Restoring past glory

THE DUTCH Fort in Sadras, the Brahmapurisvara temple in Brahmadesam (in Villupuram district) and the Piravuthaneeswara temple, the first structural temple in Kancheepuram district built with sedimentary rock, are unique architectural monuments symbolising varied features of Tondaimandalam culture.

These and other precious representations of Tondaimandalam architecture will be on display at a photographic exhibition, which begins on Tuesday.

To be held at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)'s local office, the exhibition will show how dilapidated these monuments were once and how they have been restored by the ASI.

It will portray the monolithic sculpture of 24 Jain Thirthankaras carved on a bed rock in Sirukadambur, 3 km from Gingee, Kailasanatha temple in Kancheepuram, Kalyana Mahal in Gingee Fort and Azhagiya Narasimha Perumal temple in Ennayiram in Villupuram.

These architectural marvels represent the culture of Tondaimandalam, which covers the present-day northern districts of the State including Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore. Tondaimandalam was the geographic territorial boundary of the Pallavas of Kancheepuram, who ruled Tamil country from 6th century A.D. to 9th century A.D.

The exhibition has been organised in the wake of the Central Government's recent initiative of creating greater awareness among the public, particularly school and college students, Mr. K.T. Narasimhan, Superintending Archaeologist of the ASI's Chennai Circle, says, adding that his organisation has extended invitations to about 50 educational institutions.

Till recently, such programmes were held only on two occasions - April 18 (World Heritage Day) and November 19 (marking the World Heritage Week's commencement). But, now the Union Government has directed the ASI to conduct programmes on six days of national/international importance besides any one day of local significance.

This move is not only to enable people to enrich themselves with knowledge of the country's cultural heritage but also enlist their cooperation in preserving treasures of the nation.

As a result of the Centre's directive, the Chennai circle, apart from the two days, will organise different programmes on January 15 (Thiruvalluvar Day), January 26 (Republic Day), May 18 (World Museum Day), August 15 (Independence Day) and October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi). On these seven days, entry fee will not be charged for the ASI-maintained monuments.

As part of its mandate, the ASI is undertaking major conservation works in a number of historical monuments that include Pallipattu Fort in Dindigul, Brihadesvara temple in Thanjavur, Jain Caves in Sittannavasal and Dhenupurisvara temple in Madambakkam, near Tambaram.

The exhibition, to be held at Clive building, Fort St. George, will be open to the public from October 3 to 8 between 10.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. It will be declared open by Prof. K.V. Raman, retired Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology in Madras University, on October 2 at 4 p.m.

By T. Ramakrishnan

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Design & framework of music training
Next     : Still young at heart