Kathai, Kalai, Parampariyam - A heritage walk in VR Mall Chennai with Mr Sriram

I am a fan of V.Sriram and respect his knowledge and passion in our arts & culture as well as music. His Madras Musings are quite hilarious and showcase the music affinity of Chennai. Sriram is also known for his lectures and heritage walks. So I was naturally intrigued when I heard he was conducting one in VR Mall. The first perplexing question was the venue. A mall, what is its relation to heritage? I live in Anna Nagar and the mall is 10 minutes from my home. Thanks to my younger son, I have been pulled into this mall many times. I was just curious to see what was that I had missed. So I joined the walk on Saturday, 25^th May 2019. It just turned out to be one of the fantastic 75 minutes. Sriram took us back to the various kingdoms that ruled South India and the how the mall

consciously blended it architecture with various elements. The theme of the heritage walk was “Dashavataram” that showcased the ten avatars of Vishnu integrated in the premises.

I am describing our walk in terms of various elements:

Towers (Gopurams) – Gopurams are ornate gatehouse towers that symbolize an entry. Usually, a temple has 4 – one at each direction. They are typically designed as concentric enclosures with the main shrine at its heart.

We started on the eastern front. The front has been shaped as a temple and greeted us with Uloka Gopuram” (Metallic Tower). The huge metal bell was a very significant part of the southern temples. On the front walls, we could see various scenes from Dravidian kingdoms. Architectural achievements as well as seals of various empires adorn this area. This represents the golden era of the southern dynasties starting from Pallava to Vijayanagara.

On the western front is the wooden tower with various wooden bells. Every king considered it an honour to construct temples. As the kings decreed and left, various temple works began and got stopped as priorities changed the stakeholders vanished. This is also a tribute to the unfinished works in gopurams. In Madurai Meenakshi temple, the “Raya Gopuram”  represents one such unfinished work.

“Kannadi” (Glass) gopuram enthralled us on the southern front with glass bells. Samdura Manthan murals welcomed us there. This hand painted mural is over 40m in running length. The glass installation symbolized flowing water. We could see the glass bells in two hues – blue and green. This mural has been created by the artistes from Cholamandalam artists’ village using acrylic blend. Here is also a hand-carved majestic door panel that is a replica of Ramaswamy temple in Kumbakonam.  The verses of the classic Kanada raga song “Alaipayuthe” of OothukaduVenkata Kavi are depicted on one side of the entrance. On the other side, we could see the Bhagavat Geetha discourse.

“Kaliman” (Clay) tower adorned the northern front. The terracotta bells provided a visual treat to the visitors here. In 1639, FrancisDay was given a grant from the then Nayak rulers for establishing a settlement which later became Chennai. The wall presented a visual treat of all the historical events  from then till independence. Sriram had to pull us forward as we stood rooted to this.

Key Symbols / Landmarks - The mall is full of auspicious symbols everywhere. Here is a quick list:

Mahadeepam (Main Light) – As in the temple, there is a huge lamp, made of brass. It is a multi-tiered one. Everyday at 18:00 hours, this lamp is lit using traditional wick and gingelly oil. The mall plays Gandhi’s favourite “Vaishnava Janate” and “Raghupati Raghav” at that time. I have decided to make note of returning to the mail at that time to see the lamp in full splendour.

Diya Portal - This is nothing but a traditional wall where oil lamps are lit as in temples. Lighting is a traditional way of dispelling darkness.

Nandi - In Hindu world, Nandi or the bull is the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva and protects His abode “Kailasha”. VR Mall too considers Nandi as its protector and has installed a 350-Kg statue made up of fibre reinforced plastic. This statute is 3 m tall and is decked in vermillion speckled in gold. The sculpture is a replica of the one in the temple of Gangaikonda Cholapuram built by Rajendra Chola. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site.

Peepal Tree - The peepal tree reminds everyone of Buddha’s enlightenment. Its botanical name is Ficus Religiosa. Most temples used to have peepal or other trees designated as “Sthala Vruksham” (Tree of the temple).  

Core Theme – Dashavataram

VR Mall has chosen the epigraph, found in the Adivaraha temple in Mahabalipuram as its key theme. The script, written in Grantham, is as follows:

Matsya Kurmo Varahas-cha Narasimhas-cha Vamana

Ramo Ramas-cha Ramas-cha Buddha kalki-cha te dasa

Matsya (Fish) – represented as a cat fish of 3 ft in length. It is laser-cut out of a metal sheet. Located in the “Thamarai Sadukkam” at the eastern gate.

Kurma (Turtle) – This is carved out of green stone  and is on a water stream.

Varaha (Boar) – A water fountain with

a boar head for the sprout depicts this.

Narasimha (Man-Lion) – A mural, on the roof of the air-lock lobby, depicts this. Why this position? T

his is because Narasimha killed the demon at the very entrance (neither inside nor outside).

Vamana (Dwarf)  - The vamana, placing his head on the king Mahabali, is depicted in the mural form.

Rama – Presented as a hard-carved interpretation on the

main door of the Ramanathaswamy temple of Kumbakonam.

Parashurama (Ram with Axe) – The “Parashu” Axe is the choice of weapon for Parashuram who exterminated generations of kings.

Krishna - The controller and manipulator of everything and the one who gave the immortal Gita!

Buddha – Depicted as a Bodhisattva installation standing at 2.3m tall. This is one of the five by Satish Gupta. In traditional south Indian beliefs, Buddha is never part of the Dashavatarams. Sriram mentioned that Annamacharya and Jayadeva had considered Buddha as part of the ten. In Vaishnavism, Buddha manifests as “Digambara” – the one purely naked.

Kalki – The final avatar slated to occur at the end of Kaliyug is depicted in the form of abstract sketchy wire forms with elements of light showing a horse with a sword.

Out of the ten, the first 4 happened in Satya Yuga; the next 3 in Treta Yuga; the next one in Dwapara Yuga and the last two in Kali Yuga. Only the Kalki avatar is yet to happen.

Stories - Mr Sriram regaled the entire crowd with many stories.

One of them was that of the famous Nayanmar (Thiruneelakantar), a potter by profession. An ardent Shiva devotee, he once went astray and stayed with another woman. Upon learning this, his wife forbid any physical contact. Lord Siva wanted to unite them and played a trick. He came in the form of a saint and entrusted his mud pot for safe-keeping. When he came back, the pot was nowhere to be found. To prove that Thiruneelakantar didn’t steal it, Siva wanted them to demonstrate his innocence. For this, he asked the couple to join their hands (which they did by holding either end of a stick) and take a holy dip in the temple pond. He restored their youth and blessed them.

When talking about Buddha avatar, Sriram took us back to the story of Digambara and Shiva destroying Tripura. After Lord Kartikeya (or Muruga), son of Shiva and Goddess Parvathi killed the Tarakasur, his kingdom fell apart. Tarakasur’s three sons Tarakaksha, Vidhyunmaali and Kamalaksha did rigorous penance for Lord Brahma and got a boon to have 3 indestructible cities. Brahma granted them that they would be destroyed by a single arrow when all the 3 are aligned perfectly which happens to be for less than a second every 1000 years. The three cities were made up of Gold, Silver and Iron and they continuously moved. No one could destroy the 3 asuras who started giving trouble to every one in the universe. When devas prayed to Lord Shiva, he agreed. Shiva raised his Pinaka bow and aimed one arrow to strike the cities. The arrow split the three cities in one go, as it was the moment of alignment, reducing the magnificent cities into ash, finally restoring peace in the Universe. In performing this, Vishnu helped as Digambara.

On the western front near the unfinished wooden tower, we got to know about "Bleeding Madras." It is a spun yarn. Colouring was done through dyes. They are not colourfast though with the result after washing it gives a new look! Kalmkari cotton and Madras check design symbolized the growing textile trade spread over the coromandel coast.

Summary

Dynasties 

• Kadambas (4^th to 6^th century CE)
• Chalukyas (10^th to 12^th century CE)
• Hoysalas (11^th 14^th century CE)
• Vijayanagara (14^th to 17^th Century CE)
• Chera/Chola/Pandya/Pallava that ruled major part of Tamil Nadu/Kerala from 4^th century BCE to 14^th century CE)

Bells 

• Terracotta (1001 bells)
• Metal (single bell weighing 400 kg and 3 m in diameter)
• Glass (over 7m) 
• Wooden (150 hand-lathed bells)

Maps 

• The empire of all key southern dynasties (Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava) at their peak adorn the eastern gate.
• Colonial maps adorn the southern gate. They cover the lay out of Fort St.George, the town of Pallavaram that was the army cantonment of the East Indies and the black town reserved for non-European residents.

Towers/Gopurams 

• Metal
• Glass
• Terracotta
• Wooden

Finally, when we reached the place of depiction of Kalki avatar on the first floor, it was also time for some refereshments thanks to the Madras Coffee House. What better way to end than with a cup of ice cold buttermilk!

Many thanks Sriram for a wonderful time. No wonder the walk was titled “Kathai (Story), Kalai (Arts), Parampariyam (Heritage/Culture).” For those of you interested in Sriram’s activities, go through his website https://sriramv.wordpress.com/.