They tell tales of valour
PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY
| The Thanjavur armour collection is a must-see for both historians and fine arts lovers. |
Brass toys are also of special interest.
(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.
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.
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