Periyar E.V. Ramasamy (1879-1973), that arch iconoclast, famously called for the public destruction of the idols of gods. Ironically, this is the same man who is commemorated across Tamil Nadu with numerous statues. In fact, there are few villages in the Thanjavur region, for instance, that don’t have a Periyar statue.
Periyar was a controversial man of his times. And he remains a controversial figure now. Earlier this year, one of his statues was vandalised near Pudukottai, and this swiftly triggered protests — interestingly, many of the protests were from people who are otherwise believers. Then, some weeks ago, Periyar’s atheistic sayings inscribed on the pedestal of his statues became the focus of a dispute. A petitioner asked for the sayings to be removed. The Madras High Court dismissed the petition.
The first public statue of Periyar was unveiled in Tiruchi on September 17, 1967, shortly after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came to power. It was a high-powered event in which K. Kamaraj, C.N. Annadurai and Kundrakudi Adigal participated. After M. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister in 1969, a slew of Periyar statues was installed across the State. It was in this context that Periyar, fearing his own deification, insisted that this atheistic slogan — ‘There is no god, there is no god at all./ He who created god is a fool./ He who propagates god is a scoundrel./ He who worships god is a savage’ — be engraved on the pedestals.
Madras art movement
In later years, many sculptors such as Mani Nagappa, Jayaram Nagappa and Govindaswamy sculpted Periyar. But undoubtedly, the greatest artistic tribute to Periyar was paid by the renowned sculptor S. Dhanapal (1919-2000). Born in Mylapore, Dhanapal trained at the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, when the institution had its first Indian principal, Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury. Dhanapal began as a painter but soon diversified into ceramics and sculpting. A key figure in the Madras art movement, he strongly backed K.C.S. Paniker in the foundation of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village project. As principal of the government fine arts colleges in Chennai and Kumbakonam, he nurtured many students and was fondly referred to as ‘Dhanapal Master’.
Dhanapal had wide interests. He was involved in theatre, learnt dance, and was interested in bonsai. Unlike most Tamil modern artists of his time, Dhanapal kept in touch with various cultural figures. Mylai Seeni Venkataswamy, the great literary historian, was an early mentor, who directed him to train in the college of fine arts. Bharatidasan, the renowned poet of the Dravidian movement, was a dear friend.
A sketch of Dhanapal by Yusuf Arakkal
Sometime in the mid-1950s, Dhanapal decided to make a sculpture of Periyar. This was at a time when no one else had thought of it. Accompanied by Mylai Seeni Venkataswamy, he met Periyar at his Meeran Sahib Street home, a stone’s throw from the offices of The Hindu newspaper. Periyar was enthusiastic about the idea but wondered how much time he would have to commit to the project. When he was told that he would have to model for a couple of hours every day for some 15 to 20 days, Periyar suggested that Dhanapal come to Tiruchi where he was to shortly organise a month-long training camp for activists.
Sculptor’s delight
Sculpting involved heavy equipment, such as a rolling stand, and lots of clay. But eager not to miss the opportunity, Dhanapal agreed. Trotsky Marudhu, Dhanapal’s student and great admirer, has said that the sculptor S. Kanniappan accompanied Dhanapal to Tiruchi. Periyar was asked to sit on the rolling stand and he was photographed at intervals of 10-degree angles. Dhanapal used these photos to capture his likeness. Marudhu has unearthed some of these rare photographs, which have been published in the Dhanapal centenary issue of the Tamil literary monthly, Kakkai Cirakinile .
Periyar was rather cooperative. As Dhanapal worked furiously, he sat patiently for hours. Periyar’s personality was a sculptor’s delight, thought Dhanapal. His wavy hair and Socratic beard tempted his fingers. His sturdy neck reminded him of a cannon’s barrel.
As Dhanapal made steady progress, tragedy very nearly struck the project. One day, a bunch of Dravidar Kazhagam activists stormed into the room where Dhanapal was working. This was a time when Periyar was leading a campaign to break public idols of Pillaiyar or Ganesha; the activists had come to seek further instructions. A young boy in the crowd, mistaking the statue-in-progress for a Pillaiyar statue, was about to strike it with a club. Dhanapal saved it in the nick of time and safely locked it up in an adjacent room.
The finished bust turned out to be a masterpiece. Periyar was impressed. Bharatidasan couldn’t stop admiring it and composed a poem in praise of Dhanapal. Consciously or unconsciously, Dhanapal had portrayed him in Greek style, in the likeness of Socrates and Aristotle. To even the uninitiated, the sculpted Periyar came across as a thinker — this, at a time, when Periyar was reviled by the intellectual world.
The Periyar bust
In his later career, Dhanapal sculpted many great personalities — Nehru, Thiru. Vi.Ka., Annadurai, Kamaraj, Bharatidasan, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, A. Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar, and the great Tamil poetess Avvaiyar — but Periyar must surely occupy pride of place in this impressive pantheon.
The Periyar bust was an uncommissioned piece; Dhanapal, therefore, could not afford to cast it in bronze. It was also a time when he was transferred to the Kumbakonam Arts College, and he was preoccupied with other matters. The bust seems to have gone out of Dhanapal’s mind. And it vanished.
In his 1993 memoir, Oru Sirpiyin Suyasarithai , serialised in the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan and now published in book form by Kalachuvadu Pathippagam, Dhanapal has said cryptically that he lost track of the bust’s whereabouts.
In a recent conversation, K. Veeramani, president of the Dravidar Kazhagam, recalled that the statue was damaged during Emergency when the party office in Periyar Thidal, Chennai, was raided by the police. That’s all we know.
All that remains now of the great tribute of a master sculptor to an iconic thinker are a few photographs.
The author is a historian and Tamil writer.
