A Visit to Dakshinachitra and Re-visiting the Pallava Settlement of Mahabalipuram

Monday, January 14, 2019

Chennai, Dakshinachitra and Mahabalipuram

Namaste from Chennai!

I absolutely had no idea what to expect when Blossom told me that she would take me to Dakshinachitra. At any rate, we did not spend time getting breakfast at home today but instead, since we had called an Uber for our marvelous day trip, we decided to eat at a local South Indian restaurant.  I was up at 6.30 am, but found no motivation to blog. Instead I caught up with Twitter and email on my phone before I got dressed for another daylong outing.

Breakfast in Vasant Bhavan:

It was the day before Pongal and it is clear that all the Tamilians are in holiday mode. About twenty minutes after setting out from home at 9.30 am, we arrived at Vasant Bhavan where we made ourselves comfortable to order a sada dosa (for me), idlis and dosas for Blossom and Pongal rice for Menaka (as she really loves it). My plain lassi was really superb but also really filling and I felt as if I could not eat another morsel until lunch time.

Well fueled with our breakfast, we proceeded with a very chatty Uber driver to the first stop on our agenda: A visit to Dakshinachitra

Visiting Dakshinachitra:

Dakshin means South and Chitra means Picture. Taken together, the phrase might be translated as A Portrait of the South—and here they mean South India. So when we stopped at Dakshinachitra and bought tickets for Rs. 130 each for Menaka and myself as Blossom who has been several times and could not face all the walking involved, and decided to sit it out. 

It turned out to be the kind of place boasting vast acreage that has been beautifully landscaped and conceived to take visitors through four South Indian states—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. These four states comprise the Dravidian cultural base of India and have much in common in terms of cultural mores. We started off by watching a film that introduced us to the space and the concept behind it. The idea was to present visitors with a sense of life as it is lived in various parts of these states through the actual homes that people occupy in these areas. There are lush native plantings that provide shade, dry moats with pretty bridges, raised bunds and the like. The curators of this space actually went scouting into the rural areas of these states to find authentic, genuine homesteads that have either fallen into disuse or ruin or are facing neglect for lack of funds to maintain them. They have transported these homes, lock stock and barrel, to this venue, spiffed them up for exhibition and provided extensive curatorial notes so that visitors know at what they are looking. In addition to notes, there are short videos playing in many rooms. As you go from one home to the other, you get a chance to find out about the unique cultural ways of the people that inhabited these homes, their lifestyle, their socioeconomic backgrounds, their religious affiliation, etc. I found the entire visit thoroughly fascinating and very similar to what I have seen in Bygdor in Norway when I had actually walked through a reproduced Norweigan village and entered homes, community centers, stave churches, schools, etc. 

Hence, some of the homesteads that stick out in my memory are a Syrian Christian home in Kerala where the video that played inside took us into the real-life maternal home of the Indian Malayali novelist Arundhati Roy (Malayali on her mother Mary’s side and Bengali on the side of her father—hence the surname Roy).The Mamachi  and the Chacko of her novel The God of Small Things were both interviewed on camera—the former played the piano, the latter sang Edelweiss with a group of women (one of whom is his second wife). Needless to say, Roy’s uncomplimentary portrayal of this family and the way they treated her mother after she separated (and later divorced) her father seems to have caused a permanent estrangement between herself and her family members. But on camera they spoke about their desire to preserve a grand homestead and a lifestyle that is swiftly passing away as the youngsters choose to live urban lives far from the idyllic surroundings of Kottayam where the Syrian Christians are concentrated.

  In the Tamil Nadu section, I was fascinated by the Chettinad household that portrayed the wonderful tamini or inner balcony surrounding a central open space (that is often filled with water and turned into a living pool with fish and water lilies because it is open to the sky). Around the pond, in cloister fashion, rooms housing the family members radiated. The ornamentation inside was done in genuine dark Burma teak. I loved the houses themselves as well as the family photographs that adorned the walls telling us about the ways of life of this wealthy merchant community and their traditions.

In Karnataka, they took us into the home of the Muslim Maplas of the Chikmaglur area near Mangalore. This home was filled with Islamic motifs and artifacts and pointed out to the fishing and agricultural ways of life of these people. As we moved from one section to the other, we were also treated to information and demonstration of their native crafts such as weaving, basket making, application of henna on the palms, rice pounding, etc. In the Weaver’s Huts, we saw how Ikat fabric was made in Andhra Pradesh, how papier-mâché masks were produced in Tamil Nadu, etc. 

Everything was deeply absorbing and I honestly wished I was less tired for the non-stop activity of the past few days and the lack of sleep has taken its toll on me and I felt really fatigued. Still, after two hours on our feet, we decided to join Blossom outside—but not before popping into the gift shop to see if there was anything to catch our eyes. Blossom bought some fabric pouches for check books. And then we were off. 

Dakshinachitra had been a true revelation and I loved every minute in the place.        

Re-visiting Mahabalipuram:

The next port of call for us was the marvelous sea-shore venue of Mahabalipuram that I had last visited about forty years ago on a family trip with my parents and brothers. I had only very vague memories of the trip although Blossom had far better and more vivid ones. She remembered (as did I) that we had purchased a gigantic water melon (as it was frightfully hot) which we christened Krishna’s Butterball after one of the natural formations we would be seeing. As it was so heavy, no one wanted to carry it and it was repeatedly passed from one set of hands to the other as we took turns to bear the burden. She also remembered that my brother Roger, then about 18 years old, was eating an ice-cream on the ramp leading up to the lighthouse when a monkey attacked him for it and he threw it far away to avoid being mauled. I had only a vague memory of this occurrence. It is wonderful how family memories of trips once taken come back when we re-visit the same venues.

As Blossom and Menaka know this venue well, they would be worthy guides. However, they too were returning to this spot after almost 20 years and they too expected to see many changes. And indeed, changes there were—particularly after the tsunami caused damage. UNESCO has now taken over the maintenance of the most important monument—the Shore Temple. This has caused the land around it to be reclaimed and a large and sturdy wall to be built to prevent water erosion. Hence, the glorious beach of Mahabalipuram on which waves were clashing vigorously to leave foamy lace on the shore, is now far away from the entrance to the temple. Blossom remembers coming to the Temple on full-moon nights with groups of friends and sitting on the steps as water lapped around their toes! Well, that is never going to happen again! 

The place was simply mobbed as this is the holiday weekend in the state and people have come out in droves to admire and appreciate their ancient heritage. Still, we managed to see the highlights of the area to which we arrived in our car as they are vast and well-spread out.

Here is a brief introduction to the carved monuments of Mahabalipuram: They were created in the 8th century (between 700-735 AD), during the reign of the Pallava dynasty, a powerful group of kings among whom Narasimhadeva I and II were the most celebrated and the most enthusiastic builders. They were a sea-faring people who built a busy working port at Mahabalipuram through which they traded with Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) as well as other parts of India and Mesopotamia. They were staunch Hindus and they built temples in honor of Shiva. Motifs associated with Shaivite worship are seen on all the monuments as are stories associated with Krishna. Most of these monuments are intact and are now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. 

Here are the highlights of our visit:

1. The Shore Temple. This is reportedly the second most photographed monument in India (after the Taj Mahal). It’s conical lines created by the towers or the gopurams are truly stunning to behold. Although wind erosion over the centuries has caused the carved granite details to have blurred quite awfully, you can still appreciate the glory of the architecture that is unique to this part of India. We were not able to enter the bigger temple (as it is being refurbished) but we could climb up the steps that led to a tiny shrine in the smaller ones where we saw Shiva and his consort Parvati carved in granite in a little niche. Because the niche is protected, the carvings are far better preserved than those on the exterior of the temple. Surrounding the temple are a series of Indian bulls called Nandis. We encircled the temple and took in the grandeur of its design.  We stopped for lunch at this point as we were hungry and found a meal at a place called Rose Garden (which I did remember from our visit there, four decades ago). It is the oldest eatery in the area. The prawn biryani and the fried prawns we had there in very traditional style (on a banana leaf with a woman ladling our rice and curd with curry from out of a steel bucket) were both delicious. We had cold Thums Up with our meal and honestly, it could not have been more simple or more delicious. 
2. Next stop: The Five Rathas: Rathas are chariots and we saw five of them in varied sizes—each of which was also a shrine.Dedicated once again to Shiva they portrayed him and his consort Parvati in superb carvings on the walls. There were steps that allowed us to enter a few of them, but one of them is in an unfinished state. The five Rathas are said to be dedicated the five Pandava brothers from the Sanskrit Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Holding the entire group of chariot-temples together are two sculpted animals—an elephant (that going by its ears seemed to be an African elephant) and a lion (done in stylized form). Hundreds of people crowded these monuments and with everyone wanting to get a selfie with the Rathas in the background, it was quite a difficult task to actually enjoy these spaces. But, I suppose, it was heartening to see so many Indians partaking so exuberantly of their heritage and I loved noticing really ordinary, even poor, people get their fill. Entry to all the monuments is just Rs. 40 which makes it very affordable for even the most modestly endowed Indian families.
3. The Hill-Caves: There are two hill-caves which are simply rock-cut cave temples. One of them presents a really superb vignette of Krishna holding up the mountain Govardan to prevent it from falling in the terrible storm conjured up by the wrath of Indra. The scene is depicted in the midst of a large herd of cows (as Krishna was known to love cows, was a shepherd himself and loved consorting with the gopis (cowherds) and the gopikas (cow girls). The bas-relief (low sculpture) of a cow is so splendid and so realistic and about life-size that it makes for a stunning portrayal. Again, because this large relief is inside, it is protected from the elements and retains its original glory. The second cave is incomplete and shows pillars holding up the roof but has no carving within.
4. Arjuna’s Penance: This is one of the highlights of a visit o Mahabalipuram. On two huge boulders separated by a central ‘spine’ of rock, a story referring to Arjuna in the Mahabharata has been depicted. I absolutely adored the almost life-sized elephant carved in bas-relief with its mate following it.  Taking shelter under the elephant is its calf and surrounding it are other members of the herd—superbly depicted with such an eye to detail and such a mastery of the elephants’ stance. There are also a number of Nagas or snake-gods depicted plus several lions and Arjuna himself doing penance by starvation. This is a massive vignette, the likes of which have not been seen anywhere else in India. 
5. Krishna’s Butterball: This is simply a natural formation of a humongous rock that sits balanced ingeniously on a slope. It is completely defying gravity and makes of itself a natural wonder. Children were climbing the slope to get up there and then sliding down again (it was a very short slope) and then once up there were sitting in the shade cast by the mighty rock.     

By the time we finished seeing these highlights, we were well and truly exhausted but Blossom told us that friends had informed her about a Museum of Sea Shells that was certainly worth visiting. As she had never been there and neither had Menaka or myself, and since it is unlikely that we will came back to this place for a long time, we decided to make the detour to see it.  It was only a ten minute drive away but because we got caught in a traffic ruckus, it took us much longer. 

Aghast at the Museum of Sea Shells:

The Museum of Sea Shells cost us Rs. 100 each to enter but a more worthwhile amount had not been spent. It was simply breath taking. Representing 40 year of collecting of a single man, Raja Mohamed of Tamil Nadu, it comprises a collection of 23,000 species of shells that have been acquired from all over the world. There are really gigantic ones and a whole handful of the world’s smallest shells that are no larger than mustard seeds. Not only is the collection comprehensive, but it has been so brilliantly curated as to completely take one’s breath away. Grouped according to the species of shells (conches, cowries, oyster shells, nautilus, etc). in different cases but also according to size and color and shape. The overall effect is distinctively pleasing even as we marveled at the manner in which he acquired his collection. Each shell was also categorized expertly with information provided about its popular name, its Latin species name, its habitat and the part of the world in which he found it.  We also received information about the people who collaborated with him in putting the collection together—other shell experts in other parts of the world. Apparently, he sold family property and land in order to be able to construct this Museum for the enjoyment of the public. The complex now also includes a Pearl Museum, a Sea World (a small aquarium) and Maya Bazaar, a small shop in which one can purchase articles made of shells and pearl jewelry. Indeed, it was a brilliant visit and we were very pleased that we made the time to cover it even though we were all ready to drop.

Return Home to a Light Dinner:

Once again, we decided to get home for a light dinner comprising leftover baguette, butter and cheese. We made a stop at a store called Singapore Store as Menaka wished to purchase something and I was looking for date ladoos —but they had run out of stock.

     Back home, we sat down immediately to have the leftovers of our previous day’s dinner with some more pastries for dessert. We took some pictures around the flat as Menaka was leaving for Bangalore on the night train and we wanted to remember our lovely time together. We said goodbye to her at 9.45 as she took an Uber to get the 11.15 pm train. I also did my packing and kept my case ready as I hate to leave anything like this for the last-minute.

One hot shower later, I was in bed and ready to drop off right away.

Until tomorrow...