Dear Venkatesh, REACH Chandra here. I checked with Dr.TS and Dr.K.Balu. Both say things are not that bad and are in line with ASI's methodology and are safe. Only SB sir who visits Tanjore every week end can see what really is going on and inform you and me as well.
There has been some encouraging moves in this regard. Thank you all for your shared concerns and participation.
Chandra Sir, Thank you very much for the reply. Hoping to get some more encouraging information.
SPS Sir, great reporting and let us get through to the media as well.
Vaidyanathan Sir, Thanks a lot for the efforts.
Just to add a little from my side, I will see if my uncle working in Anandha Vikatan be of any help in that magazine covering the issue.
But as Chandra sir says, this looks to be a little settled now, as per the confirmations from Dr TS and Dr K Balu. Hoping to see it getting restored back without shedding its glory.
It is everyone's duty to protect Raja Raja's treasure. By the way what is the name of your uncle working in Vikatan? I had worked for 9 years in vikatan of course from Delhi.
தஞ்சை பெருவுடையார் கோயில் திருச்சுற்று மாளிகையிலிருந்து பிரித்தெடுத்தபோது சிதைந்த கல்வெட்டுத் தூண்கள் (வலது) மகா மண்டபம் குமுதப்படையில் இயந்திரம் கொண்டு அறுக்கப்பட்டப் பகுதி.
Just after I posted this message, I spoke to my uncle and he said that he has already spoken to the team in Junior Vikatan. The news it that they have also got some info from some prominent personality (my uncle does not recollect his name) and they are preparing for a coverage of this.
Have asked my uncle to keep me informed of the developments so that I can update our group.
This following texts I read in varalaaru.com pages..
வடக்குத் திருச்சுற்றில் உள்ள தூணில், இராஜராஜன் நிறுவிய தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி பிரதிமம் பற்றிய கல்வெட்டு இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. வழக்கமான தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி திருவடிவத்துடன் மேலும் சில சிற்பச் செறிவூட்டல்கள் கொண்ட செப்புப் பிரதிமத் தொகுதி பற்றி உரைக்கின்றது. மலைமுகடுகள், பாம்பு, புலி, கின்னரர்கள், கர்ணபிரவிருத்தர்கள், தொங்கும் பொக்கணம்(பை) என ஒரு புதுமையான சிற்பத் தொகுதியை நிறுவியுள்ளார். (இதுபற்றி, பின்னாளில் விரிவாக எழுதுகிறேன்).
In which the north thiruchutru pilllar has some inscriptions containing info about Dhakshinamurthy and some new things about sculptures. Is this portion located on the part of the renovation? or the renovation work is only on the north compund wall?
Dear Sir, As I have already told that the Editor, Kalki has agreed to publish an article about our Irandam Yathirai. If the trip includes Thanjai, the present situation at Periakoil can also be added. Or if some of our members have the details and photographs, it can be published and an appeal to Govt. and ASI can be made though Kalki. I think it will have more effect. I will try my best for this. Vishwak
We all crib about the state of periya koil. But we also should realize that there are innumerable temples across TN, which are vandalized in the name of renovation. The colour painting of the gouprams, sunnambu and red and whit stripes on the walls covering the kalvettus...the list is endless.
fundamentally, we Indians were tuned to forget our glorious past and no one realizes the values of such great things.
Better than cribbing on this, I would appreciate the REACH team who are doing a wonderful job than just cribbing.
Remember the recent controversy, when Ms. Jayalalitha's govt. ordered the gopurams to be painted off-white, there was vehement opposition from several quarters; and 'colours' won the day. Sampath
I spoke to him and he said the same thing to me. But he immediately recognized you as having worked with the group from Delhi.
All,
Smt Jayasree Saranathan has written a blog on this subject. Rather, she has presented the photos in a very beautiful way with very less words, which hits hard into every patron's mind. The link is given below.
Well said! yes.....people dont think about the ancianity of the things! all money minded people!
I would like to propose a good idea to preserve our temples....
Why cant we go as a group to some old temples and do a service - after prior permission from the panchayat or local adminstrative bodies - by:
- cleaning the places, - removing unwanted grasses (like kalaiyedutthal) -make an awarness to the localites about the temple, - cleaning the oily pillars etc.
I always used to think - let it be mahabalipuram or periya koil or any other ancient monument - these were protected intact for 1000 years and more but such act of writing names with charcoal and other activities started only in the past two decades. (mostly we find words in english and surely its done in the past few decades).
So this is our 'pagutharivu' we newly discovered a few decades back and we never had this 'pagutharivu' for nearly 1000 years. what an advancement in the society??
what you say is 100% right! this is what i say everybody that a monument which could survive since 1000 years started getting affected only since some decades!
Before the same period you said, people especially kids were passing their kids learned the importance of temple and other monuments, discipline, respect, bayam, bakthi...all...
But now the situation is different, first tv's, then computer and games, now they can develope knowledge of the same old generation but who will be guiding these present day kids? In general, you cant see such charcoal writings in the interior village temples nor in city temples, only the temples int he "semi" area.
The education should do something on this. During my school days we had done uzhavarapani through NSS, but now a days how many schools are doing this? Thanjai periya kovilai kattiayathu muthalaam raja raja chozhan, maamalla puraththai uruvaakkiyathi narasimma varman... this is not enough. We need to teach them how they built? How efforts were made? How many people were employed? How it can be maintained? these things also should be added.
> > Small correction. All of us were taught that Mamallapuram was built by > Mahendra/Narasimha pallavan. THough the city was Pallava's famous > port, the stone structures we see today in Mamallapuram was built by > Rajasimha pallva, the great grand son of Mahendra Pallava and not by > Mahendra or Narasimha as we all were taught in schools. > > Many dont know this and even after proving this decades earlier, our > history has not been changed yet. Please search archives for > Mamallapuram and you can find abundant information. > > Satish > Dear satish
There is no conclusive evidence yet ... Dr nagasamy first proposed this theory ( check archives or google for new light on mahabalipuram) way back in 1967. This was immdly opposed by scholars like dr gift siromoney, michael lockwood on the grounds stylistic n ornamental evolution. The debate continues to this day.
To put this question to the mallai tour members
There are stylistically three diff pillars in mallai....if u hv been to mangadaptu cave ( mahendra's first rock cut cave) u would hv seen the chunky squarish pillars...these hv been called mahendra pillars
Then come the rounded pillars with the base lion motiff ( seated lion) of mamalla
Lastly the famous prancing lions so seen in saluvankuppam, shore temple n kanchi kailasanatha
Now these are truly evolutionary styles ... Would one kind do all this in one place??
Similarly if you are keen enough to notice the ear n leg ornamentation of the various sculptures...you will notice a change in fashion....
Just tossing this up so that you can see more during the trip
> Dear satish > > There is no conclusive evidence yet ... Dr nagasamy first proposed this theory ( check archives or google for new light on mahabalipuram) way back in 1967. This was immdly opposed by scholars like dr gift siromoney, michael lockwood on the grounds stylistic n ornamental evolution. The debate continues to this day. > > To put this question to the mallai tour members > > There are stylistically three diff pillars in mallai....if u hv been to mangadaptu cave ( mahendra's first rock cut cave) u would hv seen the chunky squarish pillars...these hv been called mahendra pillars > > Then come the rounded pillars with the base lion motiff ( seated lion) of mamalla > > Lastly the famous prancing lions so seen in saluvankuppam, shore temple n kanchi kailasanatha > > Now these are truly evolutionary styles ... Would one kind do all this in one place?? > > Similarly if you are keen enough to notice the ear n leg ornamentation of the various sculptures...you will notice a change in fashion.... > > Just tossing this up so that you can see more during the trip > > Rgds > Vj >
Vijay,
As far as I came to know, after Dr.Nagasamy in the 60's, Dr.Kalaikovan has also done extensive study on Mamallapuram and says that all the structures in mamallapuram are of Rajasimha.
The dharmaraja ratham has kalvettus of Rajasimha, and Dr.Kkv has written a full volume book on this piece alone. The Adhiranachandeswaram near saluvankuppam (am i right, is it adiranachandeswaram?) also has a detailed kalvettu saying its Rajasimha.
As per Dr.Kkvn, Rajasimha is really great, because he experimented parallelly on different style. As you said, each piece is evolutionary and Kailasanathar koil in kanchi is the epitome of his achievements. RRC's role model was Rajasimha and his big temple is a large scale model of kailasanathar koil.
> > Vijay, > > As far as I came to know, after Dr.Nagasamy in the 60's, Dr.Kalaikovan > has also done extensive study on Mamallapuram and says that all the > structures in mamallapuram are of Rajasimha. > > The dharmaraja ratham has kalvettus of Rajasimha, and Dr.Kkv has > written a full volume book on this piece alone. The > Adhiranachandeswaram near saluvankuppam (am i right, is it > adiranachandeswaram?) also has a detailed kalvettu saying its Rajasimha. > As per Dr.Kkvn, Rajasimha is really great, because he experimented > parallelly on different style. As you said, each piece is evolutionary > and Kailasanathar koil in kanchi is the epitome of his achievements. > RRC's role model was Rajasimha and his big temple is a large scale > model of kailasanathar koil. > > I think SPS can throw more light on this. > > Regards, > Satish > Dear Satish
Its Atiranachanda madabam in saluvankuppam...again its stylishly very diff from the other works..inscriptionally its defn a rajasimha contribution...if you look at the tiger or yaali caves right next to it - the central stage is flanked by his trademark prancing lions. simiarly the lions of the shore temple and of course kanchi kailasanatha temple. But why would someone do such stylish work sideby side with a bland style. Scholars attribute it to his surname Atyantakaman. But as a layman i would see it as, a logical progression of styles - once you know how to sculpt a beautiful lion motiff pillar why would you return to crude squarish block style. simiarly people on the trip can compare the diff somasskanda panels - this is another puzzle - the three somaskanda panels in the atiranchanda mandabam are clearly the same genre as the somasskanda in the shore temple....but the cave style is much much behind in terms of finish.
I must accept that I have not been to get Dr. Kalaikovan's work - i will try to source it ( btw are you referring to 'Mahendrar kudaivaraigaL' by Dr. R. Kalaikkovan and Dr. M. Nalini , 'Adhyanthakamam' by Dr. R. Kalaikkovan and Dr. M. Nalini).
But i have read both Dr. Nagaswamy's work and also the detailed responses of Dr Gift n Michael Lockwood - Pallava Studies which later came out as pallava art....
we are talking of great men here and hence with due respect to them and considering the novices that we are - i would say lets revisit this after the mallai trip - when more members would take part.
tour members
please watch out for
Pillars ( even down to the hair style of the lion motiffs) somaskanda panels Dwarabala styles Hair styles,dress, ornaments etc
You are absolutely right satish and Sateesh. I feel kids of today dont realise the value of many things like this. They dont know the value of time, things, people etc in thier life. Manifestation of this is not realising value of old monuments and temples. No temple is spared.
I feel children should be taught to own your country, culture, religion and mother tongue. Just like that vivek joke actual situation is that children of today cannot even identify many of our scholars or freedom fighters.
I beg to slightly differ. When we say, current day kids dont realize the value of anything, we should blame the parents and not the kids. Because unless the elders teach something, the kids cant learn themselves. If a kid demands something, the thing is there the next moment. As I told earlier, there are parents who beat kids if they call them, amma and appa and insist they call mummy daddy...
So how will the kids learn? Parents feel proud if their kids roam with a 'harry potter' book, will they have the same pride if the kid sits with PS book? I have a neighbour who cant even pronounce Harry Potter correctly but has bought the full series to his daughters...no offense meant, but we should accept the reality.
In TN, in the past 6 decades, almost 3 generations have been deprived of the glory of Tamil and Hindu concepts. Inspite of all the hue and cry of Tani tamil, we should realize that the yesteryear generations cannot read a sangam poetry fully, forget understanding the meaning.
Whats the reason for all these? Are the kids to be blamed? If I dont know sangam poetry, how can I insist on my kid?
But I strongly feel, there is light at the end of the tunnel.After so many decades, we have started to realize the value of our culture and slowly trying to return to it. today i see more people who feel bad that we are not in a position to talk a full sentence in tamil without mix of english. But destruction is easier than construction..So if it took 60 long years to destroy something, we s hould realize how long it will take to rebuilt it...
I take some of your points but some of them I beg to differ with you.
Accept ====== Parents they themselves don't know Sangam Tamizh. Very True. So how can they ask their kids to read / enjoy Sangam Tamizh. Very true. In fact I will go a bit tangentially, which I always use to do. If you are a Sujatha fan and if you have read Srirangathu Devadaigal, you must have come across so many Sangam Tamizh poems (Alwar Pasurangal) which he would have quoted in his narration. Let me be frank I didn't understand them. So I use to take it to the elders in my family who are die hard fans of Sujatha. Unfortunately even they weren't experts in that. So I am with you on this.
There are parents who say that their sons / daughters read Harry Potter. They feel proud in saying this! Parents take pride that their wards can talk / converse in English fluently. They watch English movies.
But reading / enjoying ordinary Tamizh -- No parent is against. May be the sample size which you are looking is too small when compared to reality. Me and my sisters were all educated in English medium. In fact my sisters were convent educated and they have never studied Tamizh till their class 5. They dont know to read / write Tamizh till that time. But they started learning Tamizh and they have read almost all classics of Tamizh. Needless to say they have read almost all the Haileys / Sheldons / Archers / Robbins you name an author in English they have read them. But they still had the bandwidth to appreciate Tamizh literature. Ganabaadigal of PS in my family. I should say they and my BIL are my inspiration for PS and Tamizh literature.
OR
There could be a reversal of what I said. May be my sample size is much smaller than what you talk about. I am not sure. If I am proved wrong then there is something seriously wrong. "Kal Thondri Mann Thondra Kaalathey Munn Thondria Mootha Kudi" I use to say this when I was in Bombay ... I use to tease them that when you people were still in caves, we were politicians that time. Very true. All the contemporary languages of Tamizh are now dead. Its the only surviving language in that age.
As I mentioned in another thread ... So What can be done about this?
On the rulers : The people who made their careers out of shouting "Thamizh Vaazhga ! Thamizh Vaazhga !!" and their gangs have done precious little to let Thamizh thrive. Rather by their so- called 'progressive' outlook, they have actually killed Thamizh. These people decided which Thamizh literature should be read by Thamizh MakkaL and in that process started colouring all the literature which was against their ideology. Just by conducting functions and passing strictures a language can not be supported. You need support on the literary front.
On people : Forget Sanga Thamizh for some time. How many teenagers can read Bharathi's "Paanchaali Sabatham" and understand ? Bharathi is supposed to be the earliest writer of "Kavithai" in Thamizh. What did these "Thamizh-KaavalargaL" do to Bharathi ? (It will be tragic when somebody may say "Suttum Vizhi Chudar" was not written by Bharathi but by Vaali or Vairamuthu and composed by Harris Jeyaraj. - but I am afraid this may not be very distant).
On history : What the Westerner (with his ideological coloured glasses) thought of India he wrote. And he wanted India to read that. Our forefathers had been reading that. Then came a generation which thought being 'liberal' was the greatest educational achievement. With this liberalism came the underplaying / overplaying game - the way our own Indians made history - Ooops ! re- wrote history. Next - Add some imported 'Cultural revolution' to the liberalism - you have the current mess we are in. Unfortunately there is very little documentary evidence of our old times. And whatever is there (most of which is in South India) is also being either "carelessly maintained" or "carefully smuggled or destroyed". Not many study history now because it is not a 'paying' subject. Very suffocating environment. Like an oasis in a desert, we do get some fresh air to breathe in our PS forum (and similar forums).
What can we do ? Do our bit to create awareness. Spread the message across. Get at least one more person involved in these thought processes and talk to at least one sensible person about the state of affairs.
We may not be able to do all of these. Will these be effective ? Not sure. But we can at least make our attempts. And at least not feel guilty of not doing anything.