The Hindu : Arts / Theatre

alamandalam Krishnankutty Poduwal redefined and repositioned the place of the chenda in Kathakali. The veteran artiste's birth anniversary falls on May 28.

When he decided to introduce the high-decibel chenda to Ramanattam in the early 18th century, the provincial king of erstwhile Vettathunadu (currently in Malappuram District) might have had a magnificent obsession with the masculine verve of this dance-theatre form.

It was only by the beginning of the 20th century that the chenda and the maddalam actively intervened in the angika and satwikaabhinayas of Kathakali. Moothamana Kesavan Namboodiri and Thiruvilwamala Venkichan Swamy were pioneers who initiated the preponderance of the chenda and the maddalam in this dance-theatre heritage. For Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduwal, the former was a role model and the latter, a venerable guru, the rigour of whose tutelage he remembered ever since.

FAMILY TRADITION

Kavil Pothuwatil in Vellinezhi village of west Palakkad has for long been a family of percussionists. K.P. Krishnankutty Poduwal had his first lessons of thayambaka and edakka from his uncle Govinda Poduwal. Prompted by his uncle and Olappamanna Mana, which had patronised Kathakali for over a century, Krishnankutty Poduwal enrolled as a student of chenda at Kalamandalam. “At the kalari, Venkichan Swamy taught me chenda and imparted training in maddalam to Appukutty simultaneously. Swamy was the incarnation of Nandikeswara,” Poduwal once fondly recollected.

Eventually, Krishnankutty Poduwal and Appukutty Poduwal stormed the Kathakali stage with their inexorable passion and deft fingering.

Moothamana Kesavan Namboodiri and Guruvayoor Kuttan Marar were the two top chenda players in Kathakali in the first half of the last century. Krishnankutty Poduwal started his career as a substitute/supporting player of Moothamana.

As an offspring of the disciplined Kalluvazhi chitta, safeguarded and promoted by Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, Poduwal navigated the functional characteristics of the chenda armed with wisdom and imagination. With Appukutty Poduwal on the maddalam, he brought in macro and micro aesthetic transformations in the Melappadam and built up the aural atmosphere engulfing characters and contexts brimming with emotional minutiae. Krishnankutty Poduwal redefined the role of the chenda artiste on a par with thespians and vocalists of Kathakali.

The recognition from the Maharaja of erstwhile Travancore, as the ‘Kottaram (palace) artiste' made Poduwal a young celebrity in south Kerala. From then onwards, Poduwal accompanied on the chenda all the eminent Kathakali actors such as Kavalappara Narayanan Nair, guru Kunju Kurup, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Vazhenkada Kunju Nair, Chengannoor Raman Pillai, Kurichi Kunhan Panickar, Mankulam Vishnu Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, and the like.

The pre-Poduwal period in Kathakali melam did take into account the broad divisions of characterisation such as satwik, raajasa and thamasic (noble, villainous and the grotesque). But it did not always zero in on the correlation and the contrast between the sthayi (enduring) and the vyabhichari (transitory) bhavas of the dheerodattas (noble Nayakas) or dheerodhatas (valorous Pratinayakas). With an incomparably evocative nerkol (vertical falling of the stick on the chenda) and gloriously carved out urulukai (twisting of the wrists to the left and the right), Poduwal translated the emotional states of the characters and the shifting contexts of the plays into widely varying tones on the chenda.

For the scene of sambhogasringara, ‘Kuvalaya vilochane,' in ‘Nalacharitam Part II,' of Krishnan Nair, Poduwal's chenda aroused the tonal surge of dalliance. For the tapassattam of Ramankutty Nair in ‘Ravanodbhavam,' Poduwal's melam in triputa tala culminated into a magnified resonance parallel to the character's final outburst. The Raudra Bhima of Gopi confronting Dussasana in the Kurukshetra battle field transcended the ephemeral thanks to Poduwal's hypnotic strokes on the chenda.

Ramankutty Nair stopped donning the role of Parasurama after the demise of Krishnankutty Poduwal.

Theirs was a meeting of the minds on the Kathakali stage. Poduwal's playing in the Melappadam and for the story per se was punctuated with silences pregnant with meaning.

PRUDENT PERFORMER

He was prudent in not interfering or intruding into the liberty of the maddalam player on stage. The maddalam maestro Cherpalacherry Sivan observes: “Poduwal Asan gave the maddalam player the right amount of space, nothing less, nothing more.”

There were treasured moments of Poduwal roaring on stage like, for instance, in the padappurappad of Ramankutty Nair's Narkasura or during the fast tempo of vattamvechu kalasam of Gopi's Raudra Bhima.

Modesty and irreverence played hide and seek in the life of Poduwal. He always held aloft the autonomy and stateliness of the artist. Little surprise then that Poduwal faced the relentless wrath of the administration at Kerala Kalamandalam where he was the principal teacher of chenda. He was removed from service in 1967. Poduwal had a life full of trials and tribulations for 12 years. In 1979, poet and cultural icon Olappamanna reinstated Poduwal as the head of the faculty of chenda in Kalamandalam. He returned to his alma mater with unmitigated pride and confidence.

FLAIR FOR LANGUAGE

Although a school dropout, Poduwal had a flair for language and literature. In a documentary film made on Kathakali by Prakash Jha, Poduwal defined the prominence of chenda in Kathakali as such: “Kathakali without chenda is like an ocean without waves.”

His book, ‘Melappadam' and the posthumously published ‘Melapperukkam' contain a good deal of interesting and informative articles on Kerala's traditional arts.

He had enacted the role of Bali in the play ‘Baalivadham' in an attempt to save the character from its clichéd actions. ‘Bheeshmaprathijna' (Bhishma's Pledge), the play he wrote, is known for its theatrical panache. He sang for Kathakali plays as and when the situation demanded.

Poduwal was the first percussionist in Kathakali to win the Central Sangeet Natak Academy Award. He had bagged awards and fellowships from the Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi and Kerala Kalamandalam.

K.R. Mohanan made a documentary film on Poduwal, which went on to win a national award. However, talent and knowledge could not tame his tempestuous character. He was intolerant of mediocrity.

With his head held high, Poduwal, the non-conformist, passed away in 1992. His 87th birth anniversary is being celebrated by his family, disciples and admirers in May. This is the first time this genius' birth anniversary is being observed on a grand scale.

The eventful life he led and the rich memories he has left behind are a motivation to young artistes and art lovers.

Phases of early Buddhism in South India and Sri Lanka

By Rajitha Weerakoon

Sri Lanka, having preserved Buddhism in its purest form since its introduction in 236 BC, was undisputedly the key player in the 2600th Sambuddhathva Jayanthi celebrations. But what caused Buddhism to flourish in Sri Lanka as opposed to the country of the Buddha’s birth where Buddhism has little relevance today? The cause for this contrasting outcome was traced by Professor Sudharshan Seneviratne, the Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya and former Director-General of the Central Cultural Fund during a lecture tour in Chennai some years back when he spoke on “The social base of early Buddhism in South India and Sri Lanka”. During a subsequent interview, he spoke about the shared historical legacy of Sri Lanka and Southern India when he identified the social formations in the two countries at the time of the early spread of Buddhism and the period prior to this era. His study was based on historical and archaeological research. Tracing the technological, cultural and subsistence patterns between Sri Lanka and South India, Professor Seneviratne travelled back to prehistoric times, long before the birth of ideologies so the picture of the gradual development was clear. He stated that some very early sites from the Middle Stone Age of the Megalithic Period discovered in Sri Lanka dating to around 30,000BC (which have been extensively cross-dated) suggest that the settlers may have descended from India. Sites discovered had been identified as similar to those in Tirunaveli District and elsewhere in the southern most parts of India. The next is the period around 1000 BC when the intrusions took place in the early Iron Age at the time the Protohistoric Megalithic black and redware culture existed. But the critical elements that kicked off the beginnings of history in Sri Lanka Professor Seneviratne stated was the commencement of the use of metal and ceramics, the introduction of domesticated varieties of animals and plants especially paddy and the initiation of the earliest village culture with small crafts like bead and pottery-making taking place. The most interesting aspects of this culture he pointed out were the introduction of burial cults or the memorials. The associated ceramic ware called black and redware bear the postfiring graffitti marks. This phase continued into the early historical period, chronologically identified as the 4th and the 3rd centuries BC when North Indian ideologies like Buddhism and Jainism entered South India and Sri Lanka. Trade routes Archaeological evidence from Amaravati, an ancient city which was situated in Southern India, where luxury items such as Northern black polishedware were discovered reveal that there were intrusions from Northern India to the South prior to the Mauryan period. These movements had taken place between the 6th century BC – the time of the Buddha and the 3rd century BC through the Southern trade routes. The Dhakshinapatha or the Southern trade routes mentioned even in Kautilya’s Arthsastra were functioning along the east coast of India’s looping trade network. The long-distance trade network was coming from the Gangetic delta to the South touching Sri Lanka. Ideologies were travelling along these trade routes. The episode of the trading brothers – Thapassu and Bhalluka, documented as the first to be converted by Buddha during His Lifetime who after the conversion and their trade deals arrived in Sri Lanka and built the first sthupa – Thiriyaya, illustrates this point. According to Professor Seneviratne, either specialized traders were carrying trading items or there was a down-the-line exchange where items were moving on their own from community to community and from one centre to another. The chank (conch) shell, a specific luxury item found in the Gulf of Mannar was found in the Northern Indian excavated sites. The trade of pearls, again from the Gulf of Mannar is mentioned in early Indian Pali texts. Later, the Jataka stories make mention of the long distance trade network. By the 3rd century BC which was the Mauryan Period in India, inscriptions of Settis – the merchant bankers were found in Amaravati. Professor Seneviratne attributes the flow of ideologies from Northern India to the trade network. What perhaps the Mauryan Empire did however was to become a catalyst and provide a greater fillip for the more organised expansion of Buddhism. Monks were travelling as missionaries or groups of people were taking the message of the Buddha with the clout of the Mauryan Empire. The adoption of the title of Devanampiya (Beloved of the Gods) by the then rulers – the epithet given to Asoka, suggests this. There were suggestions that some of the Kerala chieftains took titles that translated as Devanampiya. In the inscriptions of the Adiyamans in the Northern areas of Tamilnadu, the Adiyamans called themselves as Sathyaputhra, which was the name given in Asokan inscriptions to “southern neighbours.” The intrusion of Buddhism in the 4th and the 3rd centuries BC from Northern India brought not only a doctrine but also a whole new culture – a new language medium, may be even a script, a new way of living, architectural constructions and technology. During the Mauryan Era in the meantime, there was a shift of human settlements in South India from the peripheral hills towards the plains and the river valleys of Krishna, the Cauvery and the Tamirapani in the East. This may have happened probably for greater agricultural production to a kind of demand situation with specialisation of products coming in. Spread of ideologies With the southern expansion of the Mauryan Empire, the long-distance trade routes expanded. The Northern Indian ideologies thus flowed out to the South with the Jains, the Ajivakas and the Buddhist clergy moving along the trade-routes, some along with merchants mingling with the people. They had to preach to a settled agricultural society as the teachings would not have had any relevance to a hunting-gathering society. Professor Seneviratne stated that in South India however, Buddhist practices changed over the years from those practised in Sri Lanka due to the emergence of Mahayanism and the resurgence of Brahminic practices. Mahayanism had a social appeal at a personal level. But unlike Mahayanism, Brahmanism incorporated the pre-Buddhist cults and deities into its fold more effectively, particularly during the time of land grants of the feudal period. Under Brahminism, it is suggested that priests may have started the process of land reclamation for agriculture. With tribal areas having all kinds of cult practices, the Brahmin priests may have moved into such socially backward areas as these were locations where they were able to practise their doctrine. The Buddhist clergy on the other hand who were countering such practices could not move into these areas, away from their main base – the urban centres. And with more and more South Indian rulers opting for a Brahminic identity, state patronage to Buddhism gradually decreased. Thus along with the shift of trade patterns, Buddhism in South India came to an end. Whereas in Sri Lanka, Professor Seneviratne stated, the picture totally differed as Theravada Buddhism was faithfully practised by the more orthodox Sri Lankans. Mahayanism introduced much later found it difficult to compete with the Theravada Buddhism. And unlike in South India, Sri Lanka did not have a strong tradition of pre-Buddhist cults and practices and what existed was incorporated successfully into Buddhism. Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka not only visited urban areas but also ventured into remote areas and hills along trade routes. The monasteries by the first to the 3rd centuries AD which had expanded in Sri Lanka incorporated all the areas into their network and thus ran huge establishments even carrying on trade in order that these provided the sustenance while the state continued to be their chief patron.

The Hindu : Arts / Books : Voyage beyond the Three Seas

The well-known Russian Indologist, Ivan Minayev's work on Voyage Beyond the Three Seas, a 15th century travelogue by Afanasy Nikitin (a Russian merchant and adventurer), developed the original so beautifully as to reflect contemporary India in all its diverse, but integrated, economic, social and cultural facets.

The book starts with two notes: one by Irina Chelysheva on Minayev's contributions to Indian studies, and the other by Minayev himself, briefly introducing Nikitin's manuscript. Chelysheva's note sharply brings out Minayev's heritage that continues as leavening influence on the Russian Indologists, even after 120 years.

The first of the seven chapters in the book is on Nikitin's voyage from Hormuz, a tiny island of Persia, 20-30 miles in perimeter with barren land and inhospitable climate, but with one of the most strategic ports. It is followed by a narration of his trading experience in Cambay, a port from which ships sailed all over the Indian seas. Nikitin had a sojourn in Chaul, a commercial town in the Bhamini kingdom, situated 23 miles to the south-east of Bombay.

Bidar, where Nikitin arrived from Junnar via Kulungir and Gulbarga, is discussed extensively. The prominent role Bidar played as a medieval point of exchange and a transactional centre of contemporary politico-cultural life; the Shah and his court; and his campaigns and excursions — all these are dealt with in detail. The contextualised note of the editor, given towards the end, helps the reader a great deal in comparing Nikitin's travelogue with contemporary sources.

THE MANUSCRIPT

The English translation of Nikitin's manuscript, given as an annexure, provides the reader a feel of his long, arduous, and eventful journey from the Volga. The other annexure presents Chelysheva's study of the manuscript and its elucidation undertaken in India in the 19th century on the basis of archival material in Maharashtra.

Nikitin's travelogue comes across as a thoroughly unprejudiced account of Indian reality. It is argued that Nikitin's account, though naïve and inadequate sometimes, has immense historical value for the Russian and Indian researchers.

If the original is remarkably objective, the fact that it has been contextualised and supplemented by Minayev's historical scholarship makes the book an important source of information on medieval India. It transports the reader from the harbour of Hormuz to the shores of Gujarat and enables him to experience the life and culture of the ruling aristocracy, the splendid courts, the militia and the rank and file, the market place, holy places, food habits, fairs, festivals, rituals, local traditions, and superstitions that prevailed during that period in the kingdom of Bidar.

MINAYEV'S COMMENTARY

By way of commenting on Nikitin's observations, Minayev has traced the genesis and development of the socio-economic, political, and cultural history of India up to the 19th century, comparing the picture emerging from the travelogue with the one that prevailed in British India. In the hands of Minayev, Nikitin's manuscript has acquired an intellectual depth.

Minayev differed from his European colleagues on two points. First, he did not share their preferential focus on the ‘classical ancient', which they considered glorious, or their prejudiced neglect of the ‘post-classical' as degenerative, and hence disgraceful. He found it important to study the Indian historical process as a whole. Secondly, unlike theirs, his approach to contemporary Indian civilisation was open and without any reservation.

Russia is perhaps the only country to express sympathy for India's struggle for Independence and cast doubts on the “progressive mission” of British colonialism in India.This perception, left as Minayev's legacy, deserves to be shared with the people of the country he studied insightfully and affectionately. This book does serve that purpose.

The Hindu : Arts / History & Culture : Defacing History

Sculpture of Jain on top of the Arittapatti hill near Melur in Madurai District on May23, 2011. Photo: S. James

Archaeological sites, rock-artancient temples with murals face threat from vandalssome have been mutilated and destroyed.

In Tamil Nadu, a variety of archaeological sites and temples with murals are facing destruction and vandalism. They are under ceaseless assault from the officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE), granite quarry contractors, vandals and ignorant villagers.

These sites, which are under threat, include rock-art sites, cairn circles, dolmens, menhirs, petroglyphs, Tamil-Brahmi sites around Madurai,

bas-reliefs of Jain tirthankaras and Jain beds on hills, exquisite murals, inscriptions and sculptures in temples, heritage buildings and so on. In a few cases knowledgeable villagers have protested and managed to save the heritage.

On May 20, 2011, 24 km from Madurai, about 2,000 people belonging to the villages of Mankulam/Meenakshipuram, Arittapatti, Koolanipatti, Vallalapatti and Kallampatti sat on a hill called Kalinjamalai, in protest. Their demand was that the quarrying of Kalinjamalai for granite (by a private contractor) should be stopped. Some hundred feet away, from where the quarrying had begun a few days earlier, was a beautiful bas-relief of a Jain tirthankara, with inscriptions in Tamil Vattezhutu that could be dated to circa 7th century CE.

“We sat on the hill and raised slogans that quarrying of Kalinjamalai be stopped,” said B. Ramanathan, a farmer belonging to Arittapatti village. “The quarrying of the hill will destroy agriculture on about 1,000 acres in these villages lying in the foothills. The land is irrigated by the water flowing down the hill which collects in a kanmaai (big lake),” explained Ramanathan.

The villagers were also worried that the bas-relief of the Jain tirthankara and the Vattezhutu inscription might disappear if the quarrying continued. They, therefore, presented a petition to the Madurai District Collector U. Sahayam, on May 16 demanding that the quarrying be stopped.

After the demonstration by the villagers, quarrying has now “temporarily stopped,” Ramanathan said.

The villagers have vowed to stop the quarrying permanently. They are inspired by the people of the villages around Anaimalai, near Madurai, who stopped plans to quarry Anaimalai hill last year.

Not far from where the quarrying began at Kalinjamalai are six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on the brow of four caves on a hill near Mankulam village. The six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, all dating back to second century BCE (Before Common Era), are among the most ancient of the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions. There are scores of Jain beds cut on the rocky floor of the caves but several of them have been vandalised.

Two of these six inscriptions are very important because they refer to the Pandya king Nedunchezhiyan. One says that Nedunchezhiyan was instrumental in donating the ‘palli’ (Jain beds) as ‘dhamma’ to a Jain monk called Nanda Siriyakkuvan and it refers to Nedunchezhiyan’s titles such as ‘Pana An’ (that is, Panavan), ‘Kadal An’ (Kadalan) and Vazhuthi.

The second inscription that also refers to Nedunchezhiyan talks about his relative ‘Sadikan’ donating rock-cut beds to Nanda Sirikuvan.

There are two Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on the hill near Arittapatti, both belonging to second century BCE that refer to a donor called Sizhivan

Adhinan Veliyan of Nelveli and Imayavan, son of Ilam Perathan, of Ilanchi village donated the Jain beds there. Scholars surmise that Nelveli could refer to Tirunelveli, 160 km away.

Way back in 2004, when Prof. G. Chandrasekaran of Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, and K.T. Gandhirajan, specialist in art history, stood in front of the big rock towering above them, they were mesmerised by what they saw. For on the rock-face, 53 metres long and 25 metres wide, were hundreds of beautiful pre-historic paintings, showing a procession of bisons, monkeys running up a tree branch, grazing deer, tigers, shoulder-clasping dance after a successful boar-hunt, battle scenes of men armed with bow and arrows, and so on.

The rock-art site was situated near Karikkiyur, about 40 km from Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu. It turned out to be the biggest in south India in terms of size and the number of paintings, murals datable to 2000 BCE to 1500 BCE. Gandhirajan was so fascinated that he would trek to the remote site every year.

However, when he made the arduous trek early this year, he was shocked. Vandals had been at work, defacing the gallery with their own crude depictions of Sivalingam, three-tiered vibhuti marks, trisul and so on. On the ground below the rock, there were broken bricks and stones as if somebody had plans to build a shrine there.

“The vandalism shook me up. I felt devastated,” said Gandhirajan. The new paintings done over the rock-art covered about 20 feet by 10 feet.

In May and June 2009, K. Rajan, Professor of History, Pondicherry University, led a team of students to excavate a habitational-cum-burial site at Porunthal village, near Palani. The site, which could be dated to second century BCE, had important links to the Sangam age (third century BCE to third century CE). The excavation revealed a bead-making industry and a furnace for polishing glass beads. What was unearthed included 2,000 glass-beads in red, white, yellow, blue and green, 12,000 beads made of semi-precious material, four-legged jars, terracotta figurines, a Tamil-Brahmi inscription from a grave, a copper coin from an archaeological stratigraphy and so on.

Dr. Rajan said, “When I returned to Porunthal in 2010 to continue the excavation of the habitational site, I was shocked to see that a brick kiln had completely occupied it. Due to non-availability of habitational site, I excavated the graves (consisting of cairn-circles, or a massive capstone with cist-burials below). But the graves have also been completely destroyed now. Earthmovers have destroyed the burial site with all the capstones and the earth leveled for cultivation. Personally, it (the destruction of the site) is a big disappointment for me because we got a Tamil-Brahmi inscription from a grave. The biggest collection of beads came from Porunthal.”

It was obvious that the villagers were worried that if Dr. Rajan and his team were allowed to continue the excavation, the State Government might take over the site. So they chose to destroy the site itself.

Bulgaria Celebrates Origin of Cyrillic Alphabet | World | Epoch Times

For 156 years, Bulgaria has celebrated May 24 as a tribute to the Greek brothers, Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet.

The day is also the official day of the Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavic Script.

The Holy Brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, born in the ninth century, were Byzantine scholars, theologians, and linguists who wrote the first Cyrillic alphabet in A.D. 855.

The Bulgarian holiday, which is not celebrated anywhere else in the world, is a celebration of spiritual enlightenment and self-cultivation through science and culture.

In the early ninth century in Europe, Christian texts were written in only two official alphabets: Greek and Latin.

The two brothers filled in the gap by creating new letters, based on the Greek alphabet, which were later used to translate the Bible and other Christian religious books, into the Slav language.

The Cyrillic alphabet is currently used in Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, other former Soviet republics, as well as Mongolia.

The "Marco Polo" Bridge, 15 km southwest of the Beijing

The Lugou Bridge, also known as the Marco Polo Bridge, is a famous stone bridge located 15 km southwest of the Beijing city center across the Yongding River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge is the Wanping Fortress, a historic 17th century fortress. The Lugou Bridge is well-known because it was highly praised by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo during his visit to China in the 13th century, and for the Marco Polo Bridge incident, which marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). (Photo: China.org.cn)

Sergila ..A Distinguished Ancient Syrian Village Sample - SANA, Syria

IDLEB, North Syria, (SANA)- Sergila archeological village lies next to al-Bara village on al-Zawia Mountain in Idleb Province, about 330 km from Damascus. It is one of a group of archaeological nearby villages that are preserved in a good state. These villages give a true image of the countryside in the Northern part of Syria between the Byzantine and the Roman periods. Sergila has got various buildings, houses, churches, bathrooms and olive squeezers. Secretary of Idleb Museum Fajer Haj Mohammd said the building style in the village consists of three main parts: the inhabitance part, the work part and the yard which is surrounded by a fence, adding that all the houses in the village consist of two stories. Haj Mohammed pointed out that the houses have a functional role as the ground floor is used as storehouses, stables and olive squeezers, while the upper floor is dedicated for inhabitance. He indicated that the oldest house in the village dates back to the end of the 2nd century A.D. as the poor farmers cultivated the lands surrounding the village and adopted the 'self-sufficient economy' through mixing farming with breeding livestock, in addition to oil industry. Head of the Archeological Studies and Excavation Section at Idleb Antiquities Department Anas Haj Zeidan said Churches are one of the most important characteristics of Sergila as each the complex of churches consists of two Basilica churches with a yard. He pointed out that the Northern Church dates back to the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century, while the Southern Church is a small basilica Church which was turned into a mosque after the Islamic conquest. For his part, Head of Idleb Antiquities Department Nicola Kabbad said the only bathroom in the village was built in 473 A.D. and consists of a big hall in the north and small halls in the south in addition to a big store engraved in the stone. Historian Fayez Qweasrah said the importance of studying Sergila village is that it highlights the status of the Syrian countryside during the Roman and Byzantine periods, as the studies showed that the Syrian countryside was inhabited by active farmers who speak Syriac language and know Greek language. Statistics of Tourism Department at Idleb Province show that Sergila is considered as one of the most important tourist and archeological sites in Idleb because it attracts the largest number of the Arab and foreign tourists as well as local visitors. The statistics showed that more than 14,000 Arab and Foreign tourist visit Sergila each year. H. Zain/ Al-Ibrahim

Treasure trove of artefacts - Dr Harikishore Kejriwal’s home in Bangalore

Aruna Chandaraju, May 21

A sombre-looking earthen Grecian face stared down at us as we waited in the foyer of art-patron Dr Harikishore Kejriwal’s home in Bangalore. The door alongside opened into a room where framed letters covered an entire wall.

Kejriwal entered. A sprightly octogenarian with a childlike smile and infectious enthusiasm, he ushered us inside. And walked us, very energetically, through his awesome home. Sculptures, paintings, coins, porcelainware, manuscripts, scrolls, carpets, metalware and also stuccos dating back to the 3rd century BC, and very rare specimens… the house was a stunning private museum. Many of the exquisite objets d’art took our breath away. Three hours into our visit and we had barely managed brief glimpses of this amazing private art collection — such was the vast quantity and variety on display. The collection was built by him from 1948 onwards — the love for art instilled by his father Ramkishore Kejriwal, a well-known art promoter of then Calcutta. Visitors to their home included some best known artists of that time — Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, etc. And Kejriwal’s education at Hindu School — the hotbed of culture — and association with the Tagore family, and other cultural stalwarts and art patrons further reinforced this passion. Right beside the front door were earthen stuccos excavated in Bengal dating back to 3rd century BC when Alexander invaded India. The adjacent room had walls filled with framed letters from stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore (including his last letter), Subhash Chandra Bose, etc. Walking further into the home, we encountered more gems. Every shelf, wall and tabletop held treasures. A metal knife from the Harappan civilisation, a handwritten Quran from 13th century AD; European candelabras from the time of Louis the 15th; a sixth century AD Shiva Linga and bust; a Buddha from the Mauryan period; 12th century Jain Kalpasutras; a richly detailed 15th century wooden panel from Tamil Nadu depicting Girija Kalyanam (Shiva-Parvathi’s marriage); figures in bricks from the 18th century Bishnupur terracotta temples; and gorgeous Tibetan tankhas, and rare Persian jamavars and carpets... “Some carpets have 3,500 knots per square inch. The one with the Jahangir figure in wool and silk is from 1612 AD,” he revealed. The corners of the drawing rooms in all his flats and their entrances had large statues mounted on pedestals. In the rooms, magnificent statues of Vishnu, Chola bronzes, and seated and standing Buddhas (from Burma and Indonesia) jostled for space beside Kangra and Mughal era paintings and the more modern ones by Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Svetoslav Roerich, etc. Every object evoked a memory — either associated with its acquisition or about the artist himself. Kejriwal regaled us with those stories. And some recalled poetry — a stunning Mughal era carpet had him breaking into Mirza Ghalib’s poetry; European sculptures had him quoting John Keats and Robert Browning; Jamini Roy paintings made him recall Tagore’s poems... And all objects were aesthetically displayed. But then, Kejriwal has visited some of the world’s best art galleries and in India, he is vice-president of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat; trustee, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, etc. He has donated a substantial part of his collection of art and artefacts to Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat where they are displayed in several galleries. He gave away about 350 paintings and drawings, and 250 sculptures from India as well as artworks by the great masters of Europe. It was a magnificent gesture. Very few Indian collectors have done this. In the West, however, many art collectors donate their collections readily to museums. We paused for a drink of water at the dining table. Above, there was another eye-catcher — a 12th-century dancing Ganesha flanked by 17th century Rajasthani paintings depicting Krishna Leela. Alongside was a shelf dotted with more priceless objects — mostly busts — found in excavations in Andhra Pradesh, including a metal Saraswati from the 19th century. And, on either side of this (and other dining tables) were shelves lined with exquisite porcelain-ware — crockery, flower vases, lamps, figurines, etc. They were made in factories in Germany, France, and England; sport famous brand names; and many date back to 17th and 18th centuries. The collection grew over decades and from many sources. Many items were bought from dealers and brokers who brought the items to him or were purchased directly from shops. “As an art collector I instantly recognised a precious piece,” he revealed. With this unerring eye for the perfect antique, he picked up invaluable objects including fabulous stone statues of Shiva and Parvathi from Tamil Nadu (12th century) and a magnificent 9th century Vishnu statue from Mysore. “Some objects were bought from families who wanted to sell off their artefacts. A few items were bought from old palaces.” He pointed to ornate gilded mirrors made in France. “These, for example, were bought from Cooch Behar Palace. The Tagore letters were gifted to me by his daughter-in-law Pratima Thakur.” But Kejriwal was wise enough to insist that Pratima also hand over a letter saying they were gifted to him by her. “Above all, the collection grew because I felt a love and respect for our heritage and a great desire to preserve it for posterity,” he says. From young art students to Nobel laureates, the director of the British Museum, London, and of Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, business barons, legendary Indian artistes and famous art connoisseurs, they have all visited this art-rich home and left with glowing praise, much of it recorded in the visitors’ books. Our visit had us requesting, at the end, another walk-through at another time. Actually, several more, we corrected ourselves. It is a home whose treasures need weeks to explore and understand, we said. Kejriwal, who is as modest about his collection as he is fond of it, smiled: “I understand. Even as someone living with this collection, I am discovering new facets about it everyday!”

Asia’s New Landless Peasants?

Landless people have long sparked instability in Asia. From the days of the Qin dynasty (3rd century B.C.), through the huge Taiping rebellion in the mid-19th century, to the successful Communist revolutions in China and Vietnam and a nearly successful insurrection in Malaysia during the mid-20th, the property-less have historically risen against those in power.

Today as East Asia grows more affluent, landlessness is again on the rise. Although peasants in many places remain both poor and restive, the real threat is in the region’s dynamic cities, where rapid increase in housing prices threatens to push hundreds of millions outside the property-buying market.

This boost in prices is due to the rapid economic and population growth in many Asian cities. Across China the price of housing per square meter more than doubled over the past decade, according to the National Statistical Bureau. Prices-compared-to-incomes in the diaspora hot beds of Singapore and Hong Kong are now, according to research from the consultancy group Demographia, the highest in the advanced world — at least 50% higher than New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Sydney or London.

There are some good market-based reasons for these high prices. Most major Asian cities are thriving economically and growing far more rapidly than their Western counterparts. Over the past decade, the population of Shanghai, China’s largest city, rose 35%, or by nearly 6 million, which is more than the population of any Western European city besides London, Paris and Essen-Dusseldorf. Beijing’s population rose by 6 million in the past 10 years to nearly 20 million. And Singapore’s far more affluent population jumped 20%, a rate exceeded in the advanced world only by Atlanta, Ga., among urban areas of more than 4 million.

The recent spike in prices, particularly in the more affluent cities, also stems from high liquidity, low interest rates and rising inflation, notes Cheong Koon Hean, CEO of Singapore’s Housing and Development Board. To these factors she adds what she calls “a herd mentality” as people rush to invest in property as a hedge against inflation.

The traditional Chinese obsession with property ownership exacerbates these factors. As Nanjing-based blogger and social critic Lisa Gu writes, “Owning a property is the greatest life-goal for most Chinese citizens.”

In mainland China the rush to own is bolstered by the lack of a strong social safety net or popular trust in other investment vehicles, such as stock and bonds. ”China lacks good investment channels besides housing,” says Han Hui, senior partner in prominent Beijing real estate law firm. “People put money into real estate because they still don’t trust anything else.”

The appeal of home-ownership in China is particularly marked since it’s more of a land-use right, which in the case of residential property, expires after 70 years (40 years for commercial property). The lease begins to run out on the date that the real estate developer signs for the land, and not on the homeowner’s date of purchase.

Whatever its cause, this Asian form of irrational exuberance is clearly boosting inequality across the region’s cities.

This is becoming a key issue, particularly for the younger generation. ”House price” ranked third on the list of the top 10 most popular phrases used by Chinese netizens, says Lisa Gu. Many young Chinese, she notes, are giving up on the ideal of owning a house before marriage and starting their lives together as renters. This is widely called “getting married naked.”

For young professionals this now might just prove a temporary annoyance, but it could evolve into something more bothersome as they age. Some might opt to avoid very expensive cities, such as Beijing or Shanghai, for up-and-coming smaller urban centers such as Chengdu, the provincial capital of agriculturally fecund Sichuan province. This city has a growing tech center but offers housing prices as much as one third those in China’s existing megacities. Although salaries are also lower, overall affordability remains much higher than in the established urban regions.

For the many millions of poorer Chinese, including the many migrants from the countryside, the housing crunch presents a more serious issue. Most have moved to the big cities, particularly in eastern China, for better opportunities and quality of life. Virtually all the net growth in Beijing and Shanghai, according to the most recent Chinese census, came not from registered residents but among migrants — those lacking hokoustatus. They constitute now over one third of the population in these megacities.

Such migrants include people of various incomes, but also a large impoverished population. Some live in sub-standard conditions not often associated with the gleaming epicenters of Asian capitalism. Like residents of the slums of third-world cities, many are landless peasants, a group now estimated at 70 million or 80 million.

This problem of landless peasants is likely to grow as more land is set aside for urban and industrial development. Many will face difficulty finding a decent place to live even as more affluent Chinese snatch up multiple apartments for speculative investment. This has accelerated a worsening gap between rich and poor that is of major concern to the country’s Communist rulers.

Of course, no one suggests anything like a new peasant rebellion is in the offing. It is critical to recognize that, for all its imperfections, China’s astounding rise has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of the grip of unceasing poverty.

But unaddressed, the property crisis could well slow east Asian capitalism’s rapid ascent. High housing prices may already be contributing to depressed birthrates — even in places where the “one child” policy does not apply, such as Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

Such long-term problems are overshadowed by more immediate concerns. Fallout about cascading house prices led the Chinese central government earlier this year imposed new restrictions aimed at slowing rampant speculation — such as requiring 60% payments for second homes and restricting the purchases of additional homes.

The interior city of Chongqing has taken even more drastic steps. The hardline government there has embraced a distinctly uncapitalist response to the housing crisis: a massive program to increase the supply of rental as well as state-owned apartments that would be available to poorer residents, including those from the countryside. This contrasts with programs in Singapore, where 80% of the population live in the public housing, but some 95% own flats purchased from current owners or the Housing Development Board.

In China, the failure of the housing market to find places for the poor and working class could provide a rationale for expanding the state’s role in managing the economy. It certainly provides fuel for Chongqing’s active affirmation of what is seen as a revival of “red culture.”

Beyond such ideological implications, the housing crisis could threaten both the long-term social stability and economic growth of East Asia. Unless addressed, growing dissatisfaction among a large bloc of property-less citizens has the potential to become a politically destabilizing force and a brake against market-friendly liberalization. As East Asia remains the primary driver of the world’s economic engine, this could prove bad news not only for upwardly mobile Chinese but everyone else as well.

Quarry on 3rd century BC archaeological site | Provincial

A quarry at Semgamuwa in Potuvil was closed down by the Department Archaeology. According to the Asst. Director of Archaeology, Ampara District, H A Sumanadasa the reason was that the quarry was located in a archaeological site of historical importance. He said the quarry permit issued in 2007 had been renewed annually. However, when he inspected the quarry recently he found a host of archaeological remains of buildings and also the ruins of a monastery that date back to the 3rd century BC. He said that extensive damage had been caused to many of the archaeological remains.

“I was appointed as assistant director in Ampara about nine months ago. After I assumed duties, I focused attention on the quarry and found that the permit had been obtained on forged documents. However, the archaeological research officer and the officials of the Geological Survey Division had recommended the issue of the permit. But the permit is illegal. A formal inquiry will be held in consultation with the director general of archeology,” he said
Meanwhile, an archaeological researcher in the Eastern Province, Ven.

ssBogahamulle Sumana Thera , who has followed a post graduate degree course at the Archaeological Research Institute said: “The quarry is located on land belonging to the Archaeological Department. The rock that has been blasted is similar to that at Situlpawwa. I noticed the archaeological remains of an ancient monastery and several other ancient ruins. It is sad that the officials issued a permit to blast rocks in an archaeological site. The government must focus attention on protecting our heritage.” The Officer in Charge of the Lahugala Archaeological Office, S Ratnashantha said he informed the authorities to prevent any further blasting of rocks and other activities in the quarry and that he would be monitoring the situation.

BusinessWorld Online Edition |Siem Reap Angkor Wat and beyond

The centerpiece of any trip to Cambodia is of course a tour of Angkor Wat. The word “angkor” literally means capital city, while a “wat” is a temple. Still, this is just one of a series of temples dotting the entire Siem Reap province. The Angkorian period in Cambodian history actually spans about 700 years, from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

Angkor Wat itself was built in the early 12th century, by Suryavarman II.

The entire Angkor area has been well preserved, thanks to government’s prudence over the years (this must originate from the French colonial period). There are no new buildings in the area, and nobody from outside is allowed to resettle there. Only the original inhabitants may reside there.

The drive from Siem Reap town to the area is a pleasant one, on a road lined by tall shady trees planted by the French more than 50 years ago.

A few minutes later you catch a glimpse of an imposing stone wall surrounded by a moat. This is the perimeter fence of Angkor Wat, measuring 1.3 by 1.5 kilometers in length. From the entrance it is a 200-meter walk on an uneven stone path to the inner wall, and then another 300-meter walk to the temple. The temple itself is 1 square kilometer in size. So you are now getting an idea about the workout I mentioned earlier.

A good time to see Angkor Wat for the first time is after 2 p.m. The sun is slowly coming down on the westward facing temple, and the lines come out sharply. On the north reflecting pool, a pretty reflection of the five towers offers a good photo opportunity.

Upon reaching the main building, it is the elaborate bas relief on the walls that takes your breath away. On the first level walls, one section depicts stories and characters from Hindu mythology including the Ramayana, and the intriguing representation of the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” on the east wall. It is important to note that religion in Cambodia swung from Hinduism to Buddhism and back many times in its long history. Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple, but became a Buddhist place of worship when that faith came into mode.

Going back to the bas relief, the victorious march of Suryavarman II and his army against the Cham people are portrayed on the south wall.

A guide will be most helpful in explaining the transforming scenery. At any given time, there is always cacophony of languages that can be heard, with guides speaking in English, French, Japanese, Russian and Chinese.

In the upper levels, both the inner and outer walls depict nearly 2,000 distinct carvings of Apsara or celestial dancers. This classical dance was developed for the kings of the Angkorian era, and was performed only for the royal household. Predictably, it suffered near demise during the Khmer Rouge era. Fortunately, the royal family, particularly Princess Devi who is a dancer, worked hard to revive this cultural heritage. The UNESCO eventually declared it as intangible heritage and earmarked it for protection. Today tourists can enjoy an evening performance in some of the larger restaurants and hotels.

Further up is the way to the towers. There are five towers in all, four corner towers, and the center and tallest towers. Visitors can walk along the wall and pass under the four corner towers, but the center tower is closed.

Angkor Wat should take up the entire afternoon for one to properly appreciate its grandeur. Most likely, you will be too tired after your visit for anything else anyway.

The next morning would be a good time to go see Angkor Thom, or Big Angkor. This is a walled city three square kilometers in size, or four times the area occupied by Angkor Wat. It was built in the later 12th century, just after Angkor Wat. This time, a Buddhist king named Jayavarman VII reigned. He built the Bayon temple (famous for the hundreds of Bayon heads) within, as well as his royal palace and structures for the royal household and his high officials. Unfortunately, the palace and other households were made of wood and did not survive the passing of time. Only the ruins of Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of Leper King remain.

Angkor Thom is likewise protected by a stone wall with five entrances or gates. There is one facing each direction, with two facing east. One of the eastern gates is the Victory Gate leading to the Royal Palace, for the exclusive use of the king. Most visitors enter through the South Gate, which brings them directly to Bayon temple. Each gate is capped by a Bayon-style tower with four giant faces. Our guide said the faces are the likeness of Jayavarman VII, but this is actually a matter of debate, with some quarters claiming they are of one Bodhisattva. Who cares? In the end, what matters is that these structures have been preserved to an astonishing degree for the benefit of all humanity.

Bayon temple itself has 37 standing towers. The lower level walls contain bas relief as well, this time depicting real life scenes from the battle between the Khmer and the Cham. One portrays soldiers in a boat rowing toward the enemy. After their decisive victory, the Khmer decided to hold a barbecue, much like one we would have today. This is charmingly depicted in another wall carving.

If you still have an hour left in the morning, head on to Ta Phrom. This is the temple of Lara Croft, Tombraider fame. The walls and walkways are overgrown with centuries old trees, and have been deliberately left that way to retain the jungle temple feel. Although I have never seen the movie, I have now put it on my “must see” list, for obvious reasons.

For people with more days to spend in Angkor, there are sites to visit further afield. 40 kilometers away is Banteay Srey (pronounced ban tey sry), more popularly known as the women’s temple. It precedes Angkor Wat by more than a hundred years, is much smaller, yet more intricate in its carvings and has an almost surreal pinkish hue.

Wat comes next?

After a respectable temple run of the three major stops, wat else is there to do?

The pulse of any city can be gleaned from their market, so after catching your breath from the temple workouts, visit the central market. If your hotel is nearby, a leisurely stroll along the Siem Reap River toward the market is highly recommended, giving you a wider view of daily life here. Among the different stalls you will find everything you’ve heard about on the grapevine: sapphires and rubies, silver, wood carvings, silk, scarves, clothing, and food. It is mainly geared toward the local population, therefore serving up fresh vegetables and meats as well.

Two most interesting visits we made were to the Senteurs D’ Angkor workshop and the Silk Farm.

The Senteurs tour takes only 30 minutes, demonstrating how plants and flowers like frangipiani, lemon grass, coconut, etc. can be infused into other material resulting in the most wonderfully fragrant candles, soaps, and oils. At the end of the tour, one is treated to a free drink of lemon grass coffee or cardamom tea, among other such choices.

The Silk Farm is 16 km out of town, and a free trip is available from the Artisans d’Angkor store in town. This is a delightful and educational tour, showing the silk making process from start to finish. From my own firsthand account, I swear the process is so tedious you cannot challenge any ridiculous amount they charge for their products. For example, an intricately designed silk scarf takes three days to finish.

Three days! And when you see the price, it’s actually very reasonable.

And don’t think twice about buying that raw silk shawl that is as warm as pashmina they say. My mother said with authority that “you will never find it anywhere else.” And she is right, of course.

Filipinos are devout Catholics in general, and if one finds himself here on a weekend, there are masses on Saturday evening in English, and Sunday morning in Khmer.

At night, the focus shifts firmly east of the central market, to nearby Pub Street. This uber popular street evolved slowly. Before 1998, it was a quiet street with no particular night appeal, until the first pub opened, named in jest as “Angkor What?” From then, one pub, restaurant or shop opened after another, until it became Siem Reap’s center of gravity come nighttime. They have wisely closed it to vehicular traffic starting at six, making it a most relaxing place for everybody, and removed from the noise and air pollution brought on by tuktuks and the like.

If only the mayor of Baguio would be brave enough to do the same, I believe our beloved Session Road will take on a much renewed spirit, and attract many more locals and tourists alike.

A most famous watering hole on Pub Street is the Red Piano, where in 2001, during the filming of Lara Croft, Angelina Jolie herself started the drink called Tombraider.

Pub Street is also a good place to sample the local fare. Have a fish in Amok (local curry concoction), try the beef lok lak, sautéed in delicate and aromatic Kampot pepper, or dine in a group and feast on what is locally known as “Volcano,” a variation of shabu-shabu.

In the end, we also visited Tonle Sap Lake, to see the floating villages and witness a traditional way of life. Now I do not highly recommend this trip, it wasn’t a pretty sight. However, if you are in for some adventure and seeing how people who permanently reside in boats live, why not give it a try?

If you plan to visit, avoid April and May though, when the heat is oppressive. The best time to come is from November to February, when the weather is both cool and dry. However, there is a certain charm in coming during the wet season (June to October) as our guide boasts of verdant lawns surrounding the temples, and the Tonle Sap Lake swells to its full level.

Siem Reap is a gentle town, a balm to one’s frayed nerves. It can be the pleasant long weekend you’ve been pining for, on top of the chance to see live what you’ve only seen in books before: the grandeur that was Angkor.

The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : Scenes from the 17th Century

A TRIBUTE TO TYAGARAJA: A mural in vibrant colours. Photo: Special Arrangement

It's not just the story of Tyagaraja, but also the effort to conserve heritage that is told in V.K. Rajamani and David Shulman's book “The Mucukunda Murals”

The paintings leap at you from the pages in beautiful compositions of red, ochre, jade green and black. The mellow brown border throws them into greater relief, and the scenes spring to life. Published by the Prakriti Foundation, the book “The Mucukunda Murals in the Tyagarajasvami Temple, Tiruvarur” by V.K. Rajamani and David Shulman records a rich segment of the art and the heritage of Tamil Nadu, and seeks to hand it down to succeeding generations. The fine photographs are by Rajamani, while Shulman has written a brilliant introduction on the temple and its deity. Maya Tevet Dayan, a scholar who worked under the guidance of Shulman for her Ph.D, has contributed an essay on the experience of viewing these paintings.

Ranvir Shah of Prakriti Foundation, who has a special bond with the temple and the deity, undertook to publish the book. When he also embarked on the task of having the priceless art conserved, the effort began to bear shades of Mucukunda's arduous attempts to succeed in his divine mission. The INTACH team headed by Madhu Rani K.P. took on the conservation exercise but enormous hurdles had to be overcome, mainly of the bureaucratic kind. Madhu Rani's write up on the effort is included in the book.

The murals on the ceiling of the Devasiriya Mandapam lift up the mind and spirit. They narrate the story of Sri Tyagaraja and how the monkey-faced Chola king Mucukunda Chakravarti brought the image of Sri Tyagaraja to earth. Through the portrayal of dancers, elephants and processional scenes, the life of the 17th Century is revealed in these paintings that belong to the late Nayak or early Maratha period.

“I showed Shulman the photographs I had taken of these paintings, when he met me in 1973. He immediately suggested that they should be brought out as a book. Much later, Shulman and I went to Tiruvarur and I took more photographs of the paintings. The task proved to be very difficult,” explains Rajamani who was in the pharmaceutical business but has had a passion for photography from the 1960s. He built a reputation for himself in capturing monuments and temples, especially through assignments for popular Tamil journals. Rajamani developed a love for heritage after photographing the bronzes of Tamil Nadu for a book by archaeologist R. Nagaswamy and also executing the photographs for two books by Nanditha Krishna, one on the arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu and another on the painted manuscripts in the Saraswati Mahal library in Thanjavur. “When I first visited the temple, the mandapam was used to store the huge coils of rope to pull the temple chariot. The vahanas (mounts for the deity) were also stored here. The floor was littered with rubbish and carcases of cats. I engaged a few workers and had the place cleaned,” says Rajamani. “But since the paintings were all on the ceiling, I had to lie on the floor and move my mat bit by bit while I photographed them. Since the light was poor, I brought plain white sheets and used them to reflect the sunlight on to the panels. The photographs were all taken before the restoration was undertaken by INTACH. Maya helped me put the photographs in chronological order. All the paintings are accompanied by the old Tamil script which Shulman and archaeologist Chandramurti read with the help of a magnifying glass,” says Rajamani who was president of the Photography Society of Madras and has received the organisation's Lifetime Achievement Award. “Now that the book has been published, I feel happy and fulfilled,” smiles the frail 76-year-old photographer who persevered despite setbacks to his health.

Love for the Tamil world

Shulman's love for South Indian languages brought him to Tamil Nadu. The Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem says he fell in love with the Tamil world as soon as he and his wife came to Madras in 1972 — “the people, the music, the food, the landscape, the art and the poetry — even the weather!” “I first visited Tiruvarur on a day of very heavy rain in January 1976,” he recalls. “I returned many times and became familiar with the paintings which were then in a much better state of preservation before the tremendous damage done by smoke, fungus, dirt and, above all, sheer neglect.” Later, when he was writing a book on the Nayak period along with other scholars, the paintings interested him again. “They are so vivid and colourful — you can see the streets of Tiruvarur in the late 17th Century in them. These paintings are masterpieces of world art and should be declared as such by UNESCO,” he says fervently. “Under no circumstances should they be repainted as is sometimes done in South Indian temples.”

The Tiruvarur paintings are remarkable because of their size and originality but there are many other murals from that period in temples in the South which need to be preserved carefully, he points out. “I have had many books published but I feel most proud to have been part of this one. Designer Vinay Jain has done a remarkable job.”

The book was released recently in the temple, and will be launched in Chennai later this year.