TRAVELOGUE

A dance heritage tour

Rajshree Vasudevan

Have you ever felt the thrill of temple sculptures coming alive? When was the last
time you experienced the many-splendours of our country’s heritage at close
quarters? What makes you seek the sublime secrets of this rasànanda? We found
ready answers to such questions in the temple tour organised by Dr. Padma
Subrahmanyam, President, Nrithyodaya, on behalf of the Bharata-Ilango Foundation
for Asian Culture (BIFAC), Chennai in June last year. It was exclusively for students
pursuing B.F.A and M.F.A (Bharatanatyam) at Sastra University, Tanjavur. The tour
offered an encapsulation of the various aspects of dance, drama, music, history,
archaeology, epigraphy, architecture, painting and iconography. We visited
Chidambaram, Gangaikonda Chozhapuram, Darasuram, Kumbakonam,
Tiruvidaimarudur, Tirubhuvanam and Tanjavur. As we travelled, Padma (hereafter
Padukka) gave informative talks about each heritage spot.

We boarded an AC
Volvo bus from
Nrithyodaya, Adyar at
6 am sharp with all the
excited students raring
to go. We reached
Chidambaram before
noon. We had a quick
darsan of Lord Nataraja
and tried to fathom the
‘Chidambara rahasya’
shown to us. Padukka provided insights into the karana panels on the entrance wall
of the temple. To our delight she also demonstrated some of the karanas.
After lunch, we started from Chidambaram and reached Gangaikonda
Chozhapuram around 3.30 pm. The temple visit was exhilarating as Padukka gave
us details about the history and construction of the temple and its shrine. Rajendra
Chola constructed this temple with the idea of shifting his capital here. The temple
was a copy of the Tanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple with a broader base structure.

Out next stop was at the excavated land of the Chola palace found by the
Archaeological department. A narrow route led us into a village a few kilometres
from the temple. Destroyed by a Pandyan king it never regained its lost glory. We
were guided to the basement of the Chola palace. The official guide from the
Archaeological Department recalled the instance when the famous archaeologist Dr.
R. Nagaswamy had requested Padma Subrahmanyam to dance at the site when the
foundation of the Chola palace was uncovered. A temporary stage had been created
out of the debris. Padma had danced for the lines of an inscription discovered that
morning, as nearly 15,000 people from nearby villages eagerly squatted on their mats
to watch the event.

From there we proceeded to Kumbakonam which we reached around 8.30 pm. We

were tired and retired for the night at Hotel Raya Annexe.

At the Darasuram temple were several sculptures, which were explained to us by

Padukka and the local caretakers. We also got to see many beautifully sculpted
figures depicting the stories of the 63 Nayanmars. We were fortunate to visit the
Pattiswaram Durgai Amman temple, which, it is said, was at the threshold of
Rajaraja’s palace. This temple is about half-an-hour’s drive from Darasuram.

At the Sarangapaniswami temple in Kumbakonam, Padukka narrated the sequence

of events that had led to the discovery of the karana panels in the outer wall of the
temple. There was the possibility of them having been brought from a nearby Siva
temple (probably Darasuram) during invasions, as revealed by the erratic
sequencing of the karana sculptures around the outer walls of the gopuram. It is
interesting that Siva figures are present in a Vaisnavaite temple. Padukka explained
how she had studied and drawn upon all the karana panels in different temples to
re-construct the karanas in dance.

At Tiruvidaimarudur, two youngsters sent by Swami Dayananda Saraswati came

with the designs of the temple chariots of the Tiruvidaimarudur temple. We were
astounded to see the intricate workmanship of the artisans on the five chariots which
were commissioned by Dayananda Saraswati to fufill the desire of the Paramacharya
who wanted to rebuild them afresh. The chariot-making process was explained and
demonstrated, which was an unexpected bonus for us.

After this memorable experience, we started for Tirubhuvanam. Padukka explained

the unusual physical appearance of its deity Lord Sarabheswara and the Puranic lore
associated with it. We were amazed that Siva had taken that form to kill the
Narasimha avatara of Lord Vishnu! Before darsan, we got to see the entire prakara
with small miniature sculptures as in Darasuram, some of which depict stories from
the Ramayana. The temple had paintings too.

Physically full-up yet intellectually energised, the day ended with our camping at
Hotel Oriental Towers, Tanjavur, for the night.

Early morning, all the students

were taken to the Tanjavur
Brihadeeswara temple, to the
karana chamber at the top of
the shrine. There are 81 karanas
there which were explained
with practical demonstrations
by Mahati Kannan and Padma
Sunrahmanyam who shared
her experience in deciphering
and performing these karanas. It helped the students to understand the importance
and application of each karana.
In the fresco painting chamber around the shrine we saw some beautiful paintings. It
was heartbreaking to see many had been damaged by miscreants and the ravages of
time. Scaffolding work to restore them was on. After this, we went to the museum
inside the temple where we got an opportunity to see copies of some karanas and
paintings and listen to stories about the kingdoms.

Post-breakfast, we visited the Tanjore museum, where we got to know details about
the various sculptures, their origin, and the rulers of Tanjavur who commissioned
them. The most interesting section in the museum was the one housing the collection
of Nataraja statues belonging to different dynasties and periods like the Pallava,
Chola, Pandya, and Vijayanagara.

After lunch, relaxation, and an animated recap of events, we proceeded to the

Saraswati Mahal library where we got a glimpse into the reign of the Tanjavur and
Maratha kings. The students were also exposed to the ancient handwritten scripts on
palm leaf and paper and their transliteration into present-day Tamil. We revisited
the Tanjavur Big Temple to have darsan of the deities Brihadeeswara and
Brihannayaki and the enormous Nandi. To many of us it brought back cherished
memories of the successful show called Rajarajeswaram 2010, where a thousand
dancers from ABHAI performed under Padma Subrahmanyam’s leadership, for the
millennium celebrations of the temple. This time we were lucky to be shown the
special chamber housing the paintings of the Maratha rulers with the ASI official
explaining the details.

The house of the Tanjore Quartet is part of historical lore and it was a solemn
moment for all of us as we stepped into it and paid homage to the great souls who
preserved and energised the dance tradition. Padukka traced their genealogy and
explained their contributions to the art. The descendants of the Quartet extended
their hospitality to us.

The hectic tour was almost over. The return trip to Chennai by bus was invigorating,
as we watched some of the major episodes from the Bharatiya Natya Sastra television
serial. It was interesting to listen to Padukka answering the numerous queries raised
by students, and to participate in the lively discussions. We reached Chennai at 5.30
pm. It was a fulfilling tour that truly satisfied the original purpose of natya as
‘educative entertainment’. What we learnt during the trip would make up for years
of bookish reading. The bonhomie among the group had to be seen to be believed.
With good planning and doses of humour, B. Kannan of Nrithyodaya ensured that
the packed itinerary was adhered to and also did a good job of managing the excited
crowd of dance crazy students from India and abroad. Such tours should be made
an annual feature for students and rasikas of dance and allied arts.

(The author is a senior Bharatanrityam dancer and academician with a doctorate in

dance.)

© Sruti Web /05/2013