Guest guest Report post Posted August 9, 1999 Dear Mani and Members, Actually i am surprised that this question did not surface earlier. Its difficult to comprehend on how one can come up with colors such as these. The only reasoning behind this may be as follows. White/Beige etc., are difficult to be perceived from a distance, especially with the sun shining and the blinding effect thereof. However, colors such as blue, red, green have wavelengths that are more easily seen from a distance, and its a way of indicating the presence of the temple (like our traffic lights). Maybe people prefer dark or loud colors, and the presence of these colors is considered aesthetic. If i am not mistaken , Kapaleeshwarar koil in Mylapore was one of the first big temples to adopt this concept ( i will refrain from saying who the chief minister was at that time). Irrespective of which temple adorns these colors, they make the temple look too materialistic. Isn't the Rajagopuram also colored in a similar way? I am sure Thirumalai is not. So, Mani, i guess all of us have to accept the Temple Colors, unless one wants to undertake the mammoth task of re-painting the temples. As long as they leave the idols intact, i can live with any unsightly color. adiyen, ramanuja dasan (srinivasan) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 10, 1999 Namaskaram: I read with interest the recent posting from Sri Mani Varadarajan about the trend in garish colors adorning our temples. This is true and a most unfortunate occurrence. Sri Vaishnava temples were known for the soft sand and grey colors by which the delicate artistry and 'saatvik' features of our deities were clearly seen.The many carvings and sculptures portraying scenes from our epics and puranas would emerge delicately from the heights of the temple towers. While the fondness for bright colors is well known with Tamils, the clothing and sarees bearing the bright contrasts of yellow (manjal), earth red (arakku), green and orange being the favorite shades, Sri Vaishnava taste was always pointed towards the understated.Our temples were always known for the quietitude of the worship and the intense saturation of bhakti which was never loud and overtly proclaimed. During the renovation and remodeling of many temple gopurams, the popular tastes of the local people seem to have spilled over from folk and film culture onto the sacred spaces of worship. Significantly( certainly thankfully), the senior members of my family while supervising the restoration of the massive Nambi shrine at Tirukurungudi,insisted on the colors remaining like the original bleached sand. I have nothing against color,since I wear a lot of it in my personal life. But I would rather not have my senses assaulted with a plethora of gaudy hues when I enter the portals of a Perumal temple. Just look at how beautiful the Vishnu temples in Kerala are!! An oasis of calm and serenity! respectfully, Anita Ratnam >Mani Varadarajan <mani >bhakti >painted gopurams >Mon, 9 Aug 1999 17:10:22 -0700 (PDT) > > >Dear Friends, > >Many of our divya desams' ancient, beautifully sculpted gopurams >are now being painted, presumably with the idea of making them >more lifelike and attractive. In my opinion, this is a bad >trend, as the colors tend to make the sculptures gaudy and >cartoonish, with garish greens and reds, without any subtlety >whatsoever. I would much prefer they be left as is, so we can >enjoy the ancient shilpis' artistry by itself. > >One good example is the Tiruvallikkeni gopuram. What in ancient >days was a beautiful white/gray gopuram is now blue, green, and >red, looking more like a gopuram of a small Amman or Murugan >kOvil than our traditional Vaishnava ones. I understand that >after the recent samprokshaNam Sri Sarnga Pani Swami's gopurams >have also been painted in this fashion. > >What do others think of these colors? Does anyone really like >them? > >Mani > ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 10, 1999 Srimathe Narayanaya Namaha Dear Sri Mani, AdiyEn was also of the same opinion about the ThiruvallikkENi Gopurams being painted in different colours but couldn't do much or rather anything to stop it. Well it was for good really. I cannot agree with your view that the gopuram in ThiruvallikkENi looks like a small Amman Gopuram with gaudy colours. On the contrary, enough pains have been taken to provide life like colours and I would say that the gopurams only resemble a typical Navarathiri Golu that is so vibrant, yet in decent colours. Also I would like to add that, even I was not knowing what type of sculptures or idols where there on the gopuram before it was painted in multi colour. Now after it has been painted with multi-colours, all the idols (or Bommais) are so beautiful and a treat for your eyes. To list a few are the Paramapadhanathan (viewed from AndAL sannidhi), Ramar Pattabhishekam, and our dearest Kutti Kannan (the childish face of this bommai cannot be so beautiful in the single colour paint), what an attraction and a live one. Sorry Mani, I do not know about other gOpurams, but our ThiruvallikkENi gOpuram is so beautiful after the painting, that you will change your views when you come there leisurely and do a pradhakshinam around the temple slowly quenching the thirst of your eyes by seeing those beautiful bommais. Well one point to remember is the colours that are being selected. There should be a creative and artistic touch in the person who does this, otherwise the gOpurams will look like what you have said. Sri RukmiNi samEtha PArthasArathy swAmi thiruvadigaLE saraNam AzhwAr EmberumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam adiyEn RAmAnuja dAsan Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh Regards T.V.Venkatesh E-mail : TVV Phone: 91-44-4960455 extn. 5218 Fax : 91-44-4960913 Visit : http://www.sanmargroup.com ***** Message Was Scanned For Viruses ***** Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 10, 1999 --- Mani Varadarajan <mani wrote: > > Dear Friends, > > One good example is the Tiruvallikkeni gopuram. > What in ancient days was a beautiful white/gray > gopuram is now blue, green, and red, looking more > like a gopuram of a small Amman or Murugan > kOvil than our traditional Vaishnava ones. I may be wrong but it appears to me that your idea of "traditional Vaishnava" temple towers seem to be based on those which are badly in need of a coat of paint aka jIrNoddhAraNam ;-))) Dear Mani, use of primary colors appears to have been sanctioned by tradition. You may want to read K. Zvelebil ("The Smile of Murugan"), Michael Wood (same title) or even EM Forster (Passage to India). They relate it to the heat and dust of the subcontinent!! >I understand that > after the recent samprokshaNam Sri Sarnga Pani > Swami's gopurams > have also been painted in this fashion. I was there two weeks ago. From my childhood, I'm used to seeing the temple tower in a dull unwashed brown. The coat of paint looks nice for a change. To understand what I mean, you should take a look at the Nageswaran Sannidhi next door or the Chakrapaniswamy Sannidhi down by the river. What made some elders of my family sad was however something else: we stayed back for the sevakalam on an ordinary day and found that all the gentlemen who did the Prabandham chanting (save one), did it out of a handy text. They were not chanting anything rare, it was just vADinEn vADi varuntinEn (Periya Tirumoli 1.1), ArAvamudE etc among other things. I'm sure the explanation is to be found in people having left for Madras or elsewhere. Retired people out of their community spirit were participating in the sevakalam etc etc. Wonder what the Astikas of this group think? Thanks and Warm Regards, LS ___________ Bid and sell for free at http://auctions. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 11, 1999 Yes Mani I agree with you.The gopurams should be left as it is in the orginal grey color with that light shade.In the name of renovation lot of things are being changed.But i also feel that temple administrators and kainkaryaparals must be having a say in all this renovation.Then why don't they intervene.Even in Srivi at the Andal temple I recently saw a couple of paintings on the wall that were erased off in the renovation work.Now i do not know whether they will repaint that area or not .But still the original art is gone and it's beauty and feel cannot be replaced.Then gopuram is also being renovated and they have strengthned the base with a concrete matrix.The grey shade has also been darkened slightly (i feel so) and i do not know what more they will do Venkat Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 11, 1999 Lakshmi Srinivas wrote: > What made some elders of my family sad was however > something else: we stayed back for the sevakalam on an > ordinary day and found that all the gentlemen who did > the Prabandham chanting (save one), did it out of a > handy text. They were not chanting anything rare, it > was just vADinEn vADi varuntinEn (Periya Tirumoli > 1.1), ArAvamudE etc among other things. This indeed is a very disturbing trend. I would say that we only have a handful of places left where the sevA-kAlam is done without the aid of a textbook. Srirangam, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallikkeni, Tirupati, Melkote, perhaps a few others such as Alvar Tirunagari, Srivilliputtur, and Tiruvali Tirunagari. And only in Srirangam, Kanchipuram, and Tiruvallikkeni can we find a daily goshti made up of more than a handful of people. I suspect most of the problem is that parents do not have their children learn Prabandham or Vedas any more. It is a great joy to see boys as young as five participating in the utsavams in Tiruvallikkeni, chanting Prabandham as if they were seasoned professionals. Since few people value such learning these days, it is no wonder that as great a divya desam as Amudhan Kovil has few people who know even the nityAnusandhAnam by heart. Like it or not, it is hard for retired people to learn things with the same speed and accuracy as a young child. rAmAnuja dAsan Mani Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 11, 1999 As a quick followup, I should add that we should be extremely grateful that Sri Sarnga Pani Kovil at least has dedicated bhAgavatas who devotedly come everyday to the sevA-kAlam. Most divya desams barely have an arcakar these days, and sevArthis and adhyApakas can hardly be seen for miles around. Mani Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 11, 1999 I did not know this was a recent trend, but I have from the days I can recall always seen most of our Divya Desams' gopurams painted in multicolors including Shri UppiliAppan Kovil, etc. Can someone clarify this issue. In fact some of our other temples that might require renovation still show residues of such painting. Could some the more learned folks in this group ellaborate on this issue Unless there is a significance to this issue, I really would say "what is in an appearance ?". Isn't what is inside the temple that matters and the spirit of the philosophy of the religion. Regards, Raja Krishnasamy Mani Varadarajan wrote: > Dear Friends, > > Many of our divya desams' ancient, beautifully sculpted gopurams > are now being painted, presumably with the idea of making them > more lifelike and attractive. In my opinion, this is a bad > trend, as the colors tend to make the sculptures gaudy and > cartoonish, with garish greens and reds, without any subtlety > whatsoever. I would much prefer they be left as is, so we can > enjoy the ancient shilpis' artistry by itself. > > One good example is the Tiruvallikkeni gopuram. What in ancient > days was a beautiful white/gray gopuram is now blue, green, and > red, looking more like a gopuram of a small Amman or Murugan > kOvil than our traditional Vaishnava ones. I understand that > after the recent samprokshaNam Sri Sarnga Pani Swami's gopurams > have also been painted in this fashion. > > What do others think of these colors? Does anyone really like > them? > > Mani -- Regards, Raja Krishnasamy Senior Solutions Specialist New England Solutionsupport Center 781 895 5168 - Office 781 646 6731 - Home Office 888 319 1851 - Beeper ---------- Ask not what your customer did for you, Ask what you did for your customer ! - JFK would have said it if he was in Customer Support ! ---------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 12, 1999 Dear Bhagavatas Sri Mani has raised an important issue regarding painting of temple gopurams. I entirely agree with his views. The people who decide on the paintings do not seem to consult specialists but go on with whatever color schemes they think would be right. I know of one specialist, Sri G. Ramachandran, Senior, Archeological Chemist, who recently retired from the Archeological Survey of India. He was telling that the ASI had developed a chemical treatment which restores the pristine glory of the original Colors and protects the same from the vandalism of painting with garish colors indulged in by votaries of 'modern art' . I understand that several other countries all over the world are interested in this new technique and approach him, while our local bosses in charge of temple renovations do not even seem to know of this. This specialist was in charge of Puri Jagannath Temple and other religious monuments besides Ellora etc. because of his expertise in preservation techniques. His address is: 7 / 11 Kalakshetra Road, Thieuvanmiyur, Chennai 600 041. His Phone # is 491 5902. Anyone interested may contact him and get his advice. He will be freely available to help at anytime. You may mention my name, if you like. Dasoham Anbil Ramaswamy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted August 16, 1999 Mani, Thank you for raising this topic. Ive always complained about it and have felt very bad about the new fashion that has caught up with all the temples in Tamil Nadu. But even when the Raja Gopuram was re-constructed (or expanded), it had this new coloring. What is very obsene about his is the use of OIL PAINTS....and it wouldnt have looked that bad if it was atleast the Chunam. Is there a way to stop this...nothing to beat the old traditional architecture and their original forms. Why dont people just stick to renovating it by cleaning it and removing the extra layer of dirt... Please someone help..!! _______ Get your free @ address at Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
