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Epic immortalised by artisans
Bronze divinely transformed... Vaduvur deity.
THE RAMAYANA has been a perennial source of inspiration for our poets, sculptors and artists all over India. The various important and memorable episodes of the epic have formed the subject matter of exquisite sculptures in many of temples like the Kailasa temple, Ellora and the Hazara-Ramaswami temple at Hampi, Vijayanagara capital in Karnataka. We find some delicate sculptural panels of the Pallava period in the Vaikunta Perumal temple at Kanchipuram.
The Ramayana had cast its magical spell on the poets and the artistes of the Chola period. The great Tamil poet Kamban immortalised the epic in his transcreated version during the Chola period.The Tamil artistes also produced some of their masterpieces in the form of sculptural panels and metal icons. Many leading Chola temples at Kumbakonam (Nagesvaraswami temple), Darasuram, Tribhuvanam and Punjai have remarkable sculptures representing scenes like Dasaratha distributing the divine pudding (payasam) to his queens after performing the Putra-kameshti yaga; the birth of Rama; Jatayu's encounter with Ravana to save Sita; Hanuman challenging Ravana in his court; Vali-Sugriva fight (Punjai and Darasuram); Hanuman meeting Sita in Ashokavana, etc.
The depiction of the Ramayana scenes in the leading Siva temples not only in the urban centres like Kumbakonam, Darasuram and Tribhuvanam, but also from a remote village like Punjai near Akkur in Thanjavur district show that the epic transcended sectarian barriers.
Rama flanked by Hanuman and Sugriva — sculpture at the Vaikuntanatha temple.
In the temples of the Vijayanagara and Nayak periods (c.14th to 17th centuries), we see a wide range of the epic's episodes depicted profusely in the ornamental columns of their hundred-pillared kalyana-mandapas. Good examples of this type can be seen at the Sri Varadarajaswami temple, Kanchipuram, Jalakanteswara temple, Vellore and Ranganatha temple at Srirangam. At Srirangam we have some beautiful paintings of the Ramayana scenes besides a shrine for Vibhishana who is revered as Vibhishana Azhwar.
Down South in Pandya Nadu, we have some excellent samples of the Ramayana paintings inside the Azhagar temple at Azhagarkoil near Madurai and in sculptural works as at the Vaikuntanatha temple at Srivaikuntam near Tirunelveli. One of the life-size sculptures here represents Kodanda Rama standing majestically flanked by Hanuman and Sugriva and surrounded by a horde of monkeys which helped him to cross the ocean.
But Tamil Nadu surpasses all other regions in the creation of bronze icons of superb beauty. The artisans of the State have produced in bronze some of the best-known masterpieces of Rama and the other characters — like those from Vadakkupanaiyur, 10th century (now kept in the Bronze Gallery of the Madras Museum) and Paruttiyur. In the magic hands of the Chola sthapatis (master craftsmen) the metal gets transformed into lively and vibrant archa-murthis radiating spiritual bliss to the devotees. Several such inspiring metal icons (utsava-vigraharas) of the Rama group have become popular centres of colourful ten-day festivals during Sri Rama Navami. Remote village like Vaduvur and Thillaivilagam are justly famous for their enchanting icons of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman particularly in the Pattabhisheka-Tirukkolam (coronation ceremony). These processional deities reached out even to the remote corner of the town drawing the venerable attention of a larger public.
K. V. RAMAN
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