History lovers in the city have been learning how to identify and decipher the Tamil-Brahmi and Vattezhuthu scripts in a two-day workshop conducted by the Government Museum.
“We wanted to show history lovers how the Tamil alphabet has evolved from 2,000 years ago to the present day through this workshop,” A. Palanisamy, Curator, Government Museum, told The Hindu . “The number of lay persons who know how to decipher ancient Tamil has been steadily decreasing. Attending such a capsule course will help the public in identifying archaeological artefacts more easily, and help them to alert the authorities to preserve them. We wanted to cater to those people who would find this specialised knowledge useful in the public sphere.”
The linguistic workshop was conducted by V. Narayanamoorthy, an archaeologist based in Palani. Most of the rock inscriptions in the State are related to the lives of the Jain (Samana Munivar) ascetics who used to commonly reside in hill caves, said Mr. Palanisamy. “The rock-beds used by the Jain mendicants to rest usually have inscriptions denoting the name of the donor, the recipient, the sculptor, the name of the settlement and so on, in Brahmi script. The information is short, almost like a listing,” he said. An art exhibition titled ‘Malaigal Uyirgalin Aran’ (Mountains are the Fortresses of Lives) on the importance of preserving natural resources like forests and mountains is also being held simultaneously at the Government Museum. Featuring the works of the Chennai-based artist N. Tamilarasan, who runs the ‘Eera Nilam’ organisation, the show is meant to emphasise the importance of conservation, especially among the younger generation.
“Most of my art is inspired by the natural beauty of my village Mannampadi near Virudhachalam. But over the years, this has been lost due to urbanisation. So I started using art to raise awareness about an eco-friendly life,” said Mr. Tamilarasan.
The artist has been conducting his shows in colleges (one college per district) since 2010. “I decided to hold my show at the Tiruchi museum this year to appeal to the school students as well,” he said. Barring the months of January and February, Mr. Tamilarasan makes a living as a commercial artist during the rest of the year.
Made with pen and ink, acrylic and poster paints, the 50 paintings have many layers of meaning, that become visible with closer viewing.
