Jun 03 2009
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I came to know about REACH foundation (http://www.conserveheritage.org/) through Mr. Chandrashekaran (whom we call as plastics chandra) few years ago. On 31st May, 2009 I got the privilege of going for a heritage cum research trip with him and his colleagues. The main person behind the REACH foundation is the noted Archealogist Dr. T. Satyamurthy and other colleagues from ASI.
A bit of information about Pazhaverkadu before we go there. It is basically a fishing hamlet in Thiruvallur district of Tamilnadu. It was under the occupation of Dutch as it was the headquarters of Dutch East India company between 1616 to 1690 and 1782 to 1825. It was an important port of trade and politics. However, in the end it came under the British. More information about it can be obtained from Wikipedia [1].
In 2006, the REACH foundation had visited the temples in Pazhaverkadu and subsequently cleaned and renovation work was started for the Adi Narayana Perumal temple [2]. After reading these information before hand, I was waiting at 6AM at Guindy pick up point for the van to arrive.
Meantime, few other group members, Mr. Suresh, Mr. Sriram and Mr. Shivashankar had arrived and we were chatting and introducing ourselves. We reached our destination by 9 AM.
I. Adi Narayana Perumal Temple
Our first stop was at Pazhaverkadu’s Adi Narayana Perumal Temple, which I had mentioned above (See Figure 1). One can clearly see the removal of 90% of the vegetation in and around the temple complex. Infact, if I hadn’t seen the previous photos taken in 2006, I wouldn’t have believed my eyes. It looked quite cleaned up. One of the Mandapams, built with brick, mortar and lime had completely collapsed even before the restoration has started. All the garbha graham are facing east including the gopuram. The Thayaar sannidhi is located in the south side of the complex whereas the Andal sannidhi is located in the northern side. Pazharverkadu was also known as Pralaya Kaveri and Mallapatnam as per the 16th century Telugu stone inscription found above the entrance of the Thayaar shrine.
Figure 1: Front view of the Adi Narayana Temple from the entrance with the Thayaar sannidhi on the left.
Dr. Satyamurthy was explaining the importance of the temple to us, where he mentioned that only this temple has the laterite rocks used for construction. Laterite rocks have been used in Kerala Palaces and commonly seen in Malabar and konkan coast of India (See Figure 2a and 2b). These rocks are rarely seen in the eastern ghats, especially in tamilnadu. Hence, it was very surprising to see them being used for the same. No one knows, where and how these rocks were transported during its construction. According to the Telugu inscription seen on the roof of the Thayaar shrine, the temple was built during the Vijayanagara period by a person called Balvandakulu [2].
Hardened plinthite is another name to laterite and is used as a building material in many countries where sources of rock are not readily available. Plinthic materials are excavated from the soil in blocks and then sun-dried or oven-baked. Plinthite structures have been known to last for many centuries [3]. (See Figure 2a)
These laterite stones when dug out of the earth are soft and gets hardened after exposure to air and water. This is quite advantageous since this gives time for the preson to decide the size and the amount of labor to be put in cutting them in blocks. Since they are quite fragile after hardening, metal instruments weren’t used for sculpting them, but other soft instruments were used. One disadvantage with these type of rocks is the formation of Porosity with age. Porosity leads to disfigurement of the scultptures and moreover the capillary action of the pores make the monument very easily absorb moisture and thereby speedening the process of destruction. Due to this these stones were never used in the plinth construction.
Figure 2a: Process of cutting the laterite stones from the quarry with a blunt instrument, also notice the pile of stones behind the miner.
Figure 2b: (Left) Hardened Laterite (Right) Laterite stones of Adi Narayana Temple. Notice the porosity of temple stones.
In Kerala, these rocks have been used for painting murals on them. The lime plaster that can be applied over the rocks is very easily absorbed and remains intact for many many years. Another point that has to be noted is Laterite rocks were never popular in Tamilnadu temples, and this also could be a reson why no such temples exists today. It is worth mentioning that the roofs and the panels in the complex are made with granite. The vimanam is made with brick, mortar and lime.
Figure 3: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – REACH foundation’s archive photo in 2006 showing the growth of the trees and the restored on in 2009.
The REACH people fondly call this temple as “Mini Angkor Wat”. The reson being, in 2006 it was completely covered by trees and bushes as it was in Angkor Wat before it was discovered. Also, In the Ardha mandabam of the temple, the entire Ramayana has been depicted in bas-relief, which we all felt that it has never been replicated or attempted elsewhere in Tamilnadu. Although stories and sub-plot in Ramayana can be seen in all heritage temples, one doesn’t recall the entire ramayana in bas-relief. The reliefs are only 8 inches in height. There are five stretches of panels on the roof cross beams, namely in the east, south, west, north directions and one more exactly on the roof itself, close to the west one. The highlight of the panel are the Sundara Kandam episode which is located in west direction (opposite to Garbha Graham) and the one depicting the building of Sethu over the ocean on the roof one. Simply superb. No words to describe it.
Figure 4: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Panromic shot of the west roof cross beam panel CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW
Figure 5: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Panromic shot of the north roof cross beam panel CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW
Figure 6: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Panromic shot of the east roof cross beam panel CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW
Figure 7: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Panromic shot of the south roof cross beam panel CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW
Figure 8: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Panromic shot of the roof panel CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL IMAGE, WILL OPEN IN NEW WINDOW
Surprisingly there was a shivalinga motif in one of the pillars, where it is shown below a tree (kadamba??). There are some unique motifs which one might not see anywhere else. The sculptor has sculpted monkeys eating fruits and other mythological motifs and also used the power of illusion to prove his quality of work. There are a set of monkeys which are juxtaposed with each other that on the outset it looks there are 2 heads, 2 tails but there are 4 torsos and legs. Placed 90 degrees in angle to each other, if one blocks the view of the three other torsos alternatively, one can see 4 monkeys in total. Similarly, the same illusion is used with a human being where there are 3 men.
Figure 9: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Monkey illusion
Figure 10: Adi Narayana Perumal Temple – Human illusion
There is no proof of whether a gopuram existed when the construction was completed, however it still doesn’t have any gopuram, except for the base which has been restored to some extent. Looking at its base one can imagine how tall the gopuram could have been.
At the end, I was in total admiration for the work that REACH has done to this temple. The temple was popular with the villagers and till 1988 a priest used to come from Ponneri and Laksharchanais, Navaratri puja and other pujas were conducted regularly. The last samprokshanam was in 1979 [4].
II. Chintamanieswarar temple – Sattan Kuppam or Koviladi island temple
A pleasure was to have a boat ride in the Pulicat lake from Pulicat village to the island called Koviladi. Here in the area called Sattankuppam there is a 10th century Chola temple built during the reign of Sundara Chola devar. So we were all quite excited to see something that pre existed than the Adi Narayana temple. However to our dismay we saw a new temple constructed and worshipped. On the outset there was not a single sign of a heritage structure anywhere except for a banyan tree that had grown over a wall. It was later we realized that the area where it looked like ruins was the original temple site and it has been completely dismantled and a new one has been built in a new place. The Shivalingam is the only remaining 10th century piece being worshipped currently.
Figure 11: Chintamanieswarar temple – (Left) Previous location?? (Right) Currently built and worshipped.
Honestly I was very disappointed and apalled by this till another group member pointed out something near to the temple. It was an area demarcated by barbed wires. Upon close inspection we realized that we found what we were looking for. The pillars, granite roof planks, door jams have been used for constructing a small tank and for the fencing. Even though elated in the beginning it was distraught at this sight.
Figure 12: Chintamanieswarar temple – (Left and Right) Pillars and other materials used for fencing and ill maintained. (Centre) Pillars and door jams used for constructing a tank. (See the PVC pipe jutting out)
So we started hunting for inscriptions and found a pillar which had been inscripted in three sides. At the same time, an old man who has been born and brought up there mentioned that there is another inscription around. To our surprise and delight it was the starting line of the inscriptions with the words “Swasti Shri…Raja Kesari” I could make out Swatishri but not the rest. Here’s the photo of the inscription, someone who knows to read it can translate and give it to me so that I can append this article with the translation for others easy reading and understanding.
Figure 13: Chintamanieswarar temple – Thiru.Kuppuswamy with the inscription beginning stone.
Figure 14: Chintamanieswarar temple – Stitched image of the Inscription (Contact me if you want a high resolution image)
III. Samayaeswarar temple
Returning from the Boat ride, we went to Samayaeswarar temple, which is located in front of the Adi Narayana temple. The gopuram base is facing south, however the garbha graham is facing east again here. Again there is a mandapam at the entrance flanked by another ardha mandapam which houses the grabha graham. The first one has a series of bas-relief work on the roof depicting scenes from Shiv puranam. Almost similar in idea and execution as seen in Adi Narayana temple. The dwarapalagars and the Shivalingam are made in Maragada Kal or Green stone (Pachhai). The dwarapalagars look very well executed with superb workmanship and detailing. The same applies to the deities of Arumugam with Devasena and Valli, Ambal and Vinayagar.
Figure 15: Samayaeswarar temple – Gopuram entrance with wood pillars.
Figure 16: Samayaeswarar temple – (Left and Right) Dwarapalagars at Shiva sannidhi, (Centre) Samayaeswarar temple
Figure 17: Samayaeswarar temple – (Left and Right) Female Dwarapalagars, (Centre) The woodwork of the Yazhi in the Prabhavalzhi
An important detail that has to be mentioned is that the gopuram base has wood work mostly seen in Kerala temples. Tall and strong timber has been used in many places in this temple. Including the Prabhavali of the Ambal is made of wood. One can also see Yazhi, Rishaba and Myil vahanams made in wood and still in good condition. The temple priest mentioned that this temple was constructed by Parakrama Chola, however we could not see any inscription dating to that period. The only inscription he showed was at the footsteps of a big well, at the back side of the temple. The inscription looked recent, may be approx. 100 yrs old. Not more than that. Although coming under the HR&CE department, there is no care taken for maintaining this temple. It just waiting for some one to do the job.
IV. Dutch Cemetery
As a last stop we wanted to visit the Dutch cemetry which is located near the Dutch fort. We didnt had the time to visit the fort, so I am not writing about that. When one looks a skeleton one gets an eerie, scary and disgusting thoughts. But if you see the sculpture of the two skeletons at the entrance, there is beauty in it. The eye sockets have been wonderfully carved with holes in it. So much detailing and very realistic. Absolute paradox. there is life in that dead thing!!!
Figure 18: Dutch Cemetry – (Left and Right) Skeletion gaurdians. Notice the detailing of the ribs and broken areas indicating a high detailed bas-relief work. (Centre) The cemetery with huge granite slabs and tombs towering next to them.
It is a protected national monument and is quite well maintained, but the locals use it to escape the heat and for shelter. The huge granite slabs exquisitively carved and written in Latin were truly photographer’s delight.
Due to lack of time, the things that we missed out seeing were the Dutch fort ruins, the mosque where a huge sundial is being kept and maintained even today and the same mosque that shares the wall with the Adi Narayana temple and one can still see temple pillars used in its construction.
In the end, one can only agree to the thoughts posted by REACH foundation that “A Dutch fort ruins, some Christian and Muslim monuments, a bird sanctuary and a boating strip seen around this historical land, makes this spot ideal for a tourist outing and it is a surprise, why the Government is not showing any interest on this!?”.
Acknowledgements:
Dr. T. Satyamurthy for his guidance. Mr. Chandrasekharan for accomodating me in this trip and humble thanks to all heritage lovers who enjoyed the trip with us.
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pulicat
2. http://templesrevival.blogspot.com/2006/04/pazhaverkadu-adi-narayana-vishnu.html
3. Fred H. Beinroth et al., 1996. Properties, classification, and management of Oxisols. Guy D. Smith Memorial Slide Collection. USDA-NRCS
4. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2004/12/31/stories/2004123102411300.htm
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Tom Christopher (Pastel)
Olga is from Ukraine, settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. There was an old world charm in her work, the European architecture with cobbled stone streets.
Q.Why do you like this particular medium?
A.I have had previous experience in many mediums like paintings on silk fabric. My medium is a mix of the decorative silk painting with traditional oil painting.
Jacqueline Roate (Acrylic)
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Karen Cooper (Acrylic) (
Nanci Griffin (Acrylic) (
Robert Sunderman (mixed media, Oil) (
Randal Spangler (Watercolor with color pencils) (
