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Tanjai: Bowl of life
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by Deepa Kozhisseri
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From its fabled stories as bounteous land of the Cholas, to the epic relics that tower and stud the bank of Kaveri in proud testimony, Tanjavur resonates with an eternal life giving power. Veiled by the vortex of empire, religious supremacy of the Brihadeshwara temple and high art, Tanjavur, in its essence lends itself best to the idea of the overflowing bowl, the ‘Amuda Surabhi’ from an epic Tamil poem. Perhaps the sobriquet is intricately blended in, with the bronze and the stone figurines of the temple relics that proclaim that the ancient city itself was intended, as a seat of spirituality.
Airavatesvara Temple - Just a few minutes out of town lush green paddy fields spread on either side of the road interrupted by lotus ponds. Racquet tailed Drongos perch indecisively on tree tops, kingfishers rule by numbers and parakeets screech as they fly in the morning light.
Darasuram is a tiny village, en route to Kumbakonam, 38km from Tanjavur town the seat of the quaintest temple of the Chola age built by Rajendran I. The lawns outside does not prepare one for the elegance of temple hoisted with pillars on a chariot. The steps leading from the horse drawn carriage have carvings; the pillars are molded on top of half elephant, half lions. Still other pillars have carvings of dancing women, yogis in prayer, king’s retinue with musical instruments, men in duels and women with great attention paid to their garments. Even the roof is carved.
The temple is dedicated to a form of Siva worshipped as Airavatesvara, as he is believed to have been worshipped here by the white elephant, Airavata belonging to the Gods. Stepping down the steps of the chariot I am greeted again by parakeets with their tails in turquoise green, grey and blue that sweep the walls fringed with Nandis, the bull mount of Siva.
Now the deep but fading reds and blues of the tower of life are visible. The stone figurines are all dignified in their sphinx like silence. Adjoining is the temple of the deity’s consort Parvati somewhat neglected and musty.
The village of Darasuram has grown into a weaving centre with silks and cotton saris on sale in their homes complete with looms. Tanjavur Paintings Back in town we notice a few heritage stores sell Tanjavur painting at high costs.
The c vulture in us leads us to the labyrinthine residences of modern day descendents of Marata king Raja Serfoji. This grandson of Serfoji professes a great love for the art form patronized by his grandfather. A narrow alley lined with photographs of his illustrious line including his grandfather, lead to a gallery with a large gem studded painting of the Hindu trinity. The grandson’s work has fetched him a national award that he hopes should preserve and propagate this art form.
The descendants of the last royal family stay in interconnected buildings, a virtual maze with underground tunnels and saracenic windows. On the top floor are his artists working on paintings. Those interested in the art can join local women in taking classes. There are a few photographs from which to choose from. But none quite parallel visiting the imposing Bhrihadeshwara Temple for many reasons including the mural art along the outer corridor.
 Mural art - Most illustrations are of deities in meditation or of court scenes. The evocation of natural world and human world seamlessly interwoven is seen in glimpses such as the figure with the cows head playing a musical instrument or one with the head of a bird and the body of a human in prayer. Some of the Chola paintings were discovered to be painted over by the Nayaks of the 16th century. It is these very paintings that were depicted in traditional Tanjavur paintings although contemporary influences are seen.
Viva on the far corner of Empire - The enlightenment ideas of the 19th century were hardly restricted to Europe. They circulated to the far boundaries through knowledge transfers. Historian of Science, Savithri Preetha Nair has examined these cross cultural encounters at the Tanjore court in south India under the reign of Raja Serforji II (1798-1832) in the fields of medicine, natural history, experimental philosophy and music. She highlights that the Tanjore court had procured western musical instruments like the violin, scientific encyclopedias and dictionaries and started its collection of medicinal plants.
Even as the mind was exposed to western thought systems, oriental systems of knowledge was cultivated and synthesized to form a very indigenous blend of ideas in the Tanjore court from which it disseminated to among various sections. And nowhere is this more visible today rather than in the library which was once the private collection of Raja Serfoji. Its collection is mind boggling in its diversity ranging from the natural sciences, social sciences, physical sciences to Western and oriental thought. The museum next door houses bronzes, stone sculpture and dancing Sivas. A flight of very narrow steps leads to the terrace for a view of the city.
Brihadeshwara temple - The Brihadeshwara temple can be spotted from Tanjavur town from a fair distance. But stepping through the gate to the courtyard where the 60 meter tower, a feast of Dravidian architecture towers into the sky dwarfing the landscape offers a glimpse into the mind of the once invincible imperial Cholas. Built in 11th century by Rajaraja I, it established the power of the Cholas. Granite blocks were brought for the temple from a distance of 50 km. The tower or vimana soars to height of 60.96 metres and the stone cupola at the top weighs 81.284 tonnes. Long plinths were used to put the stones in place. The architectural prowess, craftsmanship and artistry that bedazzles must have come with some with hard labour and accidents.
The 7th and 14th centuries saw a number of marvelous temples taking shape across South East Asia. The Agnkor Vat temples built in Cambodia 12th century, the Siva temples in Java 8-9th century, the Pranbanan Temples of Java that came up 9th-10th century are some of them. The largeness of structures and imagination does not dwarf the philosophical underpinnings.
The Brihadeshwara temple is dedicated to Lord Siva. The linga 3.66 m high is worshipped and the entire temple was designed to represent a cosmic structure the Mahameru. Prayers are performed several times a day in the temple to date. On the day we are there we get to join those from the neighbourhood and others from several distances away to share a sacred moment complete with wind pipe, percussion and carnatic music. The roof of the temple that houses the goddess within the courtyard is done in colorful paintings. On the way out like in some temples in the south that keep pachyderms, there is one, that strangely is not part of worship retinue like elsewhere but is at the entrance sadly reduced by the authorities into a symbolic Maharaja icon of Air India. At the end of our third day as the azzan sounds and we make our way homewards we can’t help feeling that the stone relics are just a shadow of the legendary Tamil poetry.
Images (c) Gettyimages.com
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20-Mar-2012
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Deepa Kozhisseri
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