Chennai :
In October 1677, Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji paid a visit incognito to the Kalikambal temple in George Town, supposedly while contemplating an attack on the British forces. He came, he saw, he prayed, though he never did conquer.
“He finally decided against fighting,” said historian and archaeologist Dr S Suresh, Tamil Nadu State convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), who will give a talk on the Art and Architecture of the Tanjore Marathas for the Chennai chapter of the organisation on Wednesday, at Amethyst, a cafe and shop in Royapettah.
A few years before Shivaji’s visit, his half-brother Venkaji had made travelled to Tanjore to sort out a succession issue among the Nayak rulers. “Venkaji pitted one against the other and took charge of the kingdom, establishing the Tanjore Maratha dynasty in the south in 1676,” said Suresh, who completed his second PhD on the Marathas.
Several Maratha families also came to the south and settled in Tanjore, Vellore and Chennai. “Over the years, they developed their own culture and language, which is very different from the Mumbai Marathis,” he said. “Today’s Tanjore Marathis speak a dialect, which is completely different from Marathi.”
Suresh will also be releasing a book on the history of the Tanjore Marathas, a clan that had been ignored in most Indian history books. “They contributed to the art, architecture and culture of south India in a number of ways, but most of that is forgotten,” he said.
“They never destroyed an enemy’s building, but preserved and expanded them, always using the same material used in the existing structure,” said Suresh, citing the example of the Tanjore Big Temple in which the Marathas added a sub-shrine dedicated to Lord Nataraja.
“The Marathas ordinarily used brick to build their temples. But here they used stone for the sub-shrine because that was what was used in the rest of the temple. No one can tell the sub-shrine was added later.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Kamini Mathai , TNN / September 24th, 2014