Karaikkal Ammaiyar - The Mother from Karaikkal

Karaikkal Ammaiyar (The Mother from Karaikkal) lived in Tamil Nadu in 6th century. She was a poet-saint, one of the 63 Shaivite Nayanmars. This sculpture is a copper alloy, about 9 inches high, dated during the Chola period (880–1279). . It is now at the Metropolitan Museum.

Karaikkal Ammaiyar belonged to the Chettiar (Nagarathar) community. She was a devotee of Lord Shiva, and said to be very beautiful. On seeing her perform miracles, her husband recognized her divine nature, and worshipped her as a goddess. She left her home, and went to Mount Kailash, on pilgrimage to Lord Shiva's abode. She prayed to Shiva to transform her into a ghoul (gana), one of Shiva's many attendants. Shiva granted her wish, changing her into a wizened old woman.

Thus she became free of the burden of social norms, and spent her life as a free spirit, composing and singing hymns in praise of Shiva. In this sculpture, you can see her holding a pair of cymbals as she sings her own compositions. The sculptor has stayed within the stylistic tradition of Chola art, with fine nose, curved lips, large eyes, square shoulders and slim waist. Thus he maintains her divinity. He has chosen to represent her ghoul transformation by focusing purely on exaggeratedly deformed breasts. He has chosen to represent her mendicant status by giving her only a single garment. And, to show her great age, her ear lobes are sagging with the weight of her ear-ring (a feature of older women).

Beginning in the 6th century in Tamil Nadu, India witnessed a widespread Bhakti movement, where several women rejected the life of a householder, and embraced a life of devotion/renunciation, Examples include Andal from Tamil Vaishnavism of the ninth century, Mahadevi Akka of Karnataka (13th century), Muktabai of Maharashtra (13th century), Mirabai of Rajasthan (16th century), and many more.

The Chettiar adventures in Burma

The village of Kanadukathan is a couple of hours from Madurai in Tamilnadu. If you walk through the village, you will come across streets full of grand palatial homes. These are the mansions of the Chettiar community; built with wealth from their trading and financing businesses around the world. A lot of the wealth came from Burma, which was then part of British India.

The Chettiars had followed the British into Burma in the 1820s. Initially they were small traders and financiers. But the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 provided a golden opportunity for the growth in the fortunes of the Chettiars.

There was a great demand in Europe for rice, and the Suez Canal opened up opportunities for exports of rice from Burma. Burmese cultivators made the most of the opportunity, transitioning from subsistence farming to large scale rice cultivation. Formal bank loans were not available to Burmese agriculturists. The Chettiars provided loans, with and without collateral, for farming activities. But that was not all. They took deposits, remitted funds, discounted bills, bought and sold gold, and provided much of the necessary funding that enabled the rice trade. In other words, they became not just moneylenders, but bankers to the rice trade.

Dr. Sean Turnell, a researcher at Macquarie university says that the Chettiars gave loans to farmers at rates between 9 to 15 percent. When there was no collateral the rate could be upto 25 percent. He further says that these loans were reasonable, given the cost of business and the risks. The Chettiars look almost benign when you compare them with other local moneylenders, particularly Burmese landlords who offered their tenants something called sabape, a loan made "in kind" rather than in cash, at usurious rates of over 100% per annum.

Burma went on to become the "rice bowl" for Europe in the second half of the 1800s and in the 1900s. Exports grew. But as is common among British colonies, the people of Burma had very little share in this prosperity. Rangoon's wealthy elite were foreigners - the British and their Indian merchant partners. As the wealth of the Chettiars grew, they invested in building lavish mansions in their hometowns in Tamil Nadu.

But the global depression of the 1930s badly affected Burma, resulting in the near collapse of paddy prices. Vast tracts of cultivable lands passed to the Chettiars, as farmers defaulted on their loans. It was a time when a wave of anti-foreign sentiment grew in Burma, and the Chettiars were the target of much vilification.

Then came WW-II, and with that, the fortunes of the Chettiars took a further turn for the worse. In 1942, Rangoon fell to the Japanese and the Chettiars fled Burma along with the British, travelling overland from Rangoon to Assam. Many are believed to have perished in the journey.
Eventually the British declared Burma independent in 1948. Although they had rightful title, the Chettiars could not successfully claim compensation from the new government which took over agricultural land. In 1962, when a military coup ended democracy in Burma, they lost their claims, and Burma became just a memory.

The Chettiar mansions remain a lasting legacy of those times, with their Burmese teak and antiquities.
#chettinad
#tamilnadu
#magictoursofindia
#chennaimagic
#maduraimagic

Grave of Emperor Aurangzeb, Khuldabad

From Johnson Album 3, 4, painted 1660-70
Featured in the British Library exhibition,
Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire.

Emperor Aurangzeb - the sixth Mughal ruler - had a long reign of nearly 50 years.

During his rule (1658 to 1707), the Mughal Empire reached its largest extent, covering almost the entire Indian subcontinent. In 1700, India's GDP accounted for one-fourth of world GDP, with textiles playing a major role. Nearly 15% of the population lived in urban centres; it was thus more urban than Europe at the time, or even more urban than British India in the 19th century.

Among the urban centres in the Deccan was Aurangabad. Earlier it was a village called Khadki; but it grew into a city under the patronage of Malik Ambar and the Nizamshahs of Ahmadnagar. When Aurangzeb took over the city, as the Mughal viceroy to the Deccan, he named it Aurangabad.

Aurangzeb spent the last 26 years of his life in an attempt to conquer the Deccan. He died at his military camp in Bhingar, near Ahmadnagar, at the age of 89.

His modest open-air grave in Khuldabad expresses his deep devotion to his Islamic beliefs. He desired in his will that not more than 8 rupees be spent on it - in marked contrast to the ostentatious splendour of the tombs of his predecessors.

Grave of Aurangzeb, painted by William Carptenter between 1850-56, British Library

Aurangzeb's tomb is in the courtyard of the shrine of the Sufi saint Shaikh Burhan-u'd-din Gharib, who was a disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.

The epitaph reads his own couplet in Persian:
Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! 
Bar mazaar e maa ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast!
Translation: "The rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves!
For the poor folks like me, the sky is dome enough!" 

"Daan Paatra" at Pushkar

Spotted at Pushkar: a collection box (Daan Patra) for Gau Seva (the welfare of cows). A young bull stands next to it, looking quite annoyed with life :)

Holy Cow Container, India -
Rod Waddington from Kergunyah, Australia [CC BY-SA 2.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The cow is depicted with a peacock feather decoration for her horns, indicating the linkage of cows with the cowherd God Krishna of the Braj region. The Braj region (Brajbhoomi) is the land associated with Krishna's birth and major events in his life. While there is no official geographical demarcation, it lies more or less within the golden triangle circuit that is popular with tourists. Pushkar is nearby.

The cow is depicted with auspicious symbols (the Om and the Swastika) on her body. She is adorned with jewellery, denoting her special status. Similar decorations can be seen in many Rajasthani miniatures, particularly the Pichhawai paintings depicting Krishna as a cowherd. 

The Portuguese Church Bells of Maharashtra

This week I read a story in Hindustan Times about Portuguese church bells, which are being used all over temples in Maharashtra.

Temple bell at Naroshankar, Nashik. Photo Credit: Hindustan Times

The bells were acquired by the Marathas from various churches, during their conflicts with the Portuguese. The 17th and 18th century were full of many conflicts, with the Marathas, Siddis, the French, the English and the Portuguese, all jostling for supremacy on the Western coast of India.

Fr. Francis Correa, a priest based in Vasai (Bassein) says discovering the bells has broadened his view of India. He says: “Seeing the bells for the first time, I initially felt like it was my community’s property and that I should work on restoring them to the church. But over time I’ve realised that in Hindu temples, they’ve been given a new life, with new missions to perform. They are our shared heritage.”

When I read this quote I couldn't help thinking that if more of us had such enlightened views we would be living in a much happier world!

For many years now, we have been sitting on this Ayodhya mandir-masjid controversy. Was it originally a temple or a mosque? Now that the mosque is broken, what should we build there? Whose monument is it now? ... All these questions could be more easily resolved if we thought of it as our country's shared heritage!

Whether we like it or not, we cannot wish away history; nor can we turn back the clock. If more politicians had the guts to celebrate the Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb (cultural diversity) of this land, India would be a different place. Come to think of it, every time we eat a biryani, it is a Ganga-Jamuna celebration. Every time we wear a salwar-kameez, it is the same celebration. The notion of India as belonging only to only one community is really impractical, not to mention immoral.

Magar yeh ghanti kisi ke dimaag mein bajti hi nahi!
(but this bell does not ring clear to anyone!)

Rajsamand and the Golden Age of Flying Boats

Have you been to Rajsamand Lake? It is just an hour north of Udaipur, past the religious centre of Nathdwara.

Rajsamand Lake, Wikimedia Commons

Rajsamand was built in the 17th century by Raj Singh, the ruler of the Mewar kingdom. Not surprisingly, he named the lake after himself (I like to believe it was not megalomania, but the desire to be permanently remembered for a great dharmik task of religious and social significance).

Raj Singh rather poetically used the word 'samand' (ocean or sea) to describe the lake. If you visit the lake, you will see why. It is a large lake, about 6 kms long, and 3 kms wide, with a depth of 60 feet. In a land-locked state that receives only 1% of India's total rainfall, the lake does seem like an ocean.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the lake was a blessing to the local populace, for irrigation and as insurance against drought.

But in the late 1920's, Rajsamand suddenly became a very glamorous place. Seaplanes of the Imperial Airways began landing in Rajsamand, on their way from London to Singapore or Sydney. They carried the rich and famous of Europe. After the horrors of WW-I, wealthy Europeans travelled around the world in luxurious seaplanes, celebrating life. It was the Golden Age of Flying Boats. Seaplane flights were long and slow, but offered passengers lots of space, comfortable beds and 5-star service. The all-male cabin crew were usually poached from luxury steamships and knew how to pamper their clientele.

Poster for Imperial Airways, 

Imperial Airways seaplanes had very little fuel capacity. On a typical trip from London to Sydney, there were 31 stops, and the journey took 16 nights. To make each stop worthwhile, Imperial Airways tried to find lakes that were not just fuelling stations, but also beautiful and exotic. Landing in Rajsamand, passengers were ferried to the shore by boats, and then took the train to Udaipur, where they stayed the night. Meanwhile, the plane refuelled and took in fresh supplies.

Seaplane at Rajsamand

The "airport" at Rajsamand had a passenger lounge, a weather station, a wireless station, fuel depots and two residential bungalows. Planes were anchored to the lake (one of the anchors was found a couple of decades ago, when the lake dried up, but it was then tossed back into the water and now no one knows where it is).

For nearly 2 decades, Imperial Airways seaplanes flew into India, stopping at Karachi, Udaipur, Gwalior and Calcutta. In those days, there were not many long runways, so the seaplanes, which could land pretty much anywhere with a nice stretch of water, became hugely popular.


But after WW-II, there were a lot more long runways available in military bases around the world. And there were many military aircraft too, that became available for passenger use.

In nearby Jodhpur, Maharaja Umaid Singh created a small air-strip in the 1920's, which was expanded and used in WW-II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Umaid Singh himself was a Level A certified flyer, and as Air Vice Marshall, he was in command of the Jodhpur base during the war.

After the war, when passenger flights resumed, Jodhpur became the airport of choice for Imperial Airways, and Rajsamand's glamorous days came to an end.

Jatar Ghat and Raja Gwalior Ghat in Varanasi

Continuing the series on the ghats of Varanasi; Jatar Ghat was built in the mid 1800's by the finance secretary of the Gwalior Estate, Balaji Cimadaji Jatar. There is a Laxminarayan temple here, which is in disrepair. The Gwalior Ghat was built by Jayajirao Shinde, the raja of Gwalior. The 1800's was a period when the Maratha empire was prosperous.

This area of Varanasi even today has many Maharashtrians.

The English scholar and architect James Prinsep, who arrived in Benaras in the 1820s, refers to this ghat as Chor Ghat (Thieves Ghat). Apparently in those days it was known for the disappearance of pilgrims's clothes and belongings :)

The songs of Phulkari

Phulkari meri reshmi
Rang na aiya theek
Chheti darshan devne
Main rasta rahi udeek

My phulkari is silken
But the colour doesn't seem right
Come quickly now, my love (let me see you)
My eyes search the road.

Phulkari is an embroidery technique from the Punjab region, and is practised both in India and Pakistan, by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. The word 'phul' means flower and 'kari' means craft, thus Phulkari literally means floral work or floral craft. Exquisite and labor-intensive, Phulkari embroideries have been produced by Punjabi and Haryanvi women from at least the early 19th century. Phulkaris are traditionally done in brightly colored silk thread on rough, earth-toned cotton fabric. The cotton was local, but the silk came from far off places via nomads, and was dyed in the Punjab. Phulkaris are deeply ingrained into Punjabi culture and several folks songs sung by women have Phulkari as the motif.

When done for domestic use, Phulkaris function primarily as women’s wraps (odhnis). Originally, they signified a woman’s material wealth and were deemed an important part of her wardrobe. In addition to being worn, phulkaris are also placed on woven cots (charpais) as seat covers for special guests, or draped on dowry chests or hung in the home as decoration during religious festivals. They are presented to temple deities, or to gurudwaras as a cover for the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh holy book).

During colonial rule, Phulkaris became part of gift basket locally described as “dali” that were presented to the British and other high officials on Christmas and also as a gesture of gratification.

Following Punjab’s devastating partition in 1947, many treasured Phulkaris were lost or left behind in the traumatic events of the Partition. The Partition Museum in Amritsar has a Phulkari placed on a well, representing the tragedy of the many women who threw themselves into village wells in attempted suicides. To me it seems as if the death of all that was beautiful in the Punjab has been portrayed very poignantly via the Phulkari.

Today in Amritsar, there are plenty of machine-made Phulkaris, but they lack the beauty of the women's voices that made them unique.

Kawal phool main kadhke
Kardi han ardas
Chheti aa mere sajna
Bhul-chuk maaf

Having embroidered a lotus
I petition you
My love come to me quickly
All is forgiven/Forgive me

In May 2017, the Philadelphia Museum of Art showcased ‘Phulkari: The Embroidered Textiles of Punjab’, with phulkaris from the collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz. The collection contained all types of Phulkaris:

- Baghs (all-over embroidered phulkaris, almost like a floral garden),
- Darshan Dwars (architectural motifs, meant to be presented at gurdwaras)
- Sainchis (narrative embroideries which depicted scenes of routine village life and included human motifs)
- Thirmas (embroidered on plain white khaddars for elderly women and widows)
- Chopes (presented to a girl by her maternal grandmother on her wedding day)

The Museum also showcased two gowns made especially for the exhibition by Indian designer Manish Malhotra, in an effort to highlight the couture culture and the new stories developing around phulkari. With the ace designers employing materials such as velvet and silk, a new set of audiences is being inspired to embrace the warmth of the textile tradition.

Photos Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art, sourced from Architectural Digest

The information and text for this post came from this page, which has more about the show, and different types of Phulkaris is here: https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/philadelphia-museum-art-showcases-history-punjabs-rich-embroidery-craft-phulkari/

Bazaar Thaterian - The Market of the MetalWorkers

About 10 kilometers south-east from Amritsar, along what used to be the historic Grand Trunk Road, there is a nondescript town called Jandiala Guru. No one knew much about it until 2014, when it suddenly received international recognition by UNESCO for its metalwork craft. The metalworkers are called Thateras.

If you walk into Jandiala Guru, you can find the Thateras in a lane called 'Gali Kashmirian' (Lane of the Kashmiris). I was a little puzzled by this name. Why were there Kashmiri Thateras in a little nondescript Punjabi town?

It turns out that in the late 18th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh invited skilled metal workers from Kashmir, primarily Muslims, to settle in his kingdom. They established themselves in Gali Kashmirian, and began making brass and copper utensils.

Bazaar Thaterian (the Metalworkers Market) became a thriving market for all sorts of utensils, including those for household use as well as for community cooking (have you seen the huge cauldrons at gurudwaras?).

During the partition of India, the Muslim Thateras of Jandiala Guru migrated to Kujranwala in Pakistan (another metalwork town). Hindu and Sikh Thateras from Kujranwala arrived in Jandiala Guru and began practising their craft. Thus, the metalworkers in Jandiala Guru today are either Hindus or Sikhs. But the name of the lane has endured. Gali Kashmirian. The Lane of the Kashmiris.

The Thathera community has a long oral tradition of craft. Knowledge is passed through apprenticeship, usually within the family. Designs are made by skilfully hammering a series of tiny dents into the heated metal. Even the tools they use are handmade.

In spite of being inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Humanity, the Thateras are struggling to make a living. The popularity of steel, aluminum and plastic has killed the market for brass and copper utensils.

There's a very nice video here, of the Thateras. It appears from the interviews that that Bazaar Thaterian is dying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SXc7L9d0ds

Ranthambhore Visit April 2018

My fourth visit to Ranthambhore in the last 10 years, and great sightings of tigers.

Here is one of the young tigresses we saw. Look at her alert face, ears pricked, stalking!

Summer (April-June) is a great time to visit this park, so what are you waiting for?

CCIE at Temple Towers, Nandanam, Chennai

The government run Central Cottage Industries Emporium (CCIE) is a great place to buy crafts and textiles from all over India. Service is excellent and prices are fixed and fair. 

Bought a lot of block print textiles. Loved their small collection of Bengal kantha work and tant. A very nice ikat section also. Bought couple of sarees. Applique, block printed and embroidered section of bedsheets, bedcovers, pillows also nice; bought white and blue bedspread for daughter. Their section of kalamkari artwork is lovely and they have handpainted kalamkari sarees and dupattas also. A good place to visit if you are in Chennai. Posters of Gandhi and many nowadays "old fashioned" quotes are there.

How to identify CCIE: The logo is the Bankura horse. See website. http://www.cottageemporium.in/ Beware of similar sounding fake names. Too many of those trying to fool tourists and locals! 

Vintage poster, Sarnath

I was looking for vintage posters on travel to India, when I came across this one:

It's from the 1930's, for travel to Varanasi (to the holy Buddhist site of Sarnath). Commissioned by the Railways, it is part of a series designed by the artist Dorothy Newsome. She signs her name as D. Newsome, so of course, true to stereotype, I assumed it was a male artist. You think you're a feminist, and then this sort of thing comes along and trips you. I live and learn. Printed at the Calcutta Chromotype Ltd at Bowbazaar in Calcutta.

The word the poster uses for Sarnath is "Isipatana", the ancient name for the Deer Park where the Buddha preached his first sermon and set in motion the Wheel of Dharma (Dhamma Chakka).

Isipatana is an open space near Varanasi; it is the site of the famous Migadāya or Deer Park. After his Enlightenment, the Buddha joined his friends, the Pañcavaggiya monks, who were in Isipatana. To them he preached his first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, on a full-moon day.

The name "Isipatana" is derived from the belief that sages and divine beings, as they fly to/from the Himalayas, alight here. In the Pali canon, the phrase "isayo ettha nipatanti uppatanti cāti-Isipatanam", means, "the place where the divine beings fly down to and alight/stay, that is known as Isipatana".

Isipatana is not just where the first sermon was preached. It is also the place where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons. Thus, many sermons originated here.

Isipatana was a very large and thriving Buddhist centre. We know from written records that there was a large community of monks at Isipatana in the second century B.C, when at the foundation ceremony of the Stupa in Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka, twelve thousand monks went from Isipatana,  led by the Elder Dhammasena. The Chinese traveller Huen Tsang, in the 7th century AD, recorded that 1500 monks were studying the Hinayana form of Buddhism in Isipatana.

On visiting the Mahakaal Temple at Ujjain

I'm going through an interesting experience, I am writing a sales brochure for a tour called "Pilgrimage tour to Ujjain". I have never written brochures for any purely pilgrimage tours so far. So this is a new thing for me.

Ram Ghat after sunset, on the Kshipra River, Ujjain

As some of you probably know, Ujjain is an ancient city which used to be the capital of Avanti, one of the Mahajanapadas, the great 16 Republics of India (6 BCE). The poet Kalidasa talked about the beauty of Ujjain (in his famous poem Meghadoota, The Cloud Messenger).

But now I need to write about Ujjain from a purely religious angle, and I find myself a little stumped.

You see, I cannot bring myself to write religious "facts". In India all major temples have a 'sthala-mahima' or story associated with that place. For example, so and so maharishi did penance here, such and such God automatically manifested here, so and so Goddess sat right upon this very spot... These stories are not historical, they are legends, and I can't help thinking that no doubt some clever temple priest made them up at some point. And I simply don't have the necessary religious belief to make a sales-pitch extolling some imaginary sthala-mahima!

How do I write a convincing spiel for something that I don't quite believe in? Naturally, I'm going to have to write this in the third person, for example, I've got to say something like, "Legend has it that..." or "It is believed that ...". A cop out, really :-)

And yet, when I went to the main temple in Ujjain, the Mahakaal temple, dedicated to the Shiva the Destroyer of Time, and heard the chanting, it affected me immediately. I was crying and had goosebumps. They were decorating the lingam with a thick paste of bhaang leaves. Never seen anything like that, so fascinating. People were shouting Mahadev! Mahadev! and Om Namah Shivay! And I heard many powerful descriptions of Shiva's name, Neelkanth, He of the Blue Throat and Gangadhara, He Who Holds the Ganges. One man would shout it out, and others would pick up the chant...I sat there with goosebumps and tears, perhaps it was the faith of the people that moved me, and perhaps it was the energy around me.

One thing I know for sure - whether I'm religious or not - this country has got me in its grip. I am connected viscerally to the people, the temples, the stories, the words, the sound of Sanskrit. The very soil of Bharatavarsha talks to me.

Now - off to write that brochure.

A Hamaam in a necropolis?

The Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex is one of the most significant historic medieval necropolises in the world, with 70 structures within its complex. It has been nominated for the World Heritage Site listing.

It contains 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, five baolis (water structures), several pavilions and gardens. These structures were built during the long and stable 170-year reign of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty in the 16th – 17th centuries.

It also contains what is popularly called as the Mortuary Bath. In the photo alongside, you can see a photo of this building. Water was supplied from the baolis, and it was used to ceremonially wash the bodies before burial.

Experts at the Aga Khan Foundation (who are doing restoration work at the complex) now believe that this is actually a bath-house or hamaam, similar to the ones found in modern day Iran or Turkey. The bath house is simply too large and it would have been too wasteful, for it to be used just once in a while during burial ceremonies.

But it's really unusual to have a hamaam in a necropolis. One possible explanation is that the hamaam actually pre-dates the tombs. Yashowant Purohit, conservation architect says, in this interview, “We have archaeological evidence of habitation at the site. We found remains of a mosque and of a sarai (rest house). The habitation could have predated the necropolis. But if it is at the same time, it could give us an answer to the use of the hamaam. The next season of archaeological work should help us uncover more,” he says.

I'm looking forward to more news about this. Here's another photo:

Scaffolding at the Taj Mahal - June 2017

Here's what it looks like now; with the Western side under scaffolding, and one eastern side minaret also under scaffolding. Photos thanks to Sunil Gupta!

And here is the view from the Western side, where the scaffolding of the main monument is present:

And here is a view taken from the south-western side:

If you are visiting in 2017, you will encounter scaffolding in some part or the other. But it is a huge monument, so many angles are possible for photography without scaffolding.

The cleaning work is really helping the monument. Here's a "before and after" picture. See how the marble sparkles? It is cleaned using Fuller's Earth, an old process that has traditionally been followed in beauty treatments in India.