History in bronze
PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY
| The gallery at the Government Museum boasts a fascinating array of artefacts from across the country. |
The earliest bronze in Tamil Nadu dates back to 5th century B.C. and was found in a small village called Adhichanallur.
TIMELESS beauty: The museum and some of the icons on display (below).
(This is the first of a five-part series on the Government Museum, Chennai.)
Going past Pantheon Road, Chennai, whether it is to the railway station or for a shopping trip, it is hard to not admire the stately museum buildings that can be seen even better now thanks to the flyover!
Set up in 1851, the Government Museum Government Museum or the Central Museum is one of the oldest in India. It has relics from as early as 2nd Century B.C. and is home to a fascinating and rich collection of artefacts not just from Tamil Nadu but from South India and India itself.
Started in Fort St George in 1851, it first had a collection of geological specimen. By 1853, it had several more specimen and in 1854, moved to its present premises in Pantheon Road (named after the Pantheon/public assembly rooms). The current buildings date to circa 1896.
The best buildings in the campus are the Museum Theatre, the Connemara Library and the National Art Gallery. The buildings, designed by Henry Irwin and built by Namberumal Chetty, are inspired by Italian architecture except the Art Gallery (not in use now) that is inspired by Akbar’s Buland Darwaza in Fatehpur Sikri. The art gallery was originally intended for use by the Victoria Technical Institute and came to the use of the Museum from 1951.
The museum has eight sections. The Bronze Gallery is one of the best known and probably the most modern after international standard design techniques were used. The bronzes number more than 1,200 though only a fraction is displayed. The bronzes in the museum were meant for worship in Hindu temples. Many bronzes are also Buddhist or Jain and some are in the ‘folk style’ meant for worship in humbler village temples.
The earliest bronze in Tamil Nadu dates back to 5th century B.C. and was found in a small village called Adhichanallur near Tirunelveli. The figurine of the mother goddess is a crude one but this was a precursor to the life-like images that are internationally renowned today.
Made by the lost wax process, the crafting of icons requires great skill and patience. Early South Indian bronzes tend to be simple and spare in ornamentation. The golden age of bronzes was the 11-13th centuries when the dynasties, especially the Cholas, embarked on massive temple building projects. Increasing power of the temples meant an increase in temple rituals and the stationary main deity was soon competing in religious devotion with the processional deity made of bronze.
Excessive ornamentation
Images from the Chola period became bigger, more lifelike and exquisitely formed. The boon soon became a bane, for later Chola pieces became more ‘template-ised’ since demand began to outstrip supply. The hiatus that intervened between the 14th and 16th centuries saw resurgence in the Vijayanagar and Nayak regimes when temple building and re-consecration became important once again. Images now however gained in the excessive ornamentation but lost the lissomness of the past.
Most of us normally associate bronzes only with Hinduism, while bronzes of the Hindu deities are the most prolific, at a time when Jainism and Buddhism were important religions in India, monasteries and devotees of these religions too commissioned bronzes of great beauty for worship. The museum has more than a dozen bronzes in this group. They date from 3rd century A.D. to 16th century A.D. with most of the bronzes dating from 12th century.
The images of Buddha are usually standing, with the great teacher holding his two hands in the abhaya (offering protection) and varadha (granting boons) mudras. One rare image has the Buddha in the kataka mudra indicating the holding of a flower. Given the size of these images and the rings in the pedestal that were meant to secure the image to a base, they must have been used in processions. It is also significant that many of the images were discovered in and around Nagapattinam.
The Jain images show the Thirthankara. Some of them are seated in front of a prabhavali that has chamara (flywhisk) bearers or the Makara (a beast that symbolises fearlessness). There are four Thirthankaras and they can be identified by a symbol usually on the right side of the pedestal. The Jain images date between the 11-13th centuries.
Among the hundred Hindu images, those of Nataraja and Somaskanda are more well-known. The gallery has several fine images of Parvati as well. A particularly beautiful one is from Thiruvengimalai dated from 11th century. It shows Parvati in the characteristic Thribhanga pose but her left hand is gracefully resting on the head of an attendant who carries a casket. The detailing of the ornaments and the folds of textile are superb as are the calm facial expressions of the figures. An unusual 14th century copper image of a sage seated on a tiger trampling on a demon with one foot has an inscription that identifies it as that of Vishnu’s incarnation as a dwarf Vamana.
The collection on display in this gallery is rotated on a periodic basis and there is an excellent illustrated guide available that was published in 2003.
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