Sittannavasal – a proposal for preserving its paintings

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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL
By S. Swaminathan (sswami99_at_gmail.com) With Muruga
pandian MV Kiran
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PUDUKKOTTAI occupies a significant place as a
cultural centre
With its wealth of temple archaeology,
sculpture and painting,
it is of interest for the historian, the
archaeologist and the connoisseur in the field of
art.
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Pudukkottai is famous for its cave temples and
those in Sittannavasal, Kudumiyamalai,
Tirugokarnam and Tirumayam are cultural
monuments
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Pudukkottai region has a great Jaina tradition
It was one of the most important Jaina centres
in Tamilnadu, in the past
There are a number of Jaina vestiges found
scattered throughout the district
The district can boast of having the highest
number of centrally protected Jaina
relics/monuments in Tamilnadu
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SITTANNAVASAL
World-famous for its mural paintings in a Jaina
cave temple
Next to Ajanta paintings, these paintings hold
an important place in the art history of India
These are some of the earliest frescoes in South
India and only examples of early Jaina frescoes
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Originally, the entire cave temple was
plastered and painted, except the floor
But today, we can see only patches, here and
there
Even these are barely visible now
thanks to the ravages wrought by time and nature
and vandalism
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The most painful fact is that most damage was
man-made and in the last 50 years or so.
Here is a photograph of the painting taken in
black and white in 1940s.
Now, only traces remain
Then
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The complex can boast of Tamil Inscriptions from
3rd century BC to 13th century AD
Man made markings have obliterated many of the
precious inscriptions and marred the rest
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If this rate of decay continues, these priceless
treasures, which withstood for about 1200
years, will be completely lost for ever in
the next few decades.
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We, the inheritors of a great heritage, need to
protect ours from further deterioration
We also need to create awareness among people
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL
is conceived towards this.
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL Objectives
The project aims at building a full-scale replica
of the cave temple with its painting recreated to
its original state
to offer an opportunity to appreciate our lost
glory and to preserve the monument, particularly
the paintings, from further damage by
keeping the original cave under controlled
conditions
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL Objectives
And, building thematic pavilions around the
recreated Arivar Koil that highlights those
features of Indian heritage for which the
Sittannavasal monuments are famous for
to improve awareness of our heritage among the
public
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL Objectives
Also, setup in the complex a Centre for Jainology
for undertaking research, documentation and
publication
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL Objectives
And, incorporating features for attracting
tourists cultural troupes and corporate
houses
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
Recreated Arivar Koil
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
In-door pavilion
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The recreated temple and the pavilions
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with the recreated temple
Recreated Arivar Koil
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with Our-door pavilions
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with the recreated temple in-door
and out-door pavilions
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with the recreated temple in-door
and out-door pavilions
Chithram In-door pavilion
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with the recreated temple in-door
and out-door pavilions
Gnanam In-door pavilion
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL An Artists View
The complex with the recreated temple in-door
and out-door pavilions
Souvenir Sales
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
Recreated ARIVAR-KOIL
Recreated Arivar Koil, with its paintings done as
much as possible true to the original
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
Thematic Pavilions
Mandiram Temple Architecture Pavilion for
Arival Koil is a link in this
Chithram Indian Paintings Pavilion for the cave
temple houses one among the precious paintings
of the country
Aksharam Indian Scripts Pavilion for the
complex contains inscriptions from the 3rd
century BC to the 13th century AD, a unique
feature
Gnanam Jain contribution to Tamil Culture for
this aspect is scarcely appreciated and
Sittannavasal is an appropriate focus
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
MANDIRAM Temple Architecture Pavilion
Tracing the development from cave
temples through monoliths to structural
temples
Exhibits in bold relief, in stucco on granite
blocks positioned in open air along a
winding path
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Temple Architecture Pavilion Bold Relief and
Model
Cave Temples
Lomas-rishi
Ajanta
Tirugokarnam
Monoliths
Mamallapuram
Ellora
Structural temples
Mamallapuram
Kodumbalur
Thanjavur
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
CHITHRAM Indian Paintings Pavilion
Exhibits forming a rich pageantry of
paintings from rock-art till date
Representative specimens laminated, framed,
mounted and put up in-doors
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Indian Paintings Pavilion
Kanchipuram(Pallava/ 7c-9c. AD)
Sittannavasal (Pandya/ 7c-9c. AD)
Pre-historic rock-art
Ajanta2c.BC-6c.AD
Moghul15-19c. AD
Thanjavur(Chozha/9-13c. AD)
Lepakshi14-17c. AD
Bengal School20c. AD
Nayak17-18c.AD
Jain miniature paintings on palm leaves (11-15c.
AD)
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
AKSHARAM Indian Scripts Pavilion
Tracing the history of Indian scripts from Indus
Valley through Brahmi, to scripts for
modern Indian languages and many Asian
languages
Samples written in stucco on granite block with
suitable legends organised as an open-air
pavilion
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Indian Scripts Pavilion
BrahmiSamudragupta
BrahmiAsoka
Indus Script
BrahmiSittannavasal
NagariPallava
Southern Brahmi/Battiprolu
GranthaMamallapuram
TamilTirugokarnam
BrahmiBhattiprolu
VattezhuththuAnaimalai
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
GNANAM Jain contribution to Tamil Culture
Focussing on the theme through suitable means
arranged in-doors
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
Incorporation of A CENTRE FOR JAINOLOGY
for research, documentation and
information equipped with library, DTP,
reprography lecture/talk/meditation
halls office boarding-lodging
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Heritage Complex
Development of such a heritage complex along
with tourists attractions like heritage
garden camping and picnic areas retreats for
corporate houses and cultural troupes
arranging heritage tours souvenir sales is
expected to make the project commercially viable
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PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL
The Project Sittannavasal is to be executed
jointly by Research Foundation for Jainology,
Chennai, an organisation of the Jaina
community, which is assisting research on
Jainology and spreading the message of the
Faith and Sudharsanam, a Pudukkottai-based
centre for arts and culture that is documenting
the legacy of Pudukkottai and offering
opportunities to the youth in appreciating
Indian culture.
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Thank You
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A presentation by
Sudharsanam A centre for Arts and culture 2
Palace Nagar Pudukkottai 622005 Tamilnadu,
India. Tel[phone]
www.pudukkottai.org www.sudharsanam.org sudharsana
m_at_pudukkottai.org