Rare exhibits - Chennai Museum V

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Rare exhibits

PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY

A collection of unusual musical instruments vies for attention with the philately, numismatics, zoology and botany galleries.

(This is the fifth and last article on the five-part series on the Government Museum, Chennai.)

As part of the anthropology section, the Government Museum, Chennai, has several artefacts of South Indian tribes including the Todas, Chenchus, Lambadis and Gonds. The artefacts include garments, jewellery and weapons.

A collection of rare musical instruments includes those such as the jalatharangam and kombu that are still played today and others such as the mayil yazh, vil yazh and naga veena, stringed instruments that were popular during the Sangam Age. The yazh lost out to the veena which was invented by the Thanjavur Nayak King Raghunatha in the 17th century. The veena was able to capture notes as well as gamakas which the yazh could not. The Balasaraswathy is a particularly beautiful instrument in the collection.

The percussion instruments are represented by the nagara which is played with the drum on the nape of the elephant’s neck. Also in the collection is the panchamukha vadyam. This instrument is played only in two temples today, one being the Tyagaraja Swamy Temple in Tiruvarur. It is said that here during the last century, there were more than 14 instruments that were played during festivals. A percussion instrument of a purely ornamental nature is a glass dholak.

The museum also has a large collection of Stone Age tools and pottery shards. Among these are artefacts excavated from Adhichanallur dated circa 5th century B.C. Some of the articles are from today’s Andhra Pradesh. A particularly rare one is the sarcophagus, shaped like a ram with six legs. The body is hollowed out into a cavity which contained the human remains. Given their importance and fragile nature, many of these objects are not on display but are extensively documented in the museum’s website.

Photo Courtesy: Government Museum

The skeleton of a whale.

Rare coins

The numismatics gallery contains several rare coins many from the Roman period. The Roman coins were excavated in Arikamedu and other sites that played an important role in the Indo-Roman trade route. The museum also has a collection of medals. Among those of interest are those from Mysore. In this gallery is also a facsimile copy of the Magna Carta, a historic agreement signed in the U.K. in 1215 A.D. and is believed to be the only copy in India.

A first of its kind for Indian museums is the philatelic gallery that showcases stamps from various countries. Of particular interest are stamps from Germany and the first day cover collection. The origins of the museum are in its geological collection. This, along with the zoological and botany galleries, is of value to students of science. The displays focus both on environmental and economic perspectives. . An exhibit that never ceases to amaze young visitors is the colossal skeleton of a great Indian Baleen whale measuring over 60 feet and added to the museum in 1874. Fossils from ancient times are also a highlight.

The Museum has an excellent website: www.chennaimuseum.org/

(The writer likes to thank the Principal Secretary and Commissioner of the Museum for permitting him to do research and to the curators of the galleries for their help. He records his gratitude to S. Muthiah for his help on the history of the Museum.)

Poonthanam in Tamil

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Poonthanam in Tamil

S. SIVAKUMAR

Dr. Giridharan’s Gnana Virutham has the fervour of the Malayalam original.

Laudable effort: Giridharan.

Bhakta Kavi Poonthanam Namboodiri, who lived nearly four centuries ago, belonged to Angadippuram, a village in north Kerala. He was the contemporary and peer of Melputhur Bhattatrippadi, author of Narayaneeyam.

Poonthanam (that happens to be his house-name), whose real name is unknown, poured out in verse form, the “Gnana Paanai” in Malayalam, with naamasmaranam being singled out as the unfailing route to salvation.

The fervour contained in the original is present in the Tamil translation, titled Gnana Viruththam. This “capture of the original” has been done by Dr. U.R. Giridharan, who possesses a deep understanding of the cultures of the Tamil, Malayalam and English languages enabling him to do his work with effortless ease.

(Professor Dr. N. Subramaniam, in his scholarly preface, mentions this aspect significantly and also elevates the Tamil poetic style (nadai) above the prevalent forms of worship of the Almighty).

Dr. Prema Nandakumar, in her remarks, traces the saintly ambience of Poonthanam, whose poetry she says is characterised by the use of simple phrases, has philosophical strength, shows his deep bhakti and has in it immense literary quality.

Dr. Nandakumar compliments Dr. Giridharan, whose natural abilities in the art of “Sandhakkavi” has made him adopt this as his paradigm. Each one of these verses carries valuable footnote references from Thiruvaaai Mozhi indicating the continuity of thought that has been in existence over the centuries.

Immediate agenda

Dr. Giridharan is a spontaneous translator whose works include Tamil versions of Hanuman Chalisa and Lalitha Sahasranamam and another entitled “Singavele! Pirane!” a 12-metre-styled-poem (Panniruseer Aasiriaviruththam) requiring extraordinary mastery of Tamil grammar.

Vishnu Sahasranamam is also on his immediate agenda.

Dr. Giridharan narrated a few instances he could gather from the life of Poonthanam to show how he was an ascetic and his aim was to enlighten the common man and to liberate him from his daily humdrum existence and distinguish the real from the unreal.

Chinmaya Sisters, Uma and Radhika, have themselves set to tune and sung this flowing poetry in choice Carnatic ragas such as Nattai, Panthuvarali, Ranjani, Dhanyasi and Madhyamavathi.

An audio CD has been made out with the typical Kerala music as background score. The composer is Mohandas. The CD released by Devadatham Music has the verses in song and virutham format and is marked by an unmistakable and sensitive diction and bhava-laden rendition.

Cover of Gnana Virutham.

Dr. Giridharan recalls with warmth the “commitment and painstaking orientation towards perfection” the sisters exhibited during the recording sessions.

An illustrative excerpt from “Gnana Virutham” goes thus:

Hari Naamam Ullavarai Endha Naalum Sarivenbadhillai — Ariveer,

Ariya Vedhadhi Noolgalum, Geethaiyum Pugazhum Adhanai…Undu Maghizhveer…

(Realise that Harinamam, the prescription of the Gita and other scriptures will never bring you down and it is for you to savour this HariNamam). And this, says it all.

They tell tales of valour - Chennai Museum !V

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They tell tales of valour

PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY

The Thanjavur armour collection is a must-see for both historians and fine arts lovers.

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Brass toys are also of special interest.

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(This is the fourth part of a five part-series on the Government Museum, Chennai)

The other galleries of the Government Museum, Chennai, that house artefacts of interest for the historian and fine art lovers have a diverse collection of objects.

The Thanjavur armour collection is probably the largest and most intact collection of South Indian armour of a Hindu kingdom. The Nayaks of Thanjavur owed their status to the Vijayanagar dynasty and their rule gave way to the Marathas in the 19th century. The Marathas were displaced by the British who declared that the Marathas had no legitimate heir. The British then took over the entire collection of arms in the Thanjavur palace and passed them on to the museum.

Their decorative role

The collection in the museum from Thanjavur is an important one. Several of the arms were meant to be used in battle but many fulfilled a decorative role. In this context, the armour for an entire elephant and the many-elephant goads are of importance. The goads probably came along with the elephant that was gifted and were made usually of steel or bronze. One of them is made of ivory. The swords, daggers and maces hold a lot of significance. Frequent motifs on the arms are the peacock, the vehicle of Karthikeya, the god of war, the parrot that signifies love for one’s country and the lion or Makara which symbolises valour. Some of the pieces are finely inlaid with metals of contrasting colours.

The gallery of industrial art has some exquisite examples of wood carving, many of which are from the temple carves of South India.

Dating back to the Nayak period, they show immense attention to detail, though the human figures themselves are stiff and formal.

Of a similar style of workmanship are the ivory artefacts. Ivory being a more ductile material than wood, the workmanship is of a higher standard. Of particular beauty is the stand for books.

PHOTO: COURTESY government MUSEUM

IMPORTANT ARTEFACTS: The Thanjavur armoury. .

The gallery has a large collection of metal objects for domestic and religious use. The lamps are beautiful specimens and one of them has, instead of the usual hamsa bird, the figure of a Kinnara.

Also in the collection is a small but interesting collection of small copper bas reliefs. Brass toys are also of special interest here.

Art influenced by folk forms - Chennai Museum III

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Art influenced by folk forms

PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY

The painters of the Pallava, chola and the Pandya periods were adept at their art.

Photo courtesy: Government Museum, Chennai.

Blend of devotion and aesthetics: Thanjavur paintings.

(This is the third of a five-part series on the Government Museum, Chennai)

In India, religion has always been a powerful influence on society. Like other aspects, art was also powerfully influenced by religion.

The temples and other religious institutions patronised art and thereby caused the themes painted to have religious significance. Ancient texts such as the Chitrasutra reflect an in-depth understanding of the nuances of painting and the different types of painting that were prevalent in those times. Detailed directions were given to differentiate mediocre painters from the better ones. If both were to draw a man sleeping, the former will make it look like a corpse and the latter like a man resting is one of the more direct observations!

Texts like the Silapadigaram mention ancient temples and palaces with walls covered with paintings done in the most lifelike manner, none of these remain but we have at least one example of fine painting from the Pallava period (Panamalai), from the Chola period (the murals in the Brihadeswara temple) and the Pandya period (Sithanavasal).

These paintings show that our ancient painters were adept at their art. They used the wet fresco method which meant that they needed to work fast, before the base dried out and had to choose and mix colours keeping in mind that the eventual colour will be several shades different since the natural pigments fade with age. The painter also focused on the natural treatment of the subject and had an eye for understanding how light and shade affected the human form.

Various modes

The Vijayanagar and Nayak periods saw the painters becoming increasingly influenced by folk forms, figures become sharply two dimensional, colours become flat and the painting becomes more clearly serialised into little boxes that when seen right to left, tell a definite story.

Captions in Telugu or Tamil also help the onlooker. Most importantly, painters begin to use the dry fresco method that requires less expertise.

In the Nayak period we also have evidence of paintings on large panels of cloth that were meant for temples and palaces, these were done using the Kalamkari method.

The advent of the Muslim rule and then the British rule gave impetus to two styles which are famous in the south, Thanjavur style paintings and the canvas paintings of Ravi Varma.

Ancient styles of paintings were only on the walls but of the latter styles, the museum has several fine examples.

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Beauty with colours: At the museum

Preserve of the wealthy

Some of the highlights of the collection are as follows:

Thanjavur paintings are today a ubiquitous part of most south Indian homes either in the drawing room or the puja room and if one hasn’t inherited them, they are easy to buy through the internet or the local gift shop. However at one point of time in the 18/19th century they were the preserve of the wealthy and the royal. Considered by many to be an ‘invention’ during the reign of Serfoji II (1798-1832), they incorporated a south Indian painting style of showing the figures in a two dimensional mould with flat colours where the size of the figure was indicative of importance with a Deccani/Mughal influence of infusing the painting with gold leaf.

Fine and delicate

Early Thanjavur paintings have thin sheets of gold embossed on a surface treated with a paste that had engraved details. The work is fine and delicate and is accompanied by painting that has a great attention to detail.

The subject was of Hindu deities especially Krishna. The paintings were done by a Telugu speaking community. The museum has fine examples of these paintings but the show stealers are 30 paintings that depict the Maratha rulers. Contemporary visitors to Serfoji II talk of his durbar hall decorated with Thanjavur Tanjore paintings and oil paintings of his ancestors and it is very likely that the museum has most of them. The royals are shown in stiff and conventional postures, either holding court, or standing beside a balcony or window or seated in leisure with their queen. In all of them, the treatment of the designs on the textiles and jewellery is superb. A more affordable cousin of the Tanjores’ was the more folksy glass paintings that were inspired by Chinese exports. The museum has a collection of these, the pictures of the dancing girl/princess; the two princes are fine examples of this style that disappeared when the cheaper oleographs hit the market in the early 20th century.Among the oil painters, Ravi Varma is the most famous. The Museum has some of his paintings, the best being the one depicting Yashodha and Krishna.

The eyes of Krishna appear as if they are looking at you regardless of the angle you see the painting from.

T N Krishnan - Stringing life’s moments

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Stringing life’s moments

V. BALASUBRAMANIAN

On the eve of his 80th birthday, violin vidwan T. N. Krishnan talks about music then and now, and much more.

Sangitha Surabhi, Arsha Kala Bhushanam, Sangita Saamrat, Wisdom Star of India, Tamil Isai Vendar and Kala Ratna; hold your breath. For, all these titles have been awarded to violin maestro T.N. Krishnan within a span of 45 days beginning November 2008, creating a record of sorts. His effortless playing of varnams in three speeds is to be seen to be believed. What’s more, he has the ability to carry off a concert single-handed. Tomorrow (January 10), the maestro turns 80.

Excerpts from an interview:

On the shortening of concert duration and its effect on music…

Time constraint does affect concerts, particularly when you take up ragas such as Bhairavi, Todi, Khambodi and Sankarabharanam. Those days, ragas would be sung in three stages and at every stage, I would be allowed to play for a few minutes. The manobhavam will be at its best when you get this vishranthi. Also, rasikas also were patient. Today, things have changed drastically. The schedule is just restricted to 150 minutes and with the tani taking about 20 minutes, we are just left with 130 minutes. Within this time frame, not only will I have to settle down but also give my best. Quite tough. But we have to keep pace with change.

On monitors, sound check etc…

I dislike the presence of monitors on stage. I would only love to listen to the output that flows to the rasikas and play. Watching their reaction will help me adjust my playing. The monitors may not reflect what is being heard by the rasikas. Then this constant transaction with the sound engineer, signalling to him even as the concert is in progress is not etiquette. Sound check is a must for a light music orchestra with scores of violins, violas, cellos and drums. More the technological development, more the complications. When I play a phrase with dynamics, if the sound engineer increases or decreases the volume without understanding the nuances, imagine the consequences. He should have a thorough knowledge of music.

On the Ariyakkudi padhathi...

As everyone knows, he is the superstar of Carnatic music. The padhathi set by him is still going strong except for a few aberrations now and then, which I remember to have predicted about 10 years ago. A day may come when a concert may commence with a padam, javali or even ‘Prahlada Naradadi’. We should take the best out of his pattern instead of talking vociferously against it. His style of packaging concerts was unique and he was always successful in it. I think it is the greatest gift from him to the field.

On his experiences with Ariyakkudi...

There was always perfect camaraderie on his stage. He would give equal respect to all the accompanists irrespective of their age and experience. He always respected the sadas (audience) and would be a little scared every time he went on stage. Convincing him to accept a concert was not an easy task. He would always spot you in a crowd and greet you with love. He would never highlight the shortcomings of his saka vidwans on stage. Instead he would understand their strength and weakness. Active and energetic is what he expected us to be on stage and would not tolerate any sulking. Again, we were expected to have constant eye contact with him during the concert. No turning around to greet someone in the audience!

On violin accompanists today...

I have come across many promising youngsters with abundant talent. However, not everyone is allowed to blossom to their fullest capacity. I feel sorry for them. They are at the mercy of the main artist and have to play second fiddle in the real sense. I did not have such problems when I accompanied the stalwarts of those days.

On the challenges and outlook then…

Never was I informed about the pallavi for the concert by the vidwans with whom I was to play. It was really a challenge and when I came out unscathed, I would earn an inspiring ‘Sabaash’ or a ‘Bale’ from the seniors. Playing for stalwarts helped me hone my skills. Each of them had a unique style. All they knew was only music. They were prepared to go without concerts for days but would wait for opportunities. Ariyakkudi never referred to papers even in a thematic concert. Whether a sabha, a temple or a marriage concert, it was all the same for them. That is why their music is spoken about even today.

On his outlook on music then and now…

I have been playing for 76 long years. I still find something new in the Bhairavi varnam every time I play it. The feeling is fresh. Similarly, I enjoy playing the sadhaka varisais daily that help keeping me in fine fettle. Of course, in the initial stages playing a varnam was not a pleasant task. But once you get into its core, you would never feel like coming out at all. Varnams are a must in one’s daily practice routine.

On the Alathur Brothers…

They were famous for chittai singing and were an authority on pallavi singing. Not that the pallavi did not exist before them, but it attained a special status after them. They were intelligent enough to capitalise on their strength. They were strong in laya.

Looking back…

The field of music is an ocean and you will find everything in it. I have seen a lot of growth in the field. Music reflects one’s character. It is a form of yoga and gives you good health and shreyas. As Tyagaraja says, ‘suswara’ gives you a lot of energy. There is no substitute for hard work. Sometimes, the satisfaction I derive while practising, I may not find in a concert. It all depends on luck. Sadhakam lays the strong foundation but again one should not overdo it.

The son speaks…

PHOTO: V. GANESAN

TALENTED FAMILY: T. N. Krishnan with family.

T. N. Krishnan’s son Sriram says: ‘I do play like a professional but have not taken up violin playing as a profession. Music today has become an industry and it has its own advantages and disadvantages. The circumstances were different when my father started playing. I cannot compromise on certain issues because of my temperament. I’d rather play for a limited audience comprising my friends at home or in a chamber instead playing for 52 week.’

Fusion of Colours

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Fusion of colours

PUSHPA CHARI

The Madhubani exhibition is on till February 2.

Photo: M. Vedhan

Vibrant: Lakshmi Devi with one of her paintings.

From ‘Dhuli Chitra’ or floor art to auspicious wall painting and expressions on handmade paper, to finally lending ‘designer charm’ to saris, dupattas and home furnishing, the folk art of Madhubani has had a long, colourful jo urney. Also known as ‘Mithila’ art, the wall painting of Madhubani originated in villages in Darbhanga district, Bihar, one of which was called ‘Madhubani.’ Done by women of the region the art generally features stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, depictions of marriages, ‘bidaai,’ ‘naming ceremonies’ and so on. A profusion of flowers, leafy trees and animals are also done in vibrant vegetable colours. Bright vermillion, orange, saffron, green and blue are typical Madhubani colours and ‘Raslila’ forms the favourite theme.

The human figures have typically elongated eyes, and possess the magic of folk fantasy while the animals have a peculiar dynamism and movement.

Attractive images

“Nobody taught me this art,” says Lakshmi Devi, a paramparik Madhubani artist from Bihar who has made Chennai her home. “I learnt by watching my mother and grand mother paint.” She has painted the walls of many homes in Chennai mainly with religious or floral and vine themes or stunning delicate toranams. At the moment, she is busy giving the finishing touches to a Madhubani paper panel depicting ‘chat’ puja. There is a sky blue Krishna surrounded by fantastic flowers while another panel depicts ‘ardhanariswara’ brilliantly conceived in Madhubani folk style. She casually tosses out compelling frames of Radhakrishna in eternal ‘ras lila,’ framed panels of poised animals and parrots as well as flowers in bloom, arranged in a manner reminiscent of Chinese paintings.

How does she go about creating a Madhubani panel? “I draw from my mind, from all the Hindu rituals and festivals I carry in my head. We extract colours from the juice of flowers and fruit, and sap from the bark of trees. We soak the bark and the flowers for two-three days, extract the juice and add chemicals and glue to it. And then I get to work, to fill in the colours. During festive occasions such as Diwali I have painted Rama’s homecoming over huge walls. We use vegetable colour for walls but fabric colour for textiles and poster colour for painting on paper…,” she explains.

Lakshmi Devi herself has taught the art form to many people in her village. Her daughters too are proficient in it and carry the tradition forward.

Lakshmi Devi’s work is showcased at the National Arts and Crafts Exhibition currently on at Sri Sankara Hall, TTK Road, Tynampet, Chennai.

The exhibition is on view till February 2.