by Amit Kumar Aggarwal(FT13104)
Introduction :
Welcome to one of the most enduring archaeological spot in South India. A place of much stone carved sculptures and ancient temples. The stone sculpture carvings are the depictions from the Hindu epics. You can see huge rocks got entirely sculptured like the one just below and even a temple carved into a huge single rock. The skills of carving idols in granite are unique in Tamil Nadu as the carving tradition is still true to translating the sacred scriptures. Granite stone sculptures were mainly used for carving the idols for temples. However, in recent times they are fashioned as decorative items for the tourist market as well. Most of the craftsmen owning a pattarai, workshop, in Mamallapuram have settled here after completing their training from the Government College of Traditional Architecture and Sculpture in Mamallapuram, a town that has over 500 carvers. They have a flourishing trade in sculpture due to a large influx of tourists that has led to the availability of skilled craftsmen in this region.
History :
Great stone temples and carvings date from the Chola period: examples of these are the Brihadeshwara temple at Thanjavur with its numerous carvings, the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram, the Airavathesvara temple at Darasuram and the Kampahareshvara temple at Thribhuvanam. Other examples include the Chidambaram temple with its 108 karanas of the Natya Shaastra/the canon of dance. the Ekambareshwara and Varadaraaja temples of Kanchipuram, the Meenakshi temple at Madurai, with its numerous sculptures, magnificent proportions, thousand-pillared mandapas, pillars of stone, towering gopurams/towers, larger than life sized reliefs and the long corridor of the Rameshwaram temple.
My Experience :
The day I entered Great Lakes College, I was mesmerized to see the sculpture which is there in the entrance of the college amphitheatre arena. I wanted to explore more about the same. So, the first blog from my side is on the same thing. I visited a place on the outskirts of the town Mahabalipuram to know more about these sculptures, who have made Mahabalipuram a wonder place in India. I met a person named S. Muthuraj, who is an architect and makes these sculptures. He told me that these sculptures are generally made, on demand, for the temples and other religious institutions. These sculptures costs feet wise with every feet costing around Rs4500 to the customer and price varies according to the amount of work done by the architect.
Mr. Muthuraj
also exports some of these sculptures to Thailand. The time taken by him to prepare
any of these sculptures is generally about 1.5 to 2 months and this time
depends largely on the size of the sculpture and the amount of the work which
is to be done. Granite is used to make these sculptures. The stone is purchased
from Kanchipuram at low costs and then it is worked upon to make a beautiful
monument out of it, which can be kept in the temples. This basically requires a
lot of hard work and determination to build these beautiful sculptures.
Please comment on the post. I’ll be back with another post next week.
Introduction :
Welcome to one of the most enduring archaeological spot in South India. A place of much stone carved sculptures and ancient temples. The stone sculpture carvings are the depictions from the Hindu epics. You can see huge rocks got entirely sculptured like the one just below and even a temple carved into a huge single rock. The skills of carving idols in granite are unique in Tamil Nadu as the carving tradition is still true to translating the sacred scriptures. Granite stone sculptures were mainly used for carving the idols for temples. However, in recent times they are fashioned as decorative items for the tourist market as well. Most of the craftsmen owning a pattarai, workshop, in Mamallapuram have settled here after completing their training from the Government College of Traditional Architecture and Sculpture in Mamallapuram, a town that has over 500 carvers. They have a flourishing trade in sculpture due to a large influx of tourists that has led to the availability of skilled craftsmen in this region.
Great stone temples and carvings date from the Chola period: examples of these are the Brihadeshwara temple at Thanjavur with its numerous carvings, the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram, the Airavathesvara temple at Darasuram and the Kampahareshvara temple at Thribhuvanam. Other examples include the Chidambaram temple with its 108 karanas of the Natya Shaastra/the canon of dance. the Ekambareshwara and Varadaraaja temples of Kanchipuram, the Meenakshi temple at Madurai, with its numerous sculptures, magnificent proportions, thousand-pillared mandapas, pillars of stone, towering gopurams/towers, larger than life sized reliefs and the long corridor of the Rameshwaram temple.
My Experience :
The day I entered Great Lakes College, I was mesmerized to see the sculpture which is there in the entrance of the college amphitheatre arena. I wanted to explore more about the same. So, the first blog from my side is on the same thing. I visited a place on the outskirts of the town Mahabalipuram to know more about these sculptures, who have made Mahabalipuram a wonder place in India. I met a person named S. Muthuraj, who is an architect and makes these sculptures. He told me that these sculptures are generally made, on demand, for the temples and other religious institutions. These sculptures costs feet wise with every feet costing around Rs4500 to the customer and price varies according to the amount of work done by the architect.
Please comment on the post. I’ll be back with another post next week.
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