dear freinds, the 5 day gananjali is just over and the natyanjali is going well. now threre natyanjalis are almost everywhere in delta region..seerkalinmayuram,kudanthai,aroor...tanjai...etc.
walking around the temple gives a great feeling. lot of natya students and families from various parts of india and foreighners strolling around asking about questions on hinduism.
2500 years of chidambaram history is being enacted around the temple.
i have few points now
1.male figures in eastern gopuram:
there is a stone idol of two male figure in the eastern entrance (rajagopuram) on the northen side of the entrance way. one is a middle aged man with a beard and kudumi to his nape of neck. to his left side is a yonger man or a boy with shaven head. both the males do not have upper cloth. they stand with their palms brought together before the chest in namaskaram fashion. both of them have their full body image and aboout 4 feets and 3 feets respectively. the older man has a royal look and does not look like a sadhu!
i was told earlier that is sundara pandian. but recently it is being told as kulothungan. some say it is kulothungan-1 and vikrama cholan to his side. there is a similiar figures in the western gopuram entrance too but with parts broken.
the book by prof.balasubramaniam does not mention about these two figures!
who are these two male figures?
2.pandiaya nayagam shrine is dismantled and renovated:
the famous murugan shrine in the northen side called padiya nayagam shrine has been dismantled completely. this shrine is beleived by certain scholars as sundra pandian(madhurayai meeta)contribution?. i do not know whether appropriate precautions have been taken to preservr the antiquated portions and inscriptions. this has started by january before government take over. i do not know archeologists were consulted and appears unlikely as per my enquiries.
3.cholan darbar hall facing trouble!!
the only surviving cholan durbar hall on the western side -the so called 100 pillair manapam. it has been declared by the govt officer that it would be renovated. apparantly it is motivated by the local peoples wish! but noone knows here it is the vikrama cholan structure and 900 years old. it is in its unspoilled form so for. renovating this structure needs lot of care. ASI has not been brought to the picture.
technical-archeological and historical aspects these two issues are not taken into consideration. atleast the 100 pillair hall can be prevented from damage if scholars inspect this structure PRIOR.
many a ties i have felt very bad when i find cholan age inscription stones found in the pavement of the outer prakaram. these stones were just cemented with ordinary stones to create a platform. we just walk on the 1000 year inscriptions without knowing what it is. the inscribed stones lay scattered inside the complex and sometimes looted out by people to construct drainage for their houses(often by dheekshidhars themselvses).
Gandhiram,Venkatesh I could really appreciate your concern. As a forum, can't we do some representation to rectify or atleast prevent further damage being done. N.Balachandar