Reach in news -September 2010

We wanted to create our website www.conserveheritage.org in an easier way and decided to create exclusive blogs for each tags to put the RSS over there..

Pls read:

http://reachinnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/reach-in-vak-september-2010.html

Heritage lectures galore in September 2010

This month was filled with lectures of our beloved heritage speakers for REACH members.

Earlier on the 4th of September, Dr Satyamurthy talked showing a power point presentation about the famous Adichanallur expedition and archaeological excavations he did while he was in the ASI to bring out the site's comparable age with that of Mohenjadaro and Harappa. This talk was held as the monthly heritage talk series by the Tamil Heritage club actively supported and mentored by Prof S.Swaminathan and his friends. The photos are here for you to see

Then, Dr T Satyamurthy gave an exclusive lecture through a power point presentation on the various technical aspects and the congregation of various arts like sculptures, fresco paintings, temple architecture, dance forms, superior earth quake resistance science and all the best of the world poured into one form of a superior temple 'the Rajarajaeswaramudayar temple' which was later called as the Brahadeeswara temple and also commonly known as the Big temple, on the 15th of September 2010 for the staff and students, heritage enthusiasts at Kalakshetra, Thiruvanmiyur. Here are the photos. Some 500 people attended this session.

Again, Dr Satyamurthy and Dr Chitra Madhavan were among the few invited special speakers on the celebration of the BIG temple's 1000th year of consecration on the 18th September 2010 hosted by the CP Ramaswami Iyer Foundation at Greames Road and here are the photos.

Lecture on PrePallava Architecture on 30th July 2010

The CP Ramaswami Art Foundation has been conducting series of programmes to remind us of our rich heritage. Recently we had our founder Dr T Satyamurthy talking on the excavations and findings he did one with his stint in ASI (Murugan Temple, Saluvan kuppam) and the other he is working now, as REACH FOUNDATION's founder trustee. (Vepathur Veetrirunda Perumal Temple).

The photos of the lecture and the audience who gathered are HERE and the copy of the write up which came in THE HINDU - Friday review (dated 13th August 2010) is here for you to see

and here is the newspaper link

Madras Day

REACH FOUNDATION did its share of remembering the commencement of Madras Day. When NDTV approached us for locating a heriatge house appropriate for theirstory on Madras Day, Art Collector and Numismatist Raja Seetharaman's house at Chindadripet was suggested by our founder Dr.T. Satyamurthy. We had a visit one day before to obtain permission from the house owner and fix the d-day for the shooting. LastSunday, we did the shoot and it is shown in the later part of this news reel.
Our salutations to the fighting spirit of these 2 women, mother Sulochana and her daughter Lakshmi, who shared their experiences with us. We wish NDTV shows this again during Madras Day.(Aug 22nd)
More photos taken during the interview with the inhabitants of this great Heritage house are seen HERE

Modern history to cave man site - A trip within Chennai-19th June 2010

REACH FOUNDATION conducted a heritage trip from Kundrathur to MahaNyam, Malayapattu Village off the Kundrathur- Sriperumbudur road, which leads you to Manimangalam -Tambaram. From the Mandap on the yesteryears Rajapattai to the burial sites in the MahaNyam and Malayapattu villages, we had a heady cocktail of history, paleolithic, cave man, Chola, Nayaka, late 19th century Mudaliars and a dilapidated Choal period gajabrushta shrine unattended in Kundrathur, finally ending atSomangalam, one of the Thondai Mandala Navagrahasthalas.

Members from Tamil Heritage Foundation, (Subashini from Germany), Ponniyin Selvan Yahoo group, REACH, temple_cleaners yahoo group and Madame Deborah Thiagarajan the owner of Dakshin Chitra were among the distinguished, varied members who took part in the heritage trip.

The photos are here to see

Tamil Heritage wardens meet on 20th June 2010

Sundar Bharadwaj @ SPS (Siva Pada Sekaran) of Ponniyin Selvan Varalatru Peravai (PSVP) conducted a get together for all like minded personalities from India and abroad before the scholars leaving for the Coimbatore conference conducted by the Tamilnadu government. Many issues not really covered by the symposiums and such conferences - digitization and bringing all Tamil heritage related publications and available documents, voices, videos under one umbrella by Tamil Heritage Foundation, the built heritage conservators and those who take the temple architecture and its art appreciation and inscriptions to common man - REACH Foundation, Professor Swaminathan and NHM (New Horizon Media) and Kizakku Padippagam media man Badri's Tamil heritage forum, Prakrithi foundation, Indian Science monitor Mr. TKV Rajan, Historian Dr Chitra Madhavan, Project Madurai fame Dr. Kalyan, ASI archaeologist P.S. Sriraman, Sidda heritage practitioners, Siddars, and heritage lovers met together for a brain storming and discussing strategies of how to bring our efforts in an united manner and build synergy. The introduction of all groups were fantastic and Ponniyin Selvan had been the inspiration and this story has made many realities work, like Poetry in stone run by Vijay and his team, REACH foundation initially started by bunch of youths later guided to form a foundation headed by renowned archaeologist Dr T Satymurthy. It is he who worked on Adichanallur the most ancient site of Tamil culture so far unearthed, the Sangam age Murugan temple near Tiger caves on the Mamallapuram road and now bringing out the most ancient Pallava temple at Vepathur near Kumbakonam. Ironically such scholars were not even invited by the Tamil Semmozhi conference is a different subject to discuss and this is this blogger Chandra's personal view, not to offend anyone concerned), and to top it the THF founders Dr N. Kannan and Subashini Tremmel who were present and shared their vision to the heritage wardens of Chennai. The Sidda medical Palm leaf donors spoke on the ancient science and medicine, their values and the unfold secrets now getting digitized to usher a new light on the world's oldest and time tested medicine of Tamil land. A Siddar himself presented himself in this forum today and showered his blessings for all the voluntary work being done by the above said groups. Any omission in this fast news flash of the function which just happened this morning, is not intentional and those attended and who are missed out may bring this to our notice by emailing to reach.aasai@gmail.com

The pictures are here for you to see

REACH Founder speaking on Kalahasti tower

Noted Archealogist Dr Sathyamoorthy explains Temple Tower Collapses-Interview in www.vhtv.in
content bank direct view links are as follows

http://vhtv.in/index.asp?fl=GOPURA%20SARIVU-TAMIL in Tamil

http://vhtv.in/index.asp?fl=GOPURA%20SARIVU-ENG in English

Pls see and comment

Inscription learning -certificates issuing function

An excellent summary of the function has been reported by our trustee and moderator of Ponniyin Selvan Yahoo groups, Shri. Sundhar Bharadwaj @ Sivapatha sekaran -SPS:
Dear Friends,

Certificates for those "students" who completed EPIGRAPHY reading course were
distrubted by Hon'ble Minister Thangam Thennarasu. Lakshmi Machine Tools Gp CBT
Mr. Ravi Sam presided over. Dr. Sathyamurthy and Dr. Rajvelu rendered speeches
on the subject.

From our side Natarajan, Plastic Chandra took part in event management.
Nandakumar Selvaraj attended.

Minister experessed his happiness in attending this meet and distributing the
Certificates.

Apart from sharing all our concern of creating awareness to protect the
monuments, he shared his responsibility and readiness in guiding us to put this
into action and commended the efforts of REACH on special areas.

He Observed: Somehow OUR Forefathers preserved these Cultural Assets and passed
on to us in spite of several invasions and challenges by way of external
Cultures all these period exceeding about 10 centuries ...

How can we permit these to be perished right in front of our Own eyes - in this
21st Century - when we claim that our Technology is superior and resources are
much better than the past ?

That was a soul-searching Speech by the Hon'ble Minister.

Then on the lighter note, he too enjoyed recalling his reading Ponniyinselvan
and discussing with his friends during his (Annamalai) University days in
Chidambaram (in early 80s).

He also recalled of having visited Udayarkudi - searched for Ravidasan
inscriptions etc..

He also recalled of having gone through Thiruvalangadu Copper Plates .. and
observed on Uthama being mentioned very less...!!

And commended the activities of PS group as well in creating more awareness
among the youth !

Also observed re threat to some cultural asset :: It was brought to his
attention and immediately reached CM almost at midnight - who in turn - called
the concered Authority and ensured the threat (by negiligence) was moved away.

And our long time dream - much discussed HERITAGE CLUB in SCHOOLs - is being
putforth in the Assembly session for allocation of funds !!

We - PS - REACH - AASAI - all thanked the Minister for all his support.

We will discuss and invite the Honble Minister for our PS MEET after the
Chemmozhi manadu !

sps

Photos of certificate function-06-05-2010 taken by REACH Chandra@ Plasticschandra

I request student Siddarth C to share the photos of students he had taken, so that it can be memorable for the students concerned.

Protection of monuments

s - Talk by Minister Thangam Thennarasu in certificate issuing function on 6-5-2010

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/07/stories/2010050751100400.htm

Better Laws for protecting the whole hillock having brahmi letters

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/07/stories/2010050751140400.htm

Field trip of second batch of epigraphy students to Thirumukoodal

Mr. L V Krishnan, a retired Scientist was one of our second batch of students and he had made an excellent report of the trip we conducted for the epigraphy students on 17th January 2010.

Thank you Mr. Krishnan! we need more volunteers to write on various heritage issues and such findings, tarvelogues etc.

REACH Team.

================================================

Report on a Field Trip of the Second Epigraphy Batch organized on Jan 17, 2010

About ten persons from the second batch of the epigraphy course run by AASAI/REACH Foundation went on a field trip to the Thirumukkudal temple on January 17, 2010 to read some of the inscriptions with the help of the guru Sri Ramachandran. Dr. Sathyamurthy was also present with his geologist friend.

The temple and the inscriptions that fill practically the entire surface of its walls are remarkably well preserved. It was possible to read the inscriptions directly without the need for estampaging.

We began by reading the inscription found on the முப்பட்டைக்குமுதம் of the outer surface of the south wall that begins with இராசேந்திரசோழன் மெய்கீர்த்தி as given below (text no. 1). We then went on to read the inscription about the hospital found on the eastern part of the front wall on the north, which may also be found below (text no. 2). The pillar of a recently added structure was too close to the wall and covered some part of this inscription.

Though there are references to hospitals and institutions for teaching medical sciences in ancient India, the Thirumukkudal temple inscription appears to be the only source providing details of a hospital including the name of the physician in charge, the list of medicines and the payments in cash and kind made to the staff. Surgery and the surgeon also figured in the inscription!

We also attempted to read some inscription on the inner face of the southern outer wall (behind the garbagriham) that seems to relate to a grant to the temple priest for keeping a lamp burning. The reading had to be done with the help of a torch as there was no power and no light in the area. The part that was read is also given below (text no.3).

It was about one in the afternoon when we completed reading of the inscriptions. We were hungry but the Temple provided us with tasty Thayir Sadam prasadam.

We then went on to the Sundaravarada temple in Uttaramerur. The route we were advised to take turned out to be rather long, but when we reached the temple, we were provided delicious prasadam in the form of chakkarapongal, puliodarai and dadhyodhanam. The temple is unique in having three garbagrihams one above another. After visiting the temple we went on to the Kailasanathar temple being renovated by REACH and found the work progressing well.

Inscriptions as read

Text no. 1

இராசேந்திரசோழன் மெய்கீர்த்தி

திருமன்னிவளர இருநிலமடந்தையும் போர்செயற் பாவையுஞ்சீர்தனிச்செல்வியும் தன்பெரும் தேவியராகி இன்புற நெடுதியலூழியுன் இடைதுறைநாடும் தொடர் வனவேலி பிடர்வனவாசியும் சுள்ளிச்சூழ்மதிய் கொள்ளிப்பாக்கையும் நண்ணற்கு அருமுரண் மண்ணைக்கடக்கமும் பொருகடல்மீழி முத்தரையர் தம் முடியும் ஆங்கவர்தேவியர் ஓங்கெழில்முடியும் முன்னவர் பக்கல் தென்னவர் வைத்த சுந்தரமுடியும் இந்திரன் ஆரமும் தெண்டிரல் ஈழமண்டலமுழுவதும் எறிபடைக்கேரளர் முறைமையிற்சூடும் குலதனமாகிய பலர் புகழ் முடியுஞ்சேர் செங்கதிர்பாலையுஞ்சங்கதிர்வேலை தொல்பெருங்காவல் பல்பழந்தீவுஞ்செருவிற்சினவி இருபத்தொருகால் அரசு களைகட்ட பரசுராமன்மேவரும் சாந்திமற்றீவரண் கருதி இருத்திய திருந்தகமுடியும் பயங்கொடு பழிமிக முயங்கியில் ஒதுகிட்டு ஒளிந்த செயசிங்கன் அளப்பரும் புகழொடும் பீடியில் இரட்டபாடி ஏழரையிலக்கமும் நவநிதிக்குலப்பெருமலைகளும் விக்கிரம சக்கரக்கோட்ட முதிர்பட வல்லை மதுரை மண்டலமும் கரமிடை வளைய் நாமிணைக்கோணையும் வெஞ்சிலவீரர் பஞ்சப்பள்ளியும் பாசுடைபணைய மாசுடைதேசமும் அயர்வி வெண்கீர்த்தியாதிநகர் அவையில் சந்த்ரிரன் தொல்குலத்து இந்திரரதனுந்தன் விளையரர்களத்து கிளையொடும்பிடித்து வலத்தொடு குலதனக்குவையும் கட்டரண் செறிமிளை ஒட்டவிஷியமும் பூசுரர்சேய்நல் கோசலை நாடும் தன்மபாலனை வெம்முனையழித்து வண்டுறைச்சாலை தண்டபுத்தியும் ....

Text no. 2

ஆதுரசாலை வீரசோழனில் வியாதிப்பட்டு கிடப்பார் பதினைவர்க்கு பேரால் அரிசி நாழியாக அரிசி குறுணி எழுநாழிக்கு நெல் தூணி ஐந்நாழி உரியும் வியாதிப்பட்டு கிடப்பார்க்கு பலபடி நிபந்தக்காரர்க்கும் கிடைகளுக்கும் பாத்திரர்க்கும் சிவஸ்யஞ்சொல்லியாணியாக தனக்கும் தன் வர்க்கத்தாருக்கும் பெற்றுடைய ஆலப்பாக்கத்து சவணன் கோதண்டராமன் அசுவத்தம்பட்டனுக்கு நாளொன்றுக்கு நெல் முக்குறுணியும் காசெட்டும் சல்லியக்கிரியை பண்ணுவானுக்கு நாளொன்றுக்கு நெல் குறுணியும் ஆதுலர்க்கு மருந்துகளுக்கு வேண்டும் மருந்து பறித்து விறகிட்டு பரியாரம் பண்ணுவரிருவருக்கு நாளொன்றுக்கு நெல் குறுணியாக நெல்பதக்கும் காசொன்றாக காசிரண்டும் ஆதுலர்க்கு வேண்டும் பரியாரம் பண்ணி மருந்திடும் பெண்டுகளிருவருக்கு பேரால் நாநாழியாக நாளொன்றுக்கு நெல் குறுணியும் பேரால் காசரையாக காசொன்றும் ஆதுலர்க்கும் கிடைகளுக்கும் பாத்திரருக்கும் வேண்டும் பணிசெய்யும் நாவிசன் ஒருவனுக்கு நாளொன்றுக்கு நாநாழி ஆதுரசாலை வீரசோழனில் ஆண்டொன்றிலருமருந்து ஸ்ரீப்ராஹ்ம்ய மகருக்கு இப்படியொன்றும் ... இப்படி ஹரிதகி படி இரண்டும் கோமூத்திர ஹரிதகி படியிரண்டும் தசமூலஹரிதகி படியொன்றும் பிப்லாதக ஹரிதகி படியொன்றும் கண்டீரம் படியொன்றும் பலாகோரண்டதைலம் தூணியும் பஞ்சார்கதைலம் தூணியும் ஸ்ரீலஸ்ரத்தா கோரண்டதைலம் தூணியும் கண்யாதிதைலம் தூணியும் ..... பதக்கும் சாக்ருதம் பதக்கும் வில்வாதி க்ருதம் பதக்கும் மண்டூரவாகம் இரண்டாயிரமும் மஹாசுமனத்ரி இரண்டாயிரமும் தந்த்ராதி இரண்டாயிரமும் பஞ்சகல்பம் தூணிபதக்கும் கல்யாணலவணம் தூணி பதக்கும் இவையடுகைக்கு வேண்டும் மருந்துகளுக்கும் நெய்யும் ... வும் உள்ளிட்ட .... ஆண்டுதோரும் புராண.. சர்வ பசுவிநெய் பதக்கும் கொள்ள காசுநாற்பதும் ஆதுலசாலையில் இரா எரியும் விளக்கு ஒன்றுக்கு எண்ணெயாழாக்காக நாள் முன்னூற்றறுபதுக்கு எண்ணெய் நாற்பத்தைந்து நாழிக்கு காசிரண்டேகாலும்.. ஜனநாதன்... ல தன்யனுக்கு பங்குனி உத்திரம் தொடங்கி புரட்டாசி திருவோணத்தளவும் பரம்பாலூர... தண்ணீர் கொடுவந்து வைத்துச் சாய்ப்பான் ஒருவனுக்கு நாளொன்றுக்கு நெல் குறுணியாக நாள் நூற்றெண்பதுக்கு நெல் பதினெண்கலமும் ஏலத்துக்கும் இலாமிச்சத்துக்கும் நெல் இரு... ண்ணியாஹம் பண்ணின பிராமணர்க்கு தக்ஷிணாகம் வெற்றிலை வெருங்காய்க்கும் நெல் கலனே தூணி இருநாழி முழக்கே முச்செவிடும் வயலைக்காவூர் காணியுடைய மாதவன் தாயன் வர்க்கத்தார்க்கு புரட்டாதி திருவோணத்து நாள் உடுக்கும் பரிசட்டம் இரண்டுக்கு காசொன்றே எழுமாவும் மூவாயிரத்து இருநூற்று நாற்பத்து முக்கலனே இருதூணி பதக்கு அறுநாழி உழக்கே முச்செவிடுக்கும் காசு இருனூற்றொருபத்து ஆறறையே இரண்டு மாவுக்கும் இக்காசு பத்ராவிடில் காசொன்றுக்கு தண்டவாணி ஒன்றோடொக்கும் பொன்காசு நிறைகால் இடுவதாகவும் இப்படியாண்டு ஆறாவது நிபந்தம் செய்தபடி இந்நிபந்தம் தழுவக்குழைந்தானான அபிமானபேரு பிரம்ம மாராயன்

Text no. 3

கோவிசய நிருபதுங்க பல்லவ விக்கிரம வருமக்கு யாண்டு இருபத்து நாலாவது காடுபட்டிமுத்தரையர் மகனார் அரிகண்டப்பெருமானாருக்கு ஊற்றுக்காட்டுக்கோட்டத்து சீயபுரத்து சபையோமொட்டிக்கொடுத்த பரிசாவது திருமுக்குடல் விஷ்ணுபடாரர்க்கு நுந்தாவிளக்கெரிப்பதற்க்கு தந்த எங்கள் கையிற்றந்த முப்பதின் களஞ்சு நாலுப் பொலியூட்டு ஆண்டுவரை களஞ்சின் வாய் மூன்று மஞ்சாடிபொன் ஆயனப்படியால் நாற்களஞ்சரையாலும் ஏறிலும் கறுங்காலும் நாற்பது நாழி எண்ணை நூற்றின்பதி ....

Article on REACH in Money-Life Magazine

Dear Heritage enthusiasts,

Ms. Savita Narayan, who also writes regularly on heritage, in Heritage India had taken REACH FOUNDATION to a new height by featuring our organization where money matters! In Money-Life magazine run by Ms.Sucheta Dalal in a regular column titled 'Beyond Money', the February 2010 issue highlights our founder's work and REACH visions in a precise manner and makes us reachable to more readers in other states other than Tamilnadu. We wish more members would now give hands in our endeavours of saving and preserving heritage.

REACH's International Conference in 2009

The THIRD International conference "Space time place 2009" by the educational wing of REACH FOUNDATION, AASAI, in collaboration with ASI Chennai Circle and Bharatidasan University, in Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu India was held last year (17th to 22nd August 2009) and more international scholars read our papers of international interest in the said conference.

As we received the photos very late, we have uploaded the same here.
REACH apologizes for the inordinate delay. We'll also give you the brief of papers which were read out soon in our web site www.conserveheritage.org

Saraswathi Pooja by REACH FOUNDATION

Sudden impromptu idea given by member S. Natarajan made us inform all members by SMS and emails about conducting the Saraswathi Pooja last Sunday 27th Sept 2009. It is also part of our heritage as we are conducting our inscription reading epigraphy classes now regularly, it is right on our part to start conducting the Saraswati Pooja from this year onwards.

The venue : Class room at Ramakrishna Mission Hr Sec School

at Danadapani Street, off. Burkit Road, T. Nagar, where our regular classes take place. Luckily, we saw the black board with the Bank of Parota ( !!) exam marks and cleaned it before the start of the pooja and changed the same as 'Saraswathi Pooja - REACH foundation) .

Natarajan was kind enough to buy all requisite items along with the picture of Goddess Saraswathi for the pooja. Founder Dr. Satyamurthy, our epigraphy teacher S. Ramachandran along with his daughter Sindhu, trustee PN Subramaniam, Natarajan and his two daughters who sang melodiously Varaveenam and Srichakra Raja Singhaasani.. all attended to make a grand start.

Mr. Varadarajan a historian and our patron also graced the occasion.

P.R.O Chandrasekaran started the pooja with the traditional mantra chanting and did the pooja rituals. Small but elite crowd has indeed made a start and we wish the forthcoming years'

celebrations would be on a larger scale and participation.

Inauguration of 2nd batch of epigraphy

The Inauguration of the second batch of 'Introduction to Tamil Epigraphy' conducted by REACH- AASAI went on well on 2nd of August 2009, with the serene atmosphere of Ramakrishna Mission school adding the positive energy around. Swamiji Padamasthananda, the secretary of Ramakrishna mission at T.Nagar inaugurated by lighting the lamp and delivering his key address. The photos are uploaded here

UTTARAMERUR RESTORATION UPDATES..

Pls see this link..

Kindly join yahoo group: temple_cleaners,donate generously for restoring such temples..

Lime removal at Varadaraja Perumal temple -Kanchipuram

The famous Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram is known for its intricately carved 100 pillar mandap. Due to ignorance, it was white washed for ages and the pillars now have thick coats of white wash mostly at the bottom half of the pillars and the mandap's periphery. A philanthropist, native of Kanchi,is now a famous patent lawyer having office at almost all the cities in India, had vowed back to get his beloved deity's temple back to its glory and he had selected REACH for the cleaning of this pillar mandap, the kitchen (filled with black carbon soot, again settled on the walls for ages). So we had started the work last week and have put the best ASI trained workers and one full time supervisor for this task. First phase comprises of the mandap work, later after few months we'll be cleaning the whole kitchen (madapalli for Thaligai) to remove all the soot and carbon using scientific methods.
See the pictures here..

Concluding part of Inscription classes - Pulavar Kannayyan's speech on ancient numbering system and maths!

As a concluding part of the Inscription Classes, as per our teacher Shri.S. Ramachandran's advice, we had called upon Pulavar Kannayyan of Mayilam who is a living encyclopedia on ancient number and arithmetic prevalent in early Tamil period and an inscriptions' enthusiast., who is just 78 years old young! When REACH contacted him for making arrangements for his visit to the session we wanted to conduct, this young man denied any carfacility, said he will just travel by bus and wait at T.Nagar bus stand at the appropriate time!

The D-day came and today (10th may 2009), he was waiting for our member S. Natarajan to pick him up from T.nagar bus stand.

Venue: Takkar Baba Vidyalaya, Vinobha Hall, Venkatnarayana Road, T.Nagar, Chennai,India

Even though we started late, waiting for the VIPs to arrive, we had a punching and effective compering and start by S.Natarajan. I missed taking a snap of Natarajan, but I will compensate next time. Sorry, Natarajan, for missing you in the photo shoots!.

The invocation song was sung by Ms.Swarnamalya, our student who was also instrumental in getting us the class rooms for free, when the epigraphy course was conducted at Janaki- MGR w omens' college, Adyar.

Pulavar (Poet) Kannayyan was introduced to us by Shri.S.Ramachandran, our epigraphy teacher. Pulavar Kannayyan had been a village accountant, a bold and straight forward man of yester years, aspiring to learn and learn more, be it ancient maths, inscriptions, historical facts, records from almost all government treasury related to land records, etc.

In his speech, Pulavar Kannayyan briefly explained the various forms of ancient Tamil numbers, the fractions, as well as the proof of short hand prevalent in marking land records in Tamil short-hand some 400 years before, much before the advent of English Pitman's short hand form!

Member-students, Shri. Prabhakaran and Subramania Pillai shared their awe and experiences they had in the epigraphy class they attended and voiced the mind of all students who had attended Shri.S. Ramachandran's class, which comprised of not only epigraphy lessons, but also the bit og history and facts related to each of the inscriptions we studied.

T.S. Subramaniam, the HINDU magazine and Frontline's senior reporter who also attended the
classes as a student was in praise of Shri. S. Ramachandran's knowledge, and thanked on behalf of all students Shri.Ramachandran for concluding the class in grand style with the most effective introduction of ancient numbers and systems by the only scholar now available, Shri.Kannayyan.

Our founder Dr.T.Satyamurty emphasized the need of making more students and interested persons from the common pool to learn inscriptions, as well as art appreciation from temples and heritage buildings to enable the common man become more aware of the value of our heritage. He was happy to note that the students enjoyed the classes and announced that plans to have more sessions would soon follow by the month of July 2009.

REACH plans to have the certificate issuing function in a befitting manner soon for the students who have attended the classes and also is planning for regular heritage trips, art appreciation courses and epigraphy classes.

The photos are uploaded here.

Heritage tour - Thiruvadigai or Thiru adigai

Thiruadigai or Thiruvadigai is the first place near Panruti we visited en route to Kumbakonam while going for our Symposium for Heritage Wardens held during 1st week end of January 2009.

This temples is a beauty of sorts. No words to describe.

Dr. Nagaswamy in one of his writings write as:

At Thiruvadigai there are a few archaeological relics which deserve notice. The Virattana temple at this place is a Pallava foundation carrying inscriptions of the Pallavas Paramesvaravarman, Tellaru erinda Nandi and Nrpatunga. Paramesvara’s inscription relates to another shrine of this place. Nandi’s inscription refers to a gift of gold for worship in the temple while, that of Nrpatunga, refers to renovation to the temple, carried out by him. In the pakara, at the western end there is a Caturmukalinga, decidedly a Pallava sculpture of 7th century A.D.

The story in Dinamalar in Tamil is still elaborate.

Life of Appar, his conversion from Jainism to Shaivism, this temple where the first Devaram was sung, and the first ever place where 'temple cleaning' (உழவாரப்பணி) took place from the hands of Appar / Thirunavukkarasar is worth reminding here.

The photos are here to see


Me and Natarajan always look out for rare sculptures and unknown beaties of the temple. See the two sculptural stone reliefs.. on the pillars of the front mandap at the entrance. Any explanations or mythological stories available for the same? Reader please explain me.

Also were stunning the rare mohinis in the entrnce and different dance poses we see, as we enter in.

Now, we see also a big stone sculpture in sitting posture as soon as we enter the temple facade,on our right, and yell with joy, "Hey, see Buddha statue, this proves this site is ancient than ever, atleast Buddhism survived here some 1800 years ago!

"Why is it confirmed as a Buddha? Why not Jaina Theerthangara statue? " asked my friend Natarajan. Why... I explained. Readers please come back with your answers to claim whether it is a Jaina Statue or a Buddha statue..

Also impressive were the paintings on the ceilings at the front mandapa of the temple. See pictures..

I wish they are not destroyed in the name of Kumbabishegam Samrokshanam, renovation by the HR& CE.. as how it happened in Madurai Meenakshi temple, in Thiruppulivanam, and many more temples. These paintings are real stunners and we should protect them from removal, white washing and graffiti.

Also, another repetitive feature of Pallava period temples are that the availability of Somaskanda Murthy / Parvathi full decorative sculptures seen behind the Shiva Linga, mostly made of limestone.

here this Thiruvadaigai temple has the biggest Somaskanda murthi (family portrait!) surrounded by Brahma and Vishnu, sizes of say, 8 to 10 feet! The lighting inside is very poor and so we could not see them properly. I requested the priest to show the deepa aradhana twice to ensure what I saw was believing! Such a big somaskanda !!!

Also unique are the over flowing scultpures around the sanctum sanctorum.Sadly the originallime sculptures are recoated with heavy and gaudy acrylic paints,which look horrible. Otherwise the originals would have made them more austere, authentic and elegant, ala..heritage vintage stuff.

PIL should be applied to stop sand blasting, usage of modern paints and materials in renovating temples; May be then, the Governments would not tamper such priceless beauties..

Thiruvadigai makes one visit this temple again and again..

Next week I will try to write on Innambur and Thiruperambiyam we saw near Kumbakonam...

Visits after week end classes searching new inscriptions

Dear Readers.

Natham Parameswari mangalam at ECR road is known for its beauty and we from REACH along with Vadapalani Uzhavarappani group and also Rotary Club of Central Aditya are maintaining the village as well as the temple.During one post- class trip, we found a new inscription written above the Amman shrine entrance and brought it to the class for the students to read. This revealed that an independent clan lived in this area after Raja Desing of Senji. Ramachandran, our teacher immediately put it on blog through the e-media and the link is shown here:

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?title=New%20inscription%20reveals%20unknown%20info%20on%20Raja%20Desingh%E2%80%99s%20clan&artid=2Tq7p6tI0f0=&type=

More were found during each week end and tomorrow's class (29th March 2009) I would bring few more for you all to decipher.

Chandrasekaran J

Inauguration of inscription reading classes -18th-Jan-09

Inauguration of inscription learning and reading contact classes were started for the first time by our organization, the academic wing AASAI (Academy for Archaeology and Sciences of Ancient India), of REACH Foundation.

Dinamalar editor, Mr. Krishnamurthy, himself a historian and numismatic expert was the right person to inaugurate this course. He said by trying to concentrate and decipher our inscriptions, the reader would sharpen his/ her brain, there by also becoming successful in other competitive exams.

Dr. T. Satyamurthy REACH Founder said it is the need of the hour to educate our youngsters in such heritage related subjects and make them be aware that the older technology and methods used in heritages were far more superior than the modern architecture and other sciences.

S. Ramachandran, the epigraphist (who is conducting the classes at the same venue (Dr. MGR - Janaki college for women, near Adyar bridge, every Sunday 7-9 AM, at the Natya department) quoted how it is easy to decipher and read the language once one get engrossed into the subject. and he was happy to know that more students from different walks of life have joined the course just to enrich their knowledge and love they have for our culture and history.

The inauguration further got a boost by having other ASI members epigraphist Dr. Rajavelu who presented a powerpoint on 'introduction to epigraphy' and Mr. P. Sriraman who volunteered to run the powerpoint in his laptop. This shows that if a common man approaches the experts, they do come down to decipher their knowledge for the benefit of others.
REACH was happy to see many visitors thronging the show after seeing the articles which appeared in Mambalam Times and T.Nagar times.

Mr. H Chandrashekhar one of the trustees weclomed the gathering and actor and Bharata Natyam danseuse Ms. Swarnamalya (also a teacher in this Natya department, who got us this classroom for conducting the courses) thanked the gathering.

REACH would be compiling all the course material and will upload the on-line course after this 16 week sojourn is over.

The academy plans to have study tour and heritage tour be conducted for the students inbetween the class room study to further strengthen their acquired knowledge.

The articles which appeared in Dinamalar, Tamil vernacular newspaper, the next day and
THE HINDU

The website of S. Ramachandran, run by one of his admirer Mr. Swaminathan of USA.

And the photos taken in the function by member Chandrasekaran can be seen here in this link