Well at last I started writing my
second blog !
Stone Age – what comes to your mind?
Primitive, early stages of human development? Well, this blog is not
about stone age. It dates back to couple of millions of years I want
to go back say...... 1000 years. So let me call it Rock Age (rocking age rather!!!)
What possible modern things can be
achieved with stone? Have a look at below pictures. All these structures have been
built at least 1000 years back. Yes I mean it. I can not give
credible accurate date for all of them, so will stick to approximate
number.
Shilpa Kala - carvings on stone had
been the theme of ancient India. It has been an oldest art. I'm
told Mahbalipuram in Tamilnadu used to be a university for Shilpa
Kala.
Here is a shilpam (model carved generally on stone) of Ratha - one of the pancha Ratha at Mahabalipuram.
The term Ratha has quite a significance in Sanskrit and English. English ??? does juggernaut ring a bell? Origin of the term is from Jagannatha Rath Yatra (Puri, Orissa, India). More on it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggernaut
Wanna read more about Ratha, chariot - Wikipedia is better place than my blog :(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratha
Pancha Ratha are the monolithic structures carved at Mahabalipuarm. By-the-way is the phrase Pancha Ratha plural? I'm no expert in Sanskrit, but here is an interesting fact. We know singular and plural in most of the languages - Sanskrit has three - singular, << represent two people, two items etc>>, and << three or more>>. For people who read Sanskrit in 12th Ramah, ramow, ramaa should refresh it. I'm happy to know more if anyone cares to add more...
Here goes a monolithic structure of elephant carved at Mahabalipuram. It's quite beatiful, I'm not sure if the picture does justice to the beauty of the shilpam (or my dad in-front of it :D).
Wherever you are from as a kid might have developed love for elephants. I certainly did. Normally small is cute - elephant is an exception. It's huge, it's beautiful, it's vegetarian. I love all aspects about it.
If you travel to Tamilnadu, India, live elephants are seen quite often - no not in jungle, among people, walking next to you, on the small lanes, in front temples more often than not. Imagine a car honking and elephant honking back :-D They never respond back unless you mess enough with it. After that you may not exist to mess with it again :D
Talking about monolithic structures - Eka shila Shilpalu (ఏక
శిలా శిల్పము) - carving on a single rock
– believe it or not below is one such ఏక
శిలా శిల్పము.
Coming back, many places in Tamilnadu - Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Shilpa Kala is still alive in India. One would see lot of new
statues, decorative items, Hindu Gods carved on stone. Their methods
might have changed, but the art is still alive. One would see a good
mixture of old and new society at the same time.
Here is an evening infront of Vishnu temple in Kanchipuram- ancient arch with streetlights lighting up slowly for the evening.
Hindu temples in this region depict magnificence of
ancient Indian architecture. Some of these temples are dated 7th century. They are quite beautiful till date with minimal maintenance. Obviously you don't expect current Indian Govts to involve in lot of maintenance, do you?
Whatever is your opinion on using rock
for construction – these structures lasted for centuries. My father
keeps joking – these structures built by Indians lasted thousands
of years, compare them to what's built for Common Wealth Games in
Delhi. (if you hadn't followed the story on CWG – controversy is,
problems appeared in less than a month). Well India has moved a long
way – don't really ask which direction. That's a whole new topic
for discussion or may be blog !
One blog never does justice to
greatness of these structures, pictures might provide more
information and hope really are worth thousand words each...Sayonora...
