6 months ago
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On the uncommon occasions I beryllium down to ticker a movie, I invariably take a black-and-white movie of dependable vintage, preferably acceptable successful Madras. That way, I get immoderate gems by mode of buildings and streets of the past. Sadly, the people is often execrable successful prime and adjacent worse, precise seldom was a movie changeable connected location, and truthful the finds are not many. But occasionally, thing antithetic comes up, and that is worthy it.
Last week, I was watching Gemini Ganesan’s 1953-release Avvaiyar. This was not with immoderate thought of uncovering thing of Madras successful it, for it is simply a play film, with what small determination shooting determination being heavy successful immoderate forests. I was watching it chiefly to delight successful K.B. Sundarambal’s singing. But I was to beryllium rewarded, and successful nary tiny measure. Madras did travel up, and astir unexpectedly.
A astonishment find
Towards the end, Avvai, with astir of her action-filled beingness down her, comes to a village. And I sat up. For this was a existent hamlet, with tiled houses and a tiny temple astatine the acold end. I person not been capable to place what that shrine is, but what followed was of interest. Avvai, present singing her famed Athichudi to a radical of young children, passes a processional equine – a magnificent rishabam oregon bull, placed connected a four-wheeled cart. And then, she comes to a beauteous 16-pillared chromatic pavilion, with a temple behind. This was a shrine antithetic to the tiny 1 seen earlier.
That this was a Shiva temple was wide from the bull mount, and this was reinforced by a frieze of Shiva and Parvati connected the pediment of the pavilion. Behind this operation was a gangly rajagopuram. The camera past moved to a country and from determination was revealed what was the outline of a Gajaprshta Vimana – the classical Chola elephant-back canopy implicit the sanctum. I halted the movie astatine this constituent and gazed astatine it for long, arsenic I had the feeling I had seen the aforesaid temple a mates of months ago.
There followed a frenzied hunt successful my photograph postulation (which is not the astir organised), and yet I zeroed successful connected it. It was the Thirumullaivoyal temple. Dedicated to Masilamaniswarar and Kodiyidaiammai, this is simply a Padal Petra Sthalam for it is revered successful the Tevaram, with 10 verses by Sundaramurthy Nayanar whose clip play is the 8th period CE. His verses picture the spot arsenic surrounded by groves of flowering shrubs and trees with bees hovering, and the mighty Pali River moving closeby. In the 15th century, Arunagirinathar, too, came present and dedicated 3 of his Tirupugazh verses to the Murugan sanctum connected the bluish broadside of the shrine. In these too, the greenery of Thirumullaivoyal gets owed mention.
It is absorbing that overmuch of the sylvan surroundings look to person existed adjacent successful the 1950s erstwhile Avvaiyar was filmed here. There is simply a definite pastoral bid successful the shots that makes your bosom ache. What happened to Pali River we don’t know, but it surely does not beryllium now.
K.V. Raman, successful his Early History of the Madras Region writes that the oldest inscriptions from this shrine day to the reign of Parthivendravarman of the 10th period CE. There follows different of Rajendra Chola successful the 11th century, and it was precise apt astatine his orders that the sanctum with its Gajaprshta Vimanawas constructed. We bash cognize for definite that the larger and much magnificent sanctum of akin plan astatine Thiruvottriyur was by him. The rajagopuram that is connected the confederate side, fronted by the 16-pillared pavilion that features successful the film, was endowed by a Muniyappa Mudaliar, sometime successful the 19th century.
Vanishing landscape
I could not assistance reflecting connected however overmuch of a invaluable grounds cinema is erstwhile it comes to capturing practice for posterity. And astatine the aforesaid time, it besides highlights what we person lost. Standing extracurricular the Thirumullaivoyal temple, the contiguous surroundings look wholly unchanged from the 1950s. The temple inactive has vacant onshore each astir and affords a vista for looking astatine it from afar. But conscionable a abbreviated region distant is implicit chaos by mode of streets that person been filled with buildings they were not meant for, postulation astatine its worst, and congestion beyond imagination.
It makes you wonderment astatine wherever municipality readying failed. It is precise good to accidental that the halfway metropolis is beyond repair arsenic it has historically developed successful haphazard fashion. But what excuse bash we person for places similar Thirumullaivoyal that adjacent till the 1970s were untouched? If Sundaramurthy, Arunagiri, S.S. Vasan, and K.B. Sundarambal were to instrumentality today, they volition find it hard to place the colony with what they saw. The temple thankfully remains the same.
(Sriram V. is simply a writer and historian.)
