Chennai :

Many have written about Mamallapuram, but no one account is final when it comes to the ancient port town of the Pallavas. Arguments on its architecture, inscriptions and style still rage on. On the famous ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ in Mamallapuram, heritage expert R Gopu mentions Chicago-based art historian Michael D Rabe’s view that the great piece of art also means ‘the descent of the Ganges’. “If you look at it closely you will know there are a number of events based on various themes. That’s why scholars like Rabe say it is both ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ and ‘the descent of the Ganges’,” said Gopu, a software engineer.

From being a remote village with monuments buried under the sand to its revelation as a gallery of Pallava art, launching an era of historical fiction in Tamil and still concealing mysteries, the history of Mamallapuram’s rediscovery is as fascinating as the history of its construction, said Gopu on Saturday. He was speaking on ‘2000 years of Mamallapuram’ as part of Tamil Heritage Trust’s monthly lecture in the city.

The speech was, in fact, a journey in search of the history of the port town before it became kingdom of the Pallavas. “Ancient manuscripts like ‘Periplus’ (a 1st century AD document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks) talk about this port town. Astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (140 AD) also mentioned it in his work. Many ancient records also show it was a flourishing port town. So Mamallapuram was a great town even before the Pallavas,” he said.

Gopu used British surveyor general Colin Mackenzie’s maps and sketches to show how the port town was rediscovered by experts, poets and artists. “The map that Mackenzie prepared can even beat our satellite map today. It’s so clear and made creatively to suit the port town. We can say it was a satellite map during the time when there were no satellites,” he said. Veteran landscape painter Thomas Daniell’s sketches of Mamallapuram, during the time he toured India in 1784, still provide an old world charm of the port town. “The paintings of Daniell show some towers and landscape which are not seen today. It gives a clear idea of the old structures and towers. So it’s through these artists, scholars and poets, we should look at Mamallapuram. If not, the picture of this great historic town will be incomplete,” said Gopu.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN /June 07th, 2015