Category Archives: Historical Links, Pre-Independence

The Indian who docked at Osaka

The Daibutsu in Tōdai-ji , the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/ iStock
The Daibutsu in Tōdai-ji , the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/ iStock

The oldest recorded Indian in Japan impacts the country’s culture even today

The Indian diaspora in Japan has historically been small, but has encompassed a colourful cast, from revolutionaries to textile traders. The oldest documented Indian resident in Japan, and arguably the most influential, was Bodhisena, a monk from Madurai whose outsized impact on Japanese culture persists even some 1,300 years after he docked on the archipelago’s shores.

Bodhisena, or Bodaisenna as his name is pronounced in Japanese, was born around 704 AD. His life and journeys exemplify the multi-directional flows of Buddhist influence and the complex ways in which these tied swathes of Asia into a civilisational embrace. Like many South Asian Buddhist monks, Bodhisena came to believe that Manjushri (the bodhisattva of wisdom) lived on the Chinese mountain of Wutai, and therefore travelled there to pay obeisance. While in China, he met the Japanese ambassador to the Tang court, who persuaded him to carry on to Japan on the invitation of the then Emperor, Shomu (701-756 AD), a devout Buddhist.

Influence of Sanskrit

Bodhisena voyaged to Japan via Cambodia and Champa (central and southern Vietnam) with a gaggle of theological glitterati that collectively shaped much of the contours of Japanese Buddhism and courtly culture.

On board was Genbo, a bureaucrat of Emperor Shomu’s court at Nara, who had spent 17 years in China collecting over 5,000 Buddhist texts. Another shipmate, Kibi no Makibi, is linked to the development of the Japanese syllabary and script of katakana, still in use today. The influence of Sanskrit on katakana is sometimes attributed to the time Makibi spent travelling with, and learning from, Bodhisena. Makibi also introduced to Japan the art of Chinese embroidery, as well as the lyre, which as the koto, became a standard feature of Japanese court music.

The Indian themes

A disciple of Bodhisena from Champa, Buttetsu, rounded off the band of monastic travellers. Buttetsu went on to teach a style of dance that featured themes taken from Indian mythology, set to a musical rhythm, common in South Asia, but unknown at the time in Japan. These dances became known as rinyugaku and were absorbed into the local artistic oeuvre.

Bodhisena’s ship docked at Osaka in 736 AD and the group made their way to the capital: Nara. It was during the Nara era (710-784 AD) that Buddhism, buttressed by learnings from Tang dynasty China, became firmly established in Japan, overcoming initial resistance from the Shinto-devoted elite. Under Emperor Shomu Buddhism was granted official recognition as a religion that was a “protector of the state.” Temples in Nara began to accumulate vast landholdings and wielded huge political influence.

The Kegon school

Bodhisena’s arrival in the capital took place within this context. Until then, Japan’s knowledge of Buddhism had been entirely mediated through either Korea or Japan. As an Indian, Bodhisena was immediately held in reverence and housed at Daian-ji temple, the preeminent education and research institute for Buddhism at the time. The Indian monk taught Sanskrit and helped establish the Kegon school of Buddhism, a variant of the Chinese Huayan school. He died in 760 AD and is buried in Ryusenji-temple on the slopes of Mt. Omine.

The Tōdai-ji temple | Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
The Tōdai-ji temple | Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Unlike some historical Buddhist sects, the Kegon continues to flourish today, with its headquarters at Nara’s Tōdai-ji temple, a Unesco World Heritage site. Founded in 738 AD and officially opened in 752 AD, Tōdai-ji is best known for its 500-tonne, 15-metre-high Buddha — the largest bronze statue in the world.

The gargantuan sculpture, known as the Daibutsu, was commissioned by the Emperor in hope of gaining divine favour and thereby reversing the effects of a devastating drought, compounded by an outbreak of smallpox that had ravaged the area in 737AD.

The hall that houses the Daibutsu is one of the world’s largest wooden structures. It is Nara’s most popular tourist draw and is thronged with visitors from around the world. After gawping at the Daibutsu, they usually head to a hole in one of the pillars that holds up the edifice. According to legend, the hole is the exact size of one of the Buddha statue’s nostrils and anyone who crawls through it will gain enlightenment, albeit in their next life. No one seems to know the exact dimensions of the hole/ nostril, but it is large enough for a child to tunnel through with relative ease. A number of adult Chinese tourists attempt to pass, but all get stuck at the hip.

To one side of the main temple are the living quarters of the Morimoto family, the head priests of Tōdai-ji. The lodgings comprise a series of low-roofed rooms, interconnected by covered walkways, overlooking classical Japanese gardens, dotted with pine trees and rockeries. Seated in a reception area facing a late-blooming, weeping cherry tree, Kosei Moritomo sips from a cup of green tea. The Elder Moritomo (as he is respectfully known) has retired as the 218th head of Tōdai-ji and leader of the Kegon school of Buddhism. But he remains sprightly, his eyes lively and darting when he talks of Bodhisena, as though an old friend.

He dwells on the role of the Indian monk in the consecration ceremony of the Daibutsu. For it was Bodhisena, of all the eminent Buddhist scholars in Nara at the time, who was chosen to perform the statue’s “eye opening” ceremony. In front of a huge, cosmopolitan gathering that included ambassadors from Persia, Korea, Vietnam, China and Central Asia, Bodhisena painted the pupils on the eyes of the Buddha statue, inviting the spirit in to animate the sculpture.

“I think in India you understand about the spirit coming into the statue?” the Elder Moritomo asks. “It is a very difficult concept to explain to Westerners.” The former head priest turns reflective. He says that Japan has tried to dominate the world first by military means and then with its electronic industry. Both failed. “I believe it is in Buddhism that it can most exert an global influence,” he concludes.

Then he smiles and offers this writer another cup of tea.

The writer is a globetrotter who is currently parked in Japan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Pallavi Aiyar / June 09th, 2018

Award for Collector, SP

Cleaning of Kasturiba Colony at Kandal in Udhagamandalam began on Tuesday.
Cleaning of Kasturiba Colony at Kandal in Udhagamandalam began on Tuesday.

The director of the Nilgiri Documentation Center presented the Nilgiri Conservation Award to the District Collector, Innocent Divya and to the former superintendent of police, Murali Rambha, on the occasion of World Environment Day here on Tuesday.

They were selected for the award for their teamwork to successfully organise the Summer Festival 2018, coinciding with the bicentenary of modern Nilgiris, in an innovative , participative and orderly manner, said Mr. Venugopal Dharmalingam, the director of the NDC.

As Mr. Rambha was unable to be present for the function, Ms. Divya accepted the award from Mr. Venugopal.

The award was instituted to recognise individuals and institutions who significantly contributed to the protection and preservation of the Nilgiris.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Udhagamandalam – June 05th, 2018

At 90, Lifco keeps the press busy

A welcome address being read out in Sanskrit when Kanchi Acharya visited Lifco on March 30, 1958.
A welcome address being read out in Sanskrit when Kanchi Acharya visited Lifco on March 30, 1958.

Pre-Independent publishing firm continues to roll off useful, affordable books

In the 1920s when literacy levels were not high, a man hailing from a conservative family in Cuddalore with encouragement from his school principal printed books and supplied them widely. Thus was born The Little Flower Company or Lifco, which is 90 now and still publishing books that delight readers.

“My grandfather V. Krishnaswamy Sarma would print books in presses that were under British control at night and take out slim volumes on learning English on his bicycle. The books were priced very low and if people could not afford them, he would give them for free. His lone aim was to educate people and not make money out of it. When he was in Secunderabad in government service and fell ill, he and my grandmother decided they have to do something for the public,” explained T.N.C.Vijayasarathy, Chairman of Lifco.

“After Independence, he started his own printing press and in 1950 he decided to bring out the English-English-Tamil and released it. It was just ₹2 then. Subsequently, he brought out dictionaries in other regional languages. We keep the price of publications as low as possible. The basic dictionary today is just ₹60,” he added. After the dictionary, there was a spate of books, including their still popular Great Little Books (pocket-sized publications on grammar, speaking and communication) that used to cost 1 anna each and are now priced only ₹10 each. There were books on how to repair and maintenance your bicycle, your homes, the typewriter and even one on how to bring up a child! He brought out easy reference guides for school and college students.

After publishing 728 titles, including 10 varieties of dictionaries, and despite increasing paper cost, Lifco wants to continue serving readers.

“We are heading towards digitisation. We plan to open stores where people can walk in, read a book and if they want buy one. My grandfather always wanted his customers to read books. We are working on a grand dictionary, two volumes of it,” Mr. Vijayasarathy said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa H. Ramakrishnan / Chennai – June 02nd, 2018

Historians elated over return of icons

The idol of Raja Raja Chola-I
The idol of Raja Raja Chola-I

The homecoming of the ancient bronze icons of royal couple Raja Raja Chola I and his regal consort Lokamadevi is an incredible development and marks a watershed development in the sustained efforts to retrieve the priceless stolen treasure, according to art enthusiasts of Thanjavur. They say it is important to sustain the momentum and bring back as many stolen artefacts and idols and as early as possible.

“The return of the priceless icons of Raja Raja Chola I and Lokamadevi to Tamil Nadu is akin to consecrating the Sri Brihadeswarar temple afresh. I feel as if the emperor himself is returning home,” an elated Kudavayil Balasubramanian, Chola historian and epigraphist, told The Hindu on Wednesday.

The two bronze artefacts assume enormous socio-cultural and historical significance, as they are the only icons of the royal couple cast and stamped with the regal authority during the emperor’s own lifetime, said Dr. Balasubramanian, whose magnum opus Rajarajecharam is rich in scholarly research inputs.

Art enthusiasts and Chola historians are happy with the development and hope that the momentum that has gathered steam now would be sustained to retrieve more Thanjavur treasures that were lost. Dr. Balasubramanian’s role in identifying, recording and bringing back the two icons, spread over almost two decades, is acknowledged as ‘enormous.’

Ex-Minister’s petition

Tracing the background, sources at the Idol Wing said a petition by former Minister V.V. Swaminathan prompted the Madras High Court to direct the Idol Wing to look into the case of missing ancient bronze idols, especially that of Raja Raja Chola I and Lokamadevi, from the icon safe at the Thanjavur Big Temple.

After a through field study aided by inputs from experts in Chola history and iconography, it was found that the ancient bronze icons, donated to the Big Temple during the 29th regnal year of Emperor Raja Raja I, had “somehow been stolen” and finally found their way to the Calico Museum of Textiles and the Sarabhai Foundation Galleries, Ahmedabad.

The two were part of the 13 bronze statues donated then and there is no word yet on the status of the other 11 idols. However, a complaint filed with the police on March 2 here also states that several other ancient valuable icons dating to the period of Raja Raja Chola I have been stolen from the Big Temple vault.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by L Renganathan / Thanjavur – May 31st, 2018

Lawrence School celebrates 160th founder’s day

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba reviewing the parade at Lawrence School, Lovedale, on Saturday.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba reviewing the parade at Lawrence School, Lovedale, on Saturday.

The Lawrence School in Lovedale, under the aegis of the HRD Ministry, celebrated its 160th Founder’s Day on Saturday.

Following exhibitions in Science, Math, Art and Humanities, an Equestrian Display by the School’s Riding Club and an English play, “Peter Pan” was staged on Friday.

The second day of the celebrations commenced with the parade, keeping in line with the military antiquity and tradition of The Lawrence School, Lovedale.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba inspected the parade along with Headmaster Rajan Narayanan.

The Beating Retreat marked the end of the 2nd day celebration.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Udhagamandalam – May 27th, 2018

Mutharaiyar birth anniversary peaceful

Trichy :

The 1343 birth anniversary of the Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar went off peacefully with the local leaders cutting across party lines and garlanding the statue in the city on Wednesday.

The celebrations commenced with two state ministers Vellamandi M Natarajan and S Valarmathi and several other leaders from the AIADMK as well as the Mutharaiyar community associations garlanding the statue on Wednesday morning.

Since the district administration organised the celebration, district collector K Rajamani, AIADMK MPs P Kumar, T Rathinavel, and MLAs participated in the celebrations and garlanded the statue of the king.

AMMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran’s visit with his supporters created some ruckus at the venue as his men entered into arguments with the police. The arguments erupted after the police refused to allow his van to be parked near the police outpost. His supporters left after raising slogans against the police. Dhinakaran also garlanded the statue and left after addressing the press.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Trichy News / TNN / May 24th, 2018

Documenting underrated treasures of Madurai

n illustration of Vilakkuthoon and rock art at Kidaripatti | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
n illustration of Vilakkuthoon and rock art at Kidaripatti | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A self-help booklet brought out by INTACH Madurai helps to travel back 2,500 years in time.

As a local or a traveller, when you are ‘selfie-bored’ in a city like Madura,  give yourself a couple of hours and a drive of 40-odd kms to understand the brilliance of the city through the ages. There are several gorgeous areas steeped in history but people either don’t know or care or are confused with the timeline and hence unable to appreciate.

Led by INTACH member P Rajesh Kanna, who conceived the idea for the small-sized 48 page guide book, P Pavalamani who wrote the bilingual script in Tamil and English and artist P Gunasekaran who did the illustration, the team undertook several trips, discussed and debated for a year and finally connected the dots to make travel, history, learning and tourism attractive and appealing.

The pamphlet titled “Back 2500 years in a few hours – Madurai through the ages” traces half-a-dozen best lesser known places of importance in the city. “One cannot simply live in or visit the city and not see these hidden spots of history that dominated particular eras,” says Rajesh, who also took lot of guidance from well known art-historian Prof.R.Venkatraman, who passed away in March this year. “This book is also a tribute to him,” he adds.

By starting from Vilakkuthoon and finishing at Kidaripatti with a small detour to Varrichiyur, the pamphlet helps to understand the city’s splendid past. If you follow the route map given with some basic details, brief descriptions, interesting facts, anecdotes and illustrations you step back from 20th century to the 16th, 8th and 1st century to 2nd BC. One of the best things about this travel is that it guides you to the most important monument of that period and helps to redefine the travel experience with a brush of history.

Madurai boasts of countless monuments, says Kanna, but we chose six heritage sites that combine the literary, cultural and spiritual evolution of the ancient city. The start point is Vilakkuthoon. The 150 years old structure is today lost in the buzz of heavy traffic, shops, hawkers and shoppers. But the INTACH booklet reminds you of the days when the imposing lamp post was erected in 1840 by the then Collector Blackburn who is remembered for his foresight in expanding the city and taking it to the next level of modernisation. Today the imposing monument stands at the cacophonous junction of East and South Masi streets where vehicles move bumber-to-bumper and it becomes impossible to walk in the area during festival seasons. Most times people walk or drive past the Vilakkuthoon now and even ignore many spots around and beyond. Instead they could pause.

The next rewind spot is the Vandiyoor Mariamman Theppakulam. It is four km eastward from Vilakkuthoon but two centuries back in time. Dug in 1646 and measuring 305 metres in length and 290 metres in width, the tank over 16 acres is the biggest in South India where the famous float festival is held on the full moon day of the Tamil month Thai. The booklet refers to interesting stories about the birth of the tank to entice travellers to visit the place. It also suggests what other things they can see or do at the destination.

Further eastwards from Teppakulam, the journey takes you to Varichiyoor where two rock cut cave temples – Udhayagiri and Asthagiri — were excavated in the 8th century . In between the two is a huge natural cave belonging to 3rd century BC. From this scenic and natural ambience where, it is believed the Pandya king viewed the sunset daily, the traveller is beckoned to move up north on the Trichy highway and leap back into the 1st century at Yanamalai. It is so called given its resemblance to the shape of a sitting elephant and also finds mention as a sacred site in age old literature of saivite poets and Jain monks. The booklet gives more insight into historical importance of Yanaimalai and its cave temples.

The next suggested halt is at Arittapatti which have Jain caves dating to 2nd Century BC. It is also believed that Pandavas stayed on one side of the Arittapatti hill which also has a beautiful 8th century siva cave temple. The last destination is Kidaripatti on way to Melur and close to Azhagar Malai. Here the eye-shaped natural cave belonging to 9BC are believed to be home to the aborigines of prehistoric time as red ochre rock paintings on the walls suggest. From neo-paleolithic style of 13 thematic rock paintings, a perennial spring and Brahmi inscriptions on stone beds to ponder at, you are almost in a time capsule.

“Our aim was to salvage the many authentic parts of the city,” says Kanna, “and we have tried to present an overview of the important structures against the background of history”. “The illustrations added more dimension to the presentation,” he adds.

When you flip through the pages of the booklet, you will see multiple things in it – from an educational journey to what tourism is trending on today – a delicate balance of local pride, iconic drawing power and a new experience of holidaying.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Soma Basu / Madurai – May 24th, 2018

AIR Chennai’s 80-year journey

AIRChennai01May222018

June next year will see All India Radio (AIR) Madras/Chennai celebrate its 80th birthday. The station had evolved from the first broadcasting service in India, V Krishnaswamy Chetty’s Madras Presidency Radio Club established in 1924. It made its first broadcast from Holloway’s Garden in Egmore on July 31. The Club was rescued from financial difficulties in 1927 by the Madras Municipal Corporation which ran it till AIR put down roots in Madras.

AIR itself celebrated the 80th birthday of its naming last year. Lionel Fielden, an Oxonian from the BBC, arrived in India in 1935 to head what had been set up in 1930 as the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS). He thought the name not catchy enough. But to change a Viceroy-approved name was not the done thing. He relates how he got it done:

“I cornered Lord Linlithgow after a Viceregal banquet and said plaintively that I was in great difficulty. … I said I was sure he agreed with me that ISBS was a clumsy title. … But I could not, I said, think of another title; could you help me? … It should be something general. He rose beautifully to the bait. ‘All India?’ I expressed my astonishment … [It was] the very thing. But surely not ‘Broadcasting?’ After some thought he suggested ‘Radio’. Splendid, I said, and what beautiful initials.” (Fielden in The Broadcasting in India, Awasthy G. C., 1965).

AIRChennai02May222018

Much of that may have been related tongue-in-cheek, but he was more serious — and possibly prophetic — when, as Controller of Broadcasting, he wrote an article for The Hindu’s supplement to mark the inauguration of AIR (Madras). In the article on the future of Carnatic music, written as a letter to the Station Director, Madras, in 2,500 AD, he said:

“I fear that in your day (2,500 A.D.) Indian music as we know it will be forgotten. I can only say we are doing our best to save it. The impact of the West in our time is strong enough to make it clear that the younger generation is drifting into an easy acceptance of Western harmonies and moving away from the static and intricate melodies — often too prolonged — of their own tradition. It seems that if Indian music is not to be drowned by the clangours of jazz, the addition of harmony — or at any rate some growth and progress in that direction — is essential. I do not mean by this that there is any failure to recognise the inherent beauty and individualism of Indian Classical music and the inestimable value of its freedom in improvisation. The trouble is that the Sangit Vidwans refuse to accept the necessity for any measure of adaptation and persist in their contention that Indian music has already reached perfection. Acrobatic feats of the larynx, no matter what quality of voice, are accepted as sufficient indications of a perfected art. In these days of mechanical reproduction and rapid communication, the musical language of four continents cannot but exert pressure on the fifth and while Indian classicists still insist on long performances — stretching to even three hours for a single musician — and ignore the necessity of proper voice production, the youth of India is in danger of forgetting its own musical language altogether.”

A sahib from on high speaking down to the natives, or prophetic? I’m no music fan, so I don’t know. Perhaps Sriram V would like to respond.

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The uncivil civil servant

My reference to Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair (Miscellany, April 30) had MN Nair wondering whether I had heard of Sir Sankaran Nair’s distant cousin, SK Chettur, ICS, who on one occasion had been not only uncivil but vindictive. I had indeed heard the story, but it is worth repeating.

In January 1939, when Chettur was a Sub-Collector, he and his wife and a friend went to an event in Palghat being held as part of the Sri Thyagaraja Festival. When an usher noticed Chettur and his friend smoking, he namaskaramed to them and politely requested them to stop smoking as it was not appropriate to do so on what was a semi-religious occasion. The friend put out his cigarette, but Chettur continued smoking. When several in the audience started shouting at him to stop smoking, the Chetturs and their friend walked out. Outside the temporary pandal, Chettur shouted for the usher and asked him to apologise. In his stead, the organisers apologised, but Chettur walked away in a huff followed by his wife and friend.

The next day, January 11, The Hindu reported, “Sensation prevails in Palghat following the demolition of the entertainment pandal put up at the Ram Dhyan Matom in Kalapathy Agraharam on the order of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Palghat (Chettur). The pandal had been put up in connection with the Sri Thyagaraja festival which commenced yesterday.” The report followed the Police informing the organisers that, despite having Municipal permission for it, they had to dismantle it by 4 pm. The organisers rushed to Chettur and apologised all over again. All he would say was that his order stood. And the organisers carried them out in front of a large posse of policemen who were there to keep protesters out.

A few days later, “A memorial on behalf of the citizens of Palghat” was submitted to the Prime Minister (as Chief Ministers were then titled) stating the facts. What Prime Minister Rajagoplachari had to reply is not known, but the next we hear is of a two-column long letter in The Hindu from nine citizens of Palghat reiterating the facts.

Then came the sting in the tail. The Police registered a case against the organisers for “Putting up a pandal in the public street and obstructing traffic.” I am sure the Sub-Divisional Magistrate would have found in favour of the Police.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes, from today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> Madras Miscellany – History & Culture / by S. Muthiah / May 21st, 2018

‘Work to start soon on museum at Keezhadi’

KeezhadiMuseumCF20may2018IRs 1 cr. allotted for the purpose: Minister

Work to establish a museum at Keezhadi, near Madurai, will start soon, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture K. Pandiarajan has said.

Addressing reporters at the Coimbatore airport on Friday, he added the government had allotted ₹1 crore for the purpose. The museum will house the 2,200-odd artefacts that the recent excavations had helped unearth over 109 acres, and more that could be discovered in the next six months. The 2,200-odd artefacts were unearthed over an 18-day period.

The fourth round of excavations were going on, and thus far, 7,700 artefacts had been unearthed, the Minister said and added that of those, a good number was in Mysuru and the rest was with the State government.

The Minister also said that the government would also establish museums to house artefacts in Arachalur, Erode, Korkai and Thoothukudi.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – May 19th, 2018

12,000 artefacts from Azhagankulam to be sent for carbon dating

The State Archaeology Department is in the process of classifying more than 12,000 artefacts found at Azhangakulam in Ramanathapuram district and will send them for carbon dating, an official of the department said.

The department has been undertaking excavations at Azhagankulam and the artefacts found at the site include ivory objects, copper coins, quartz, crystals, iron smelters, furnace, potsherds and terracotta plates, among others.

“These artefacts are now being classified, and will be documented, catalogued, photographed and videographed,” the official said.

“Following this, they will be sent for carbon dating,” the official added.

Last year, the department began its eighth season of excavations.

The Tamil Nadu government had sanctioned ₹55 lakh for the purpose.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by T.K. Rohit / Chennai – May 14th, 2018