With a lot of the artwork in Sittanavasal both broken or vandalised, Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken conservation measures and in addition launched digital checks to trace public entry
With a lot of the artwork in Sittanavasal both broken or vandalised, Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken conservation measures and in addition launched digital checks to trace public entry
A small village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu was a serious centre of Jain affect for 1,000 years simply earlier than the Christian period.
Sittanavasal is the identify used synonymously for the hamlet and the hillock that homes the Arivar Kovil (temple of Arihats – Jains who conquered their senses), ‘Ezhadipattam’ (a cavern with 17 polished rock beds), megalithic burial websites and the Navachunai tarn (small mountain lake) with a submerged shrine.
This Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-administered website, common with kids and faculty tour teams, is in want of higher repairs.
Sittanavasal is taken into account by historians to be one of many oldest inhabited areas within the district, and a serious centre of Jain affect. “This is the only place in Tamil Nadu where we can see Pandya paintings. At least three-fourths of the art is already damaged, so it is important to protect Sittanavasal for future generations,” R. Kalaikovan, founding father of the Tiruchi-based Dr. M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research, informed The Hindu.
Sittanavasal’s website and artwork was first talked about by native historian S. Radhakrishnan Iyer in his 1916 guide General History of Pudukottai State. Subsequent analysis by French archaeologist Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreil together with iconographer T.A. Gopinatha Rao in 1920 additional highlighted the significance of the monuments.
The paintings on the ceiling of the sanctum and the ardha mandapam of Arivar Kovil is an early instance of post-Ajanta cave work of the fourth to sixth centuries, completed utilizing the fresco-secco method (a course of that dispenses with preparation of the wall with moist plaster).
The paintings on the Sittanavasal rock cave temple in Pudukottai district.
| Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY
The ceiling work present ‘bhavyas’ (exalted souls who work to attain moksha or non secular liberation) having fun with themselves in a pool, stuffed with blooming lotuses; in the present day a lot of it’s obscured by patchy plastering. Faint outlines linger of dancing ladies on the ‘ ardha mandapam’ pillars. The pillars of the verandah (added by the Maharaja of Pudukottai on the occasion of then Diwan Alexander Tottenham within the 1900s), had been introduced from Kudumiyanmalai. The colors are a mix of plant dyes and mineral components corresponding to lime, lamp black, and clay pigments corresponding to ochre for yellow and terre verte for the greyish-green tints.
Art in peril
Unrestricted public entry and basic publicity to the weather have led to a gradual fading away of those work. At the Ezhadipattam, inscriptions on the beds have been vandalised past recognition. T. Arun Raj, Director, ASI, Tiruchi Circle, informed The Hindu that periodic upkeep within the type of conservation (for structural repairs) and chemical preservation (for the restoration of work) of the monument is being undertaken.
The State authorities vacationer centre has a youngsters’s playground, boat home and a Tamil heritage backyard. But its glory days are lengthy gone. Restrooms are boarded up. Small heaps of litter may be seen all through the compound. Groups of monkeys run free amid guests, in search of scraps of meals.
The Sittanavasal Rock Cave temple in Pudukottai district.
| Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY
To stem the injury, the ASI has put in digital checks by introducing digital ticketing to Arivar Kovil and Ezhadipattam, that helps monitor customer numbers. “The average footfall to the monuments is approximately around 200-300 per day. We are planning to increase the number of security guards besides installing closed circuit TV cameras soon,” mentioned Mr. Arun Raj. “Programmes are being held to create awareness about Sittanavasal among young people.”
Continuous file
Even although Sittanavasal is a relatively small archaeological microcosm of Jainism in distinction to these present in Madurai and the Arcot districts, it’s regarded as one of the best preserved instance of a Jain cave temple in Tamil Nadu.
Dr. Kalaikovan, who has researched the advanced extensively, mentioned steady information of Jainism within the area exist from the primary to tenth centuries. “Of the 20 cave temples in Pudukottai district, 19 belong to Saivite and Vaishnavite streams of Hinduism; Sittanavasal is the only Jain temple with sculptures,” he mentioned.
“There is a debate about whether Jainism’s prevalence in Tamil Nadu began in the first or the third century. Nevertheless, Sittanavasal remains an important place to study the history of the religion. We have inscriptions in Brahmi and ‘ vattaezhuthu’, from the third century AD here, which have been discovered and recorded. Early Tamil inscriptions from the ninth century AD of the Jain monk Ilan-Gautaman, are inside the complex,” mentioned Dr. Kalaikovan.
Dr. Kalaikovan additionally pointed to the design components within the Arivar Kovil that trace at its doable earlier existence as a Saivite shrine. “The Aavudayar (pedestal) resembles the round base seen in Siva temples and seems to have been shaved off before the sanctum was converted into a Jain monument. Similarly, the lotus medallion on the roof is like that found in Saivite rock-cut temples. The practice of converting Hindu shrines to those of other faiths was common in this area,” he mentioned.
“Though there are many examples of Jain sites in Pudukottai district, Sittanavasal is more precious because its paintings will be gone in another 50 years. Perhaps recreating them outside in separate pavilions and limiting the shrines for research visits would be a better way to preserve them,” mentioned S. Swaminathan, a Chennai-based historical past fanatic and former IIT professor, who has written a guide on essential heritage spots in Pudukottai.
In a 2003 mission report, Mr. Swaminathan instructed enhancements such because the constructing of a centre to check Jainism’s affect within the area, moreover bettering customer services. “But neither the government nor corporate companies were interested in taking it up, so I have just put it aside,” he mentioned.
Source: www.thehindu.com
