stone sculpting reaching out to you from amidst the lilting splash of the waves and the spray of the salty sea mist.

For us, upstart history buffs, who cherish every interaction with such scholars, the availability of such a unique book on Mallai is a boon, gone are the days of reading the text and then hurriedly rushing to the last portion to view the plates, the text and photos mingle seamless and move from one page to next like a slick pair of Salsa dancers.

Don’t get me wrong, its not picture postcard book, the starting invocation, sternly brings you into focus, this is no less a research paper, as the richly thought out foreword by Sri Narasiah, who has taken much pain to list out the multitudes of people who has worked on dciphering the puzzle that is mallai, but the highlight of this particular work, is the results is sans the long diatribe, its easy on the head as its pleasing to the eye. The wise professor diligently takes you through a formal introduction into Pallava art, while Ashok lets you see, touch, feel the fabric of the stone work , each thoughtful frame competes with the insightful texts for your attention. Must thank the publishers for the effort to showcase the early efforts of the Pallavas from many corners of their wide land, to serve as an eye opener to their pioneering efforts and as a prelude to what is on offer in Mamallapuram.

You can almost feel the glee in the eyes, the cheer in the heart of the narrator as we pass through each chapter, its a wholesome visual treat on offer. Half way into the book, you are almost tempted to stop and restart from the first page, but the best is yet to come. For the first time, we get to see the famed Dharamaraja Ratha upper storey sculptures in their bewitching best, as Ashok combines creative photography with technology, we are able to gasp the original brilliance of the Govardhana Panel without the later pillar additions in front in a 4 page spread, the full splendor and glory of the Penance Panel as a 3 page spread, you cannot but stop to appreciate the thoughtful insights like a site Map and Flora section.

A fitting tribute to the Atyantakama.

Our heartfelt wishes to the team . To book is slated to hit stores near you shortly. For more details contact

ARKEY GRAPHICS
[email protected]

Order online

Order your copy online

Souls in Stone

Update : Listen to the talk online

Souls in Stone talk on Youtube

Friends, i will be giving a talk on signature sculptures of Pallavas and Cholas on 22nd June in Coimbatore. It would be a great opportunity to meet enthusiasts and discuss the beauties on show.

7044

Date:
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Time:
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location:
Sri Sharadampal Temple hall Sharadalayam Race Course Coimbatore- 641 018

7040

The Vanavarayar Foundation (TVF) invites you for a lecture on the amazing sculpture traditions and Craft of Tamilnadu and Dakshin Bharat. The talk ‘Souls in Stone’ will be delivered by Sri.Vijay kumar, a young and passionate enthusiast of the great sculptures of our land. He presently lives in Singapore and will be in Coimbatore to participate in World Tamil Conference. Vijay kumar has been taking immense interest into this subject and his blog ‘Poetry in Stone’ has become quite popular for its contemporary dimension and portrayal.
TVF has planned this event to bring exposure and awareness for the great monuments in India and the craftsmen who till date engage in this divine tradition.
For any more information do contact on – 97866 00190

——————————————————————————————

Vijay Kumar is the founder of www.poetryinstone.in, an blog initiative, to highlight the beauty of sculpture and raise awareness. He runs the site with help from his team of enthusiasts in India and outside, eventually aiming to build an online database on sculpture. As an art appreciator, he specialises in Pallava and Chola history and art, with a special affection to Raja Raja chola. He is 36 years old and lives with his wife and son in Singapore, heading the projects team for a large Shipping company and devotes his freetime to reading, learning about sculpture, visiting heritage sites and meeting with experts. He documents his journey of learning on the site with insightful writing sans the technical jargon, aiming to impress and interest early readers.

——————————————————————————————-

The Vanavarayar Foundation is founded by the members of the Samathur Vanavarayar family. The Vanavarayar clan has played an important roles in the history and politics of our land for over a thousand years in various capacities under different dynasties in the past being a part of the heritage, culture and traditions of our land. The Foundation aims to work for the cause of preserving and portraying the Heritage and History of our land. In the near future the foundation plans to work in the following areas,
• The Foundation is working on a landmark project to bring out a Cyclopedia on the Coimbatore District
• Aims to set up a museum on Kongu History
• Organize various tours and trails related to religion, heritage and archeology
• Bring out publications related to art, architecture, heritage and history
• Work towards preserving or protecting heritage structures and sites
• Bring awareness on history, heritage and culture .

A Very Special Bull – from the Shiva Cave in Malaiyadipatti

Deep inside Pudukkotai, a meandering dusty red track that faintly remembers being called a road once upon a time ends abruptly. Vegetation is sparse.. A few houses lines its periphery giving it the respect of being called a road. A few village boys are playing cricket ( yeah IPL reaches there as well!!) under the tamarind trees and an old man sits on rock outcrop, his eyes and mind lost deep in thought. On seeing us approach, his face brightens up, as he tries to get up, balancing his withering body on his third leg – for one of the ones he was born with has lost itself to disease. The background offers us a familiar feeling of expectation – a low cliff or rather a large boulder, and a serene surrounding, a water body nestled within the rocks…perfect environs for a cave. And this site holds not one but two caves. One for Shiva and one for Vishnu. The old man was the watchman and opened both the caves for us. We wanted to pay him so that he go and have a well deserved and long awaited meal – for it didn’t look like the site attracted more than a handful of visitors in a month. He did ask us for something – an old shirt !! ( so please remember if anyone is planning a trip after reading this post – please take an shirt for the old man).

We will see the older Shiva – Nandhi ?Danti varma Pallava period by Mutharaiyar cave first ( it could be that way since they were the chieftains ruling under the Pallavas then), before we proceed to the later Vishnu cave in the coming posts.

Am reversing the order of the visit, inorder to let you relish the beauty of the master sculptor. Take time and drink in the splendor of this fantastic Nandhi – Shiva’s bull mount.

What’s so special about this Nandhi, its is a nice sculpture , but we do find pieces like him all over – he is special not because he has stayed in this place for 1200 years, but because of the fact that the sculptor sculpted him so that he may remain in this place for ever. Not clear??? Read on…

We go back to the outside, will try and give you an idea of the cave face, by digitally removing the later day constructions infront of it.

Now, that you have an idea of the how the cave is sculpted into the rock face, by carving out the mother rock to create this cave – let’s go in a bit more close. We are greeted by a not too impressive construction.

But as we enter and turn right, as our eyes adjust to the dim light, we squeal in delight, at what lies in front of us.

There are many things to see in this cave dedicated to Shiva, to our left from the previous picture, is the central shrine for Shiva, flanked by two superlative door guardians ( we will study them in more detail in the coming posts). There are more interesting sculptures like the saptha maatrika panel with Ganesha at one end and Veera badra on the other – ie to the left of the nandhi and larger relief panels to his back. We shall see all in the coming posts.

Can you see something just to the right of the image – yes its our Nandhi again. But what is so special about him.

Let me try to do some erasing digitally to show you.

The entire Nandhi, with its pedestal is carved out of the mother rock – its a monolith as well – makes you wonder at the margin of error the sculptor had, his masterly use of available technology then to reduce the rock while sculpting the cave – leaving enough mass to sculpt the nandhi – with zero margin for error.

Now you know why i said that this Nandhi was so so special.

Trichy Lower Cave – ” its not worth seeing!!’

It was late afternoon when we reached the Rockfort and hurried up the first tier of stairs. Being Aiyappan season, there were a swarm of hands and legs – draped in various shades of black. Being forced to buy tickets for our cameras by the devasthanam guard even though we explained to him that we were here to just visit the two ASI sites ( which by the way do not levy any fee or need any prior written permission for shooting with a still camera – you cant use a tripod though !!!). As we reached the first level and the tar road, we turned left – the auto guy gave us that typical ` look’ ( must have thought we were looking for a spot to relieve ourselves) and pointed to his ‘ correct ‘ direction – uphill. We tried to explain to him saying we were going to the cave and the look turned even more weird -” There is nothing there, don’t waste your time” for good measure. By the time, we spotted the high camouflaged ASI direction sign – so typical of them to have it painted on the side from which you are walking up ( meaning as you emerge from the gate, the sign is already at your back – someone needs to tell these geniuses that our eyes are in front and hence they should have the sign in the wall side facing the entering visitor). Anyway, the sign screamed that it was a Pallava cave !! adding to the confusion and our disgust. Experts have long been at loggerheads to the authorship of this rock cut cave as well.

Finally, after a 100 meter walk, we managed to find a small walking path inbetween the rows of small houses that led towards the parent rock. And there she stood in all her majesty – cut deep into mother rock, the bare rock face accentuating her asymmetry right at the bottom.

But, then lets frame the cave facade to see the symmetry.

When I said carved deep, take into account that even the row of pillars are cut inside the face.

Compared to the mad rush at the entrance, there was not a single tourist or visitor around. A few kids were playing cricket – the stumps being the sculpture’s leg and a couple of ASI staff.
A cursory glance at the pillar itself got us going. This is not a standard Pallava pillar, doesn’t even come close. And here we have the mandatory ASI board proclaiming it to be Mamalla style and period 640 to 670 AD.

The rectangular cave has two sanctums, cut into separate ardha mandabams ( mini halls) at its two extremities – one for Shiva and one for Vishnu. What’s unique about this cave,is that its got two sets of door guardians for the mandabam and two sets for the Sanctum as well – first time we see 8 door guardians in a cave ( we will examine these door guardians and other sculptures in part 2 of this post)

The facing wall too has lent its length to the sculptor – in fashioning a Ganesha ( well well, yes – Mamalla and Ganesha ), Brahma, Muruga, Surya and Durga.

We shall study all these at depth in the coming posts. An ASI artist was meticulously copying the images – to our delight.

Really sad, that this imposing edifice suffers the ignominy of being “not worth seeing” !!

Poetry In Stone

Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man

Tag Archives: Pallava