Category Archives: Sculpture

Sittanavasal – the zenith of painting – Part 2

Its been quite a while since we featured the first set of Sittanavasal fescos – and this post has been long pending. Before starting to read, would recommend new readers to view part 1 of this post below

Part 1 of this series

Ashok’s steady hands and expertise with the lenses, once again bring the beauty of the these paintings. If not for him, I am pretty sure that we could have just let this beauty pass by, without a second glance. We saw earlier, how the entire roof of the outer mandaba has been converted into a canvas and a splendid pond, brimming with life and activity was brilliantly portrayed by the master artist. How he managed to do it, suspending upside down, working with such subtle color variations, is a tribute to his skill.

The Pond scene, we are seeing today is a continuation of the same scene we saw in part one. If i told you that there are 3 birds, a man and even an Elephant plus a horde of fish swimming in this panel, would you believe me. If you have read the previous part, am sure you would . If you haven’t read it then maybe no !!

Let me try and mark the different things we need to observe in the panel.

Maybe, try the same technique as the previous post, by taking color of the rest to highlight what we need to see.

Can you spot the creatures? Here they line up. See the top left of your screen. do you spot a bird’s eye?

The fish on the other corner?

The pairs of Birds and fishes around them?

The man, in his loin cloth, plucking flowers?

Once again, the master’s line drawing

We will come back to him again, but lets scroll down a bit more and see the Magnificent Tusker !!

He too has a few fish for company !!

And another set of our fishes to bring up the bottom

Whats of interest in this detailed study, is that the man is holding two different flowers in his hands.Lily on right and lotuses on left !!


Not only has the artist shown the differentiation in how the two would flower but also in the nature of their stalks. Take a closer look. This time another set towards the top of the frame

Now, thanks to the internet, let me show you the two types of stalks and you can notice the differentiation

( images are courtesy the internet and just to show you the smoothness of the lily’s stalk while the Lotus stalk is rough and spiny)

Truly remarkable !!

Elephanta is Buddhist, see the elongated ear of Trimurthi. If it is Shiva, show me the snake!

With the tools that google, wiki and the world wide web place on our hands, its very easy to make up a convincing article, but we must take care to ensure that we try and present our posts with utmost care. You may ask, why this sudden concern, but off late there is an overpowering outflow of emotionally charged writing on the net, and poetic license is being twisted to promote half baked theories and a hidden agenda to increase viewership by featuring titillating content. Religion and Castes are thrown in for good measure, with scant regard for communal unity, for they are subjects that we need to handle with caution and the clarion call is to be more responsible in what we put up on the net including contributions to every growing efforts like Wiki.

Couple of years back, an interesting discussion on Iconography, was punctuated by a certain person, who put up this photo of the magnificent Trimurthi or Mahasadhasiva Shiva from Elephanta. He obviously read that there were Hindu and Buddhist caves in the same vicinity and added for good measure that the entire site was an earlier Buddhist cave usurped by Saivites. He went on to showcase the Serene face of the main ( centre) form and its elongated ears and then as a final encore, asked everyone – if its Shiva where are the snakes?

This was the image he put up. I presume he had taken it from this site

Temple net transposed photo

Now, early readers would get easily influenced by this, hence we took on the task of answering his questions.

First of all, there was something wrong with the image. It didn’t look correct. Do you notice the large mustache of the face on the left of the sculpture ( right as you see it) – thats Rudra Shiva , its not supposed to be that way. The image he had ( the site and many more such sites) seem to have put up is a transposed image. ie. the sculpture is rotated right to left. Below is the correct view

The question on snakes was very easy to answer and its clear that he has never been to the site.

See this post and its photos

India Temple Blogspot post

Do you notice what he is holding in his hand?

Pl navigate to the 12th image in the ASI website

ASI site

Mr. George Michell has brought out a book titled “ELEPHANTA” and is a wonderfully illustrated work. I am showing some low resolution images from his book – for there is one more snake which i wanted readers to observe

Now, that we have settled the snake issue, lets take up the elongated ears.

Without getting too much into Agama / Iconography texts, ( for the more seriously inclined – please read the ref from Elements of Hindu Iconography by Sri Gopinath Rao – attaching relevant pages), the canons for Iconography were common for Jain, Buddhist and Hindu sculptures.

For, eg, I am taking an illustration from his book, which gives the proportions as per silpa text cannons for an ear.

Lets, compare this against our Elephanta sculpture and see how it measures up against the standards. ( This is not a research work done to scale, but just to give you an idea)


Interesting exercise, but would this ` Ear Test’ give sustained results on a definitive Shiva sculpture. So why not test it, not against any sculpture, but a chola bronze, not any chola bronze, but a dated chola bronze – Who else but our Rishabantakar.

Need to get a good straight shot of his ear, here we go!

The ears

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How do they match up?

He went on to state that the sculptures in the Hindu caves are all converted from Buddhist ones. I wish he had at least went through the Wiki pages properly. These are monolithic sculptures carved out of base basalt rock. The below link gives you the detailed layout and the location of each of the icons.

Wiki layout of Elephanta

Main Hall

1. Ravana lifting Kailash
2. Shiva-Parvati on Kailash
3. Ardhanarishvara
4. Trimurti
5. Gangadhara
6. Wedding of Shiva
7. Shiva slaying Andhaka
8. Nataraja
9. Yogishvara
16. Linga

East Wing Shrine

10. Kartikeya
11. Matrikas
12. Ganesha
13. Dvarapala

West Wing Shrine

14. Yogishvara
15. Nataraja

Indeed a stunning location, sadly not a single inscription is there to ascertain its date. We are forced to assign a 8th C CE date and Gupta / Chalukya authorship for them.

The truth is out there !!

In search of a Ring

As an ornament and fashion accessory, Rings have always held their sway over mankind. It needed minimum work, shaping or piercing and was easy to put on take off, if you add the digits in the toe, you could wear 20 ( yeah it was worn on the thumbs as well) – and add to it the tag of love – engagement, wedding, wealth , power – you get the larger aura surrounding a ring. In the age of emails and digital signatures, the value of the Emperor’s crust or the Clan’s standard could be easily and safely carried on person with the Ring. No wonder,its tradition goes back almost 4800 years ( thanks wiki !!) but then that would mean trying to fix a date for India’s two greatest Epics. Pending the verdict, wouldn’t want to dwell more on it, but to mention that the ring plays a vital role in Ramayana, with Sita identifying Hanuman as a messenger of her Lord on seeing his ring on him and also in the reunion of Shakunthala with Dushyant, who forgets his marriage and his own son Barath, due to the sage’s curse, and then reminded by seeing his ring from inside the belly of fish ….we the great lineage of Barath trace our antecedents. More recently, the impact of the Lord of the Rings triology, showcased the power of the rings in middle earth!!!

Well, today we go in search of one such a ring, as we try and merge two different fields – Ornaments and Bronzes, as we figure the answer to a complex problem – of fixing reasonably accurate dates for bronzes. Many thanks to Mr Raman, for once again taking time to provide us with quality photographs, which also reinstate our request for viewers to try and take many photos of bronzes from Museums world over.

It all began with the 1000th year celebration of the Tanjore Big Temple, and the thoughtful exhibition that was organised to go with it. Mr Raman had documented the exhibition extensively and one of his albums had this exhibit of Chola period ornaments. One struck our eye, for its not often you get to see actual exhibits of period ornaments, and there is very sparse written details on them.

Being avid enthusiasts, we started talking about the ring that was being exhibited there.

He had also photographed quite a number of bronzes that were being exhibited with some detailed closeups of their hands and rings !! ( Most of the exhibits were from the Chennai Egmore Museum, but out there there are inside glass cases that are a nightmare for photography).

So, logical progression was to check the bronzes to see, if he could find a matching ring.

For that we needed a good closeup of the ring, first up.

What a fantastic ring !!

First up, is this CE 10th Century, bronze Parvathi, from Kodaikkadu, Vedaranyam Taluk, Nagappattinam district.

Just too stunning a bronze, but lets focus on the rings for now.

The rings are pretty plain ones, almost like thick wires with some amount of artistic work done on them

Next up, we shift another Century, This CE 11th Century Bronze Parvathi with an assistant is from Tiruvengimalai, Trichy

Lets go a bit closer and study if the ring style / fashion has changed in this 100 years.

The fashion industry has definitely caught up, we see a more pronounced set stone in the center, with flower bud/petal like patterns around it.

Another example from the same period, the splendid Ardhanari 11th C CE, from Tiruvengadu , Mayiladuthurai.

The Umai ( left) side, has her delicate hand as we zoom in for the ring

The style here might be slightly before the previous Parvathi. Maybe this was early part of the 11th C, you can see the ring becoming more flattened at the centre and more definition in its design – shaping up like a ring now.

We might need to study a few more samples in the 12th and 13th C, but we met our result in the next exhibit. This Paravathi from Devarkandanallur, Tiruvarur District.

The date of this bronze is a bit unclear, as while she was in the Chennai Museum she was given a 14th C CE date, while the Tanjore Exhibition gave her a 15th C Date. ( will study the Catalogue and do a post on why she is given such a late date shortly !)

But, on the topic of this post, we did find the ring on her.

The Characteristic styling is pretty evident.

So now comes the tricky question. What is the date for this ring?

Showcasing another Facet of our heritage, an interesting Coin Chat – part 1

Dear Friends, Today we are branching out a bit from stone sculpture into metal, again not metal sculpting but something smaller in size, but equally interesting. A field of study which offers fascinating insights into our history and culture on par with Inscriptions and Plates. Infact, they go much beyond the time frames of what i thought as the basics of Archeology. I was fortunate to have the chance acquaintance of a passionate antique collector Sri Raman Sankaran, who was willing to share his rich knowledge on this field with us. The thought occurred to me to make it like a Q& A session, with me the “novice” asking the expert some basic questions and we would feature them as a series of posts, end of which we could all claim to have gained valuable insights into this splendid field of Numismatics.

Me : Sir, Good morning and thanks again for taking time to educate us. I start with the standard line of questioning. When and how did you get interested in collecting coins, seals and rings.

RAMAN: I started my collection in my school days with coins of British India. I Still remember that I acquired a coin for Rs1 dated 1835. It was East India company’s half Anna coin. This was in the 1980’s

Me : Oh, ok. How did you find that coin.

Me: Sir, are you there?

RAMAN: Sorry ,power off

Me : Ok, Sir no problem.

RAMAN: I am in Chennai 🙁

Me: Hahaha. J . You were saying you started with the 1835 half anna coin. how did you get the coin?

RAMAN: I got it from a shop that dealt with old items. I showed it to all my friends, was feeling proud that I have 145 year old coin 🙂

Me : great, that leads us to next question. What are the sources of coins for a collector? Do you collect only South Indian coins or are you generic

RAMAN: sources for new collectors are basically buying from dealers. Every Dist Head there is a coins collector’s club.

Me : Wow, I guess there must be many fakes in circulation as well. So it is better to be acquainted with the Hobbyists and Professionals to understand the nuances. You mentioned about the Club, is there one in Chennai?

RAMAN: Tirunelveli, Nagerkovil, Thanjayur. Trichi, Salem Chennai…. u can find the coins clubs,in Chennai there are more than 25 dealers plus about 5 or more shops that sell only coins and currency (no stamps). In addition in Chennai there are more than 4 clubs functioning as well.

Me : Sir, do you focus only on south indian coins or you collect all antiques

RAMAN: For the past 25years i am collecting coins and I have Sangam age coins , Chola, Chera, Pandya, Pallava, Vijayanagar, Nayaks coins, and from 2004 i start collecting seals and rings.

Me: What are the earliest known Indian coins and which period are they dated to.

RAMAN: First known coin is silver punch marked coin. In that coin we can see 5 punch marks on one side and other side one or two punch marks. This coin is dated to 2 BC to 1 AD. In Tamil Nadu First coin known is Pandya punch marked coin. The terms used for coins front side is obverse and back side is reverse.. For Punch marked coins dating is not clear and i am not sure

Me: Ok sir. What are the various metals in which coins found in Tamil Nadu

RAMAN: Gold Silver copper Lead Potion* some times in Brass as well. *Potion metal is mixed metal of copper silver tin and few others metals….

Me: Oh, ok. Which is most commonly found and obviously gold must be rarest?

RAMAN:In Sagam age no gold coins have been found so far. The most acceptable reason is the Roman GOLD coins are used in that period. First gold coin known in Tamilnadu is Later Chola (Rajaraja) coin only

Me: Oh, great – would love to start the images with the Emperor’s Gold issue.

RAMAN: Have highlighted his legend ` Sri Rajarajah’ in devanagari script.

Me: We are indeed blessed to see such. What are the most common shapes of the coins and we see more square or rectangular coins – before we see round coins. when did the change happen

RAMAN: Most of the punch marked coins are Square shaped and most Sangam age coins are square shaped, but after roman influence we see round coins being issued. This is a 2nd C BCE Chera coin

The Obv, you see a Majestic Elephant facing a tree, behind it four fishes, and below the Elephant a horizontal Palm tree. The rev you have Chera ensign – The Bow and arrow , and also an ankusam ( weapon used to control elephants)

Me: Fantastic sir. Can we see a Sangam Period Pandya Coin

RAMAN: Sure. This is again a 1st C BCE Pandya coin


The Obv you see a magnificent male elephant and on the rev, a fish depicted as swimming towards the bank.

Me. Fish i can see, but not the detail of swimming to bank

RAMAN: Imagine like a wave, let me illustrate for you.

Me: Very clear now. You mentioned use of roman coins, was there a more direct influence of the crafting and coinage. what i am asking is, We are always enamored by the antiquity of our artifacts. How do Tamil coins of the sang am age compare to the roman coins. Do you feel that there was a definitive knowledge flow from Rome into South India and it influences our coinage.

RAMAN: Lets see round coins issued by Sangam Cholas and Cheras, first

Me: wow, sir do you have a photo of the coin so that i can share with readers – a Sangam age Chola coin

RAMAN: sure


Me: Excellent sir, What is the approx date for this coin and can you describe the features in more detail

RAMAN: This is dated to 1st C BCE. The Obv – you see an Elephant facing left, and a fenced tree. On top of the Elephant there is royal Parasol ( Umbrella). The Rev, you see the majestic Prancing Tiger of the Cholas with its splendidly crafted tail.

Me: and the round Sangam period Chera coin

RAMAN: Here it is.

RAMAN: Obv, you have a seated Lion, and next to it a Chakra on a Mast. Rev, you have the bow and arrow together.

Me: Lion, looks more like a Lemuir !!

RAMAN: Haha, one more reason ( non availability of the gold coins in sagam age) gold mine or furnace are not found in South Indian, lot of Roman gold coins all reported over South India. The Madras museum has a collection of over 5000 roman gold and copper coins. Roman coins dated form 1 BC are found in South India

Me: Wow, can you share one such early Roman Gold coin found in Tamil Nadu.

Me: Further, do you see a change in the style of tamil coins, due to the roman influence. like for eg, when do we get to see Tamil ruler’s bust like that of the Emperor, in Roman coinage.

RAMAN: yes. In Sangam age King name v got few coins with Makkothai, Pervaluthi., Kuttuvan kotai, Kollipurai and Kolirumpurai all in Brahmi script

Me: Wow, we will need to see them in more detail later. To start with – the 3 premier clans of Tamil land – Chera, Chola, Pandya – what are the earliest dates for their coins and what are their distinguishing factors. Apart from the Chera Bow and arrow, the Chola Tiger and the Pandya Fish – are there any other characteristic marks of these clans.

RAMAN: For trade purpose few North Indian coins and foreign (like Greaks)coins are found in Tamil Nadu. Another clans coins we find is those of the Malayamans . Malayman coins are found in Tirukkoilur area only

Me: Tirukoilur is near my native :-). Can you share some old Chera, Pandya and malayaman coins for our readers

RAMAN: most of the Sangam age coins found in the river bed of Madurai, Karur, Tirukkoilur and Tirunelveili areas Here you see a Malaiyaman coin

RAMAN: This is a 1st C BCE coin of Malayamans, found in Tirukkoilur. Obv, you see a horse facing a tree ( without fence), on top of the horse you see a weapon and a Taurine (sign depicting the head of a bull). The rev has their ensign of a river flowing, a vertical and an horizontal spear or lance.

Me: Fantastic sir. There are so many things to observe and know ( like the Taurine sign etc). As a beginner to numismatics, are there any basic guide books that you can suggest our readers or authors

RAMAN: First they have decide what type of coins they are like to collect

Me: Most of us are die hard Chola fans and we would love to touch any piece of history associated with that clan, are coins of Raja Raja Chola available for early collectors like us?

RAMAN: Yes, You all can start with Chola coins. They are (chola copper coins) available in large numbers. I can give you a Chola copper coin as a compliment to start the collection.

Me: haha

RAMAN: yes not a joke

Me: I will take that offer for sure Sir. Moving on most of us are guided by knowledgeable scholars who teach and inspire us once we have reached a certain level. Who are your guru’s in this field?

RAMAN: my first guru is Mr Seetharaman from Thanjavur and for Brahmi legend coins, seals and rings Sri. I.Mahadeven IAS(ret) Avargal.

Me: Wow, they are all legends.

RAMAN: and my fist advice first know about the coin which u planning to collect. I can suggest a book on Chola coins is written by Mr Seetharaman.

Me: who is the author and publisher sir, and where can we get copies

RAMAN: Mr Seetharaman, is the author of the book. I will pass you his address. He is not on email, but I can procure the copies for you. They cost about Rs 150 per book, will work out to Rs 175 per title including postage if inside India. The author’s contact number is +919894578440 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +919894578440      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +919894578440      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Dhanalaksmi Publishing,
12, Rajarajan Nagar,
manojipatti ( south)
Tanjavur – 613004

Me: Thank you sir, its been a real eye opening conversation for me and am sure to my readers as well. We are definitely keen to do another detailed session – maybe we will do one for each of the Moovendars and then Pallavas, the Chieftains, there is so much to learn, we are all very excited and fortunate to have a willing teacher like you.

Itsdiff radio and Poetryinstone present a Radio Talk show – 7.30 PM Pacific Time Wed Oct 13th 2010

Dear Friends,

Thanks to Sri of
Itsdiff Radio, we are coming out with an exclusive – one hour radio talk show. Dial in to voice your views.

Itsdiff.com

Wed Oct 13 2010
7.30 AM ( US Pacific time)
Special Program – Kallile Kalai Vannam Kandan
(review of preserving Sculptures, paintings, and beautiful works
of our great masters of art) with Vijay (poetry in stone)
…- Listeners call in – 650-723-9010

Looking forward to interacting with you all on Wednesday

UPDATE:The recordings of our Radio show has been uploaded. Thanks to itsdiff radio and Sri for their support. Please see link below to hear and we would love to hear your comments

Itsdiff.com

We have been featured in the Times of India. Our thanks to Sandhya Soman, Senior Reporter, for the time, interest and support for our efforts.

TOI Article online link

Times of India Sunday 10th Oct 2010 Poetry in Stone

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Yours
Vj

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 !!

Kirata Arjunam – Art meets art spanning 1300 years

How do we reach out to the next generation and imbibe in them the values of our land, of its art, of art appreciation. These are questions which keep coming up during our discussions. Visual art is definitely something that is attracting the next generation and though we may scoff at the comics and gaming culture, its there to stay. So today we are going to marry a Kanchi Kailasanatha sculpture ( one of my personal favorites) with the latest in digital illustrative art.

The story itself is an interesting anecdote from the Vana Parva of the Mahabaratha, wherein Arjuna splits from his brothers to do penance and procure the Pasupatha Astra from Shiva. Being the benevolent but mischievous God that he is, Shiva decides to test his devotee’s prowess himself before bestowing the boon. So he takes the form of Kirata ( a hunter) with his accompaniment of a Bow and quiver full of arrows, accompanied by Uma as the Kirata woman, enters the same forest in which Arjuna is doing his penance. Just at that moment, Arjuna is attacked by a fearsome Demon Mukasura, who has taken the form of a Wild boar. Seeing the wild boar rushing at him, the accomplished marksmen that he is, Partha ( Arjuna) lets fly a deadly arrow from his Bow Gaandiva, going for the Boar’s head. At the same instant Kirata also lets fly an arrow, which find its target in the rear of the Boar. Both the arrows hit the target at the same instant !! Now, this led to a quarrel among the two, with Arjuna claiming the hunt as his and accusing the hunter for shooting from the rear. The hunter explains that this was not a duel to have the rules of engagement drawn and to attack an animal from behind thus is no wrong ! ( Rama felling Vaali ?)

The argument continues and soon escalates into a tussle. Being warriors both settle on a duel to find out the better among them. A Shell shocked Arjuna soon sees his prowess with the Bow is matched if not bettered by the lowly hunter. His Bow string is deftly cut by the hunter’s arrow and he jumps into to engage in a wrestling match, in which too he is matched. To his surprise, the hunter doesn’t even seem to break a sweat, while he is almost dead with exhaustion. The popular version, says that he stops to create a small Linga and offers prayers with flowers to it, to invoke his blessing and taken on his opponent once again, when he is surprised to find the flowers which he offered the Linga are now adorning the hunter. Realising the true identity of his opponent, he falls at his feet and surrenders to his grace. Rest is history. There is another version that during the wrestling brawl, Arjuna accidentally caught Kirata’s feet and since he bestows grace on whoever touched his feet, Shiva immediately stopped fighting etc. But this is the crux of the Kirata Arjunam story.

Now, thanks to Mr. Abhilash Narayanan, Creative designer & Animation director, who is sharing some of his works with us, we see the story brought to life in the technology of today.

you can see more of his works at his site below

Abhiram’s site

Now, we transport ourselves back in time to the Kanchi Kailasantha temple. This panel must have been featured long ago, as its one of my favorite panels. The dynamism and sheer energy captured in this typical Hollywood style ` Face Off ‘ posture is an arresting sight. Maybe it was waiting to be pitted head to head against the best of digital art.

Photos : courtesy Mr Arvind and Mr Swaminathan.

We have the two warriors, standing their ground, locking gazes, as they are caught in the act of drawing their bows. Its interesting to notice how they seem to have slung two quivers on their backs, interesting only one has a waist sword. That this panel depicts the Kirata Arjunam is seen distinctly by the Boar in the background exquisitely sculpted behind the two figures despite the maze of their legs.

Now, comes the difficult question. Who among the two is the Lord Shiva as Kirata the Hunter and who is Arjuna. Lets take a closer look at the two figures.

and focus on the ornamentation and head dress in particular.

Lets list down the major differences between the two fighters.

Clearly, the figure to the left of the panel ( right as you view it) – wears a tall crown and a Yagnopavitham, while the other has his hair tied in a kind of bun, wears the Channavira ( cross belts) and carries a waist sword whose hilt is clearly seen.

The oral tradition is that Arjuna must have gone as an ascetic, must be emaciated from the severe penance ( he is said to have subsisted on air alone in the final months of his penance ) and there is also a ref to him wearing a sword with a golden hilt

Ref in Mahabratha

“At Yudhishthira’s command, Dhananjaya of immeasurable prowess set out (from Kamyaka) to obtain a sight of Sakra, the chief of the celestials and of Sankara, the god of gods. And the strong-armed Arjuna of great might set out armed with his celestial bow and a sword with golden hilt, for the success of the object he had in view, northwards, towards the summit of the Himavat.

But then, when we come to Kirata, he is clearly is portrayed as a hunter and not as a resplendent King, and Shiva is hardly ever shown with a Krita makuda. Further there is this reference in Sri R. Nagasamy’s article.

Kirata or Tripurantaka


However in many Chola sculptures and also Bronzes (Melapperumpallam image) Kirata will be shown like a hunter with round bellied body , beard and cannavira. His hair would be tied as a bun-like knot and not the jata-makuta one sees in the Tripurari form.

But again the Book reference is a bit unclear. When Arjuna exhausts the twin inexhaustible quivers gifted to him by Agni ( burning of the Kandava forest episode
Fire in the Khadava forest ) he tried to use his Bow as a spear , but is thwarted by Shiva.

Ref in Mahabaratha

And beholding his bow snatched from him, Arjuna took up his sword, and wishing to end the conflict, rushed at his foe. And then the Kuru prince, with the whole might of his arms, struck that sharp weapon upon the head of the Kirata, a weapon that was incapable of being resisted even by solid rocks. But that first of swords, at touch of the Kirata’s crown, broke into pieces

So, we are left with an Iconographic puzzle. Whats your take on this?

I would go with Arjuna with the crown and Kirata with the Bun head dress.

Head to Head clash – Pallava Stone vs Chola Bronze

Many a times, the question is asked to me. As a self styled art appreciator who would i rank as the best – Pallava or Chola. My answer had always been Pallava Stone and Chola Bronzes. If we drill down further, Pallava stone sculptures of the Dharamaraja Ratha and Chola Bronzes towards the closing years of Sri Raja Raja Chola are maybe the finest examples of art that I have seen.

The upper tiers of the Dharamaraja Ratha in Mallai, hold in their midst some of the finest specimens of artistic expression, for not being confined to any cannons the unrestrained imagination of the Pallava sculptor ran riot, faultless and matchless in their execution, working within the cramped confines of its upper tiers, the whole structure being a monolith carved out of mother rock top down, with zero scope for error, what these immortal artists did to the hard granite is the very pinnacle of artistic brilliance. Their ability to conjure up a myriad combination of poses with simplistic grace, perfection in form, clarity in depiction and the stunning ability to bring out the underlying expression of flesh and blood into stone is remarkable.

Today, we take one of these jewels of Pallava craftsmanship to stand in competition. The Shiva as Rishabavahana. ( thanks to Ashok generously allowing use of his expert photography and editing skills) for the first time we can see the full form in all its splendor. The task is not easy as the space available in this is very less and you cannot step back to take the full view. Now, taking a photograph itself being so difficult, consider the difficulty quotient for the original sculptor who had to sculpt this beauty within the confined space.

Whats unique about this sculpture is of course his unique head dress – a head band and a turban like way in which his matted hair is tied up. We do not see this depiction anywhere else among other later Pallava creations and even any other contemporary example in Mallai. ( for eg take the Arjuna Ratha (
Breathing life into stone).

What is the main aspect of this sculpture is a flowing sinuous grace, the flesh and blood feel of the limbs and torso. The Tribanga coming to the forefront with the exaggerated swing of the waist and the tilt of the head ! all this in a relief panel mind you and that too in the upper tower of a monolithic stone ratha.

The classy ease with which shiva rests his hand on the bull and the stylish crossing of the legs…

To stand up against this, is by itself a herculean task, so we take the very best of Chola Bronzes, and as luck could have it, we were blessed to have a vip access view of this bronze ( currently in the Tanjore art gallery) at the Coimbatore Chemmozhi Maanadu as a sneak preview, a day before the official opening of the exhibition. Chola bronzes are cast by the lost wax process ( hence each bronze is unique, the mold cannot be reused as its broken to reveal the icon) and the very best examples are said to be so perfectly worked at the wax model stage by the craftsmen – that it was said that the real test was to be able to avoid using a chisel after casting. Though we have seen bronzes right from the Pallava times in South India, the craft of bronze casting reached its pinnacle during 1000 and 1014, the period of Sri Raja Raja Chola – as evidenced by the splendid foursome – the Kalayanasundara Panel which we saw earlier (I take your hand for eternity), the Rishabantaka which we are going to see now, the Bikshadana and the Veenadhara , both which we will see subsequently.

Fixing dates of bronzes is a tough and often confusing task, but this is no ordinary bronze, part of a hoard of bronzes found in tiruvengadu in the 1950, currently in the Tanjore Art gallery, it originally belonged to the Svetanarayaneshwara temple in Tiruvengadu. An inscription in the outer wall of the temple inscribed in the 26th year of reign of Sri Raja Raja ( 1011 CE) , one Kolakkavan ( AR 456 of 1918 – Ref to inscription mentioned in South Indian Shrines – Illustrated By P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar ) presented money and jewels to the image of Shiva Vrsabhavahana. ( interestingly a year later his consort was installed !)

The stylish grace of the bronze and its remarkable resemblance to the Pallava stone sculpture is astounding. Let me try and show you. click on below image and wait for the animation to load.

Compare the stylistic features. The Bull for the bronze has not been found yet. But taking off the two additional hands from the stone model, the chola artist, has slightly lengthened the position of the hands, dropping them further down and corrected the tirbanga ( lessened the S bend) including the tilt of the head.

Now, i know this is not fair competition, for 300 odd years before the Chola craftsmen made his mold in clay, the Pallava sculptor had envisioned the form and sculpted it in hard granite with zero scope for error, but then the Chola craftsmen has done his work exceedingly well as well. For to pull a relief panel and extend it to form a complete Idol is no simple task. Take a look at the styling aspects of the bronze. ( We were fortunate to capture the foremost authority on Bronzes in one of the following photos!!)


I know that some of you might ask as to how we can take it that the chola artist was influenced by the art in mallai. Well, we go back to inscriptional evidence. The earliest inscriptions of Sri Raja Raja Chola in Mallai are found in the nearby Shore temple and …..

http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_1/mamallapuram.html

I. INSCRIPTIONS AT MAMALLAPURAM

NO. 40. ON THE SOUTH BASE OF THE SHORE TEMPLE

This inscription is dated in the twenty-fifth year of Ko-Rajaraja-Rajakesarivarman, alias Rajara-deva….that would be 1010 CE. Exactly a year before this bronze was consecrated.