Category Archives: Records, All

Showcasing history of hydro-electricity projects in India

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Students can visit the museum at Manjoor that has an array of equipment and photographs

The hydro-electric museum which was inaugurated recently at Manjoor, boasting more than 600 pieces of equipment and historical photographs, aims to highlight the history of hydro-electric power, and the Nilgiris’ key role in electrifying Tamil Nadu till the second half of the 20th Century.

The museum, believed to be the only one of its kind in India, has been set up to not only detail the history of the various hydro-electric projects across the State and country, but to also serve as a centre for documentation for students and researchers to delve into, and to learn about the early techniques used for dam construction, operation and maintenance.

S. Ragu, Superintending Engineer, Kundah Hydro-Electric Circle, told The Hindu the museum highlights the roles of the people responsible for introducing hydro-electric power to Tamil Nadu and India, like the first chairman of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, V.P. Appadurai Mudaliar, who travelled to Canada and brought back expertise.

“In fact, the Sri Appadurai Collection in the museum comprises photographs and documentation brought back by the man himself after his trip to Canada,” said Mr. Ragu.

The museum also emphasises the crucial role the power stations played in fuelling the economies of the surrounding districts, including Coimbatore. Mr. Ragu pointed out that the Singara power station helped power the textile mills and other industries in Coimbatore. “We also have pictures and documentation of the now demolished, temporary power station at Glenmorgan, which used to produce around 1 megawatt of electricity for the Nilgiris,” he added.

One of the most striking exhibits at the museum is a series of 52 photographs documenting, step-by-step, the construction of the Emerald Dam. Each row contains images of the left and right banks, as well as the centre of the dam, showcasing in great detail not only the scale of the project, but also the thousands of workers engaged in the construction.

“The Kundah dam was constructed over a three-and-a-half-year period with over 10,000 workers reportedly working each day,” said Mr. Ragu.

V.R. Thimmarayappan, who joined the Kundah hydro-electric circle as Junior Engineer in 1961 shortly after its completion, and who was on a visit to the museum, said that the museum was showcasing instruments and equipment that have been in use since the early 1930s. “As the golden era of dam constructions have come to an end, college students and people interested in learning about the history of the various dams across Tamil Nadu must pay a visit to the museum,” he said.

It has taken officials more than a year to collect the items that are currently on display, including survey equipment, prepaid electricity meters, phone booths and other technical equipment that were installed in the power plants. Most of the items were rescued from scrap heap and restored to their original condition before being put on display. Mr. Ragu said the museum was open to visit by college students or of any educational institution.

“As the interest in the museum will be from a purely technical perspective, we feel that engineering students and students pursuing higher education will stand to gain the most from the visit. They are free to do so after getting permission from us,” said Mr. Ragu.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Rohan Premkumar / Udhagamandalam – June 19th, 2018

Madras, framed

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

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Pavithra Srinivasan showcases the charm of the city’s heritage structures in her miniature sketches

Those set of stairs definitely belong to a palace. Wait a minute…is that at the Madras High Court? The ornate red-pink wall looks strangely familiar; we’ve seen it somewhere…it’s the Government Museum Complex! At Madras Miniatures, an art show by columnist, author, and translator Pavithra Srinivasan, the city’s heritage structures are given a whole new perspective. They are the result of Srinivasan’s travels through the city, specifically North Chennai . “That’s where everything happened,” she says, referring to how the city grew.

The exhibition features 61 of Srinivasan’s miniatures, most of them in black, done with micron pens. The author sketched them to be incorporated in a book on historical fiction for young adults that she’s working on. “I’m planning to bring it out soon,” she says, walking us around Madras Literary Society where the exhibtion is showing.

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Most of the heritage structures that Srinivasan has chosen are part of our everyday lives. The Agurchand Mansion on Anna Salai, Wallajah Mosque in Triplicane, the Central Railway Station, the Moore Market, statues of King George V and Thomas Munro… We drive past them regularly, but they take on a special quality in the framed form. Srinivasan is a lover of the city and it shows. She has also sketched scenes that are intrinsic to the Chennai landscape — a soan papdi seller on the Marina, a lady painting pots on Kodambakkam High Road, an ornate chariot used at weddings parked near Victoria Public Hall, a fisher woman grinning by baskets overflowing with dried fish. A sketch of a sample of zardozi work that Triplicane is famous for, also finds pride of place, along with newer structures such as the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital on Anna Salai, Broken Bridge, the compound wall of Stella Maris College on Cathedral Road which the students have painted in bright colours, and a view of the Chennai Harbour with its cranes and containers. Srinivasan has captioned her sketches with a little bit of information about the place.

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Srinivasan was a resident of Velachery and Valasaravakkam, and now lives a quiet life in a farm in Tiruvannamali. A change, she feels, has made her love for Chennai even stronger. For, we long for what is far away.

Madras Miniatures is on till June 16, 11 am to 4 pm (except Friday) at Madras Literary Society, College Road.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Akila Kannadasan / June 13th, 2018

‘Herbal’ solution for air pollution?

Amazing Feats, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Records, All

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With his parents assisting him, a school student develops a mask with vetiveru

Inquisitiveness is at the root of innovation. Arul Srivastav, a Class VI student of a city school, has illustrated this, through a rare experiment he has conducted with the roots of Chrysopogon Zizanioides, called vetiveru in Tamil.

Two years ago, with the assistance of his parents, Arul Srivastav, now a Class VI student of Vanavani Matriculation Higher Secondary School located on the IIT Campus on Sardar Vallababhai Patel Road, Adyar, designed an anti-pollution mask with vetiveru.

“Vetiveru root is ubiquitous at our home. When boiling water, we add it to the water. I add it to my hair oil. Arul wanted to find out if he could ‘add’ it to a customised anti-pollution mask,” says Arul’s mother, Vijaya.

So, Arul’s parents — M. Vijaya and Abhishek Srivastav — encouraged him to make a mask from vetiveru roots. When Arul reached a stage where he had to make a filter, his parents took him to screen weavers found near Aavin Park at Adyar signal.

Arul and his parents also learnt to how to weave vetiveru roots. Vijaya helped Arul weave the roots into a triangular filter, measuring 10cm x 8cm. This was then wrapped within a soft net. His parents then took him to an automobile pollution testing centre at a petrol bunk in Thiruvanmiyur to check the efficacy of his filter.

“A simple test was carried out at the centre. Vehicular emissions from a car and a bike were first noted. With the vetiveru filter fitted to the exhaust pipes of the vehicles, emissions tests were again conducted. The readings were noted down. And, the report proved the efficacy of the vetiveru filter,” says Vijaya. Arul sent the findings of the project, which Vijaya put together for him, to the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards, instituted by the National Innovation Foundation – India. The Foundation, located at Ahmedabad, is an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology. The aim of the award is develop scientific temper and innovation among children.

Soon, to Arul’s pleasant surprise, Foundation sent a letter, stating that his innovation had secured the “accepted” status, which means the applicant has substantiated his innovation and that the innovation is qualified for documentation.

“Similar tests should be conducted for smoke emanated from industrial chimneys. If hazardous emissions were found to be filtered by using vetiveru filter, then appropriate measures should be taken to contain air pollution,” suggests Arul.

Arul and his parents live at Kandhasamy Nagar in Palavakkam.

For details, call 95434 96569.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by L. Kanthimathi / June 15th, 2018

T.N. on a record-setting spree

Amazing Feats, Records, All, World Opinion
Twenty-seven-year-old M.K. Hema Chandran lifts gym plates weighing 22.5 kg using his nails.
Twenty-seven-year-old M.K. Hema Chandran lifts gym plates weighing 22.5 kg using his nails.

Every fifth record in the India Book of Records is from the State

Twenty-seven-year-old M.K. Hema Chandran, a juggler by profession, is obsessed with setting records. Six months ago, he lifted gym plates weighing 22.5 kg using his nails. “I grew my nails for seven months and then made a hole in them. I then inserted a nylon rope with which I lifted the plates,” he said. He now holds a record for the heaviest weight lifted using a fingernail.

Last year, Lokesh Jey, CEO of The Sight Media, put out a Facebook post saying that he was recuriting meme engineers. In a week’s time, his inbox was flooded with over 400 resumes. “I received so many meme samples from arcoss India. That’s when I decided to bring all the meme creators together and attempt a record,” he said. The online meme marathon saw over 21,619 memes created in three hours — a record.

Far from being stray instances, Hema Chandran and Jey are part of a growing band of record-setters. In fact, Tamil Nadu is a leader when it comes to records. “It is the leading state in terms of record holders. We receive the most number of applications from there and they make it to the record book too,” said Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, chief editor of the India Book of Records.

He explained by stating that every fifth record is from Tamil Nadu. At an all-India level, every year close to 10,000 record attempts are made and approximately 1,000 make it to the record book.

Vivek Raja, adjudicator and state head (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), India Book of Records, said that in the last two years a lot of youngsters were aggressively attempting to set records in various fields.

For instance, the Centre for Innovation at IIT-Madras organised an event wherein a team of students fabricated 45 manually controlled floor cleaning robots. In March 2017, the Bannari Amman Institute of Technology organised one where 1,023 Android apps were developed in 12 hours. Both were recorded in the book. Several records have been set across Tamil Nadu in Bharatanatyam. Dancers set records for things like the most mudras performed by an individual in the least time.

According to the India Book of Records, the average age of the record holders is between 25 and 30 years. “Nowadays more women are creating records and smashing earlier ones. They comprise 33-37% of all record holders,” said Mr. Raja.

He added that even government organisations were getting creative and attempting to set records. In December 2017, the Handicrafts Marketing and Service Extension Centre, Salem, which falls under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, crafted a 107x45x2 cm replica of a ₹1,000 note.

Fake records

Both Mr. Raja and Mr. Chowdhury cautioned people attempting to set records to go through the right channel, and stay away from fake organisations. “On average we receive 10 to 12 complaints every month. It seems there is a dire need of a regulatory body in India to regularize the norms and prevent fake record books,” Mr. Chowdhury said.

Madras Inherited to unravel city’s architectural treasures

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
One of the projects taken up by the Triple O Studio
One of the projects taken up by the Triple O Studio

Any mention of Chennai’s architectural marvels instantly brings to mind large, red public structures built in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style. But, there is more to the city’s architectural history in its residential areas.

Madras Inherited, an initiative of a group of architects and volunteers, aims to unravel these hidden architectural gems through heritage walks and document the fast disappearing residential structures in the city.

Spearheaded by Triple O Studio, an architectural firm, Madras Inherited will focus on small residential buildings across the city that have gone unnoticed unlike public heritage structures. While Chennai has some of the finest Indo-Saracenic structures, it is also a confluence of many intriguing architectural styles that the group will research and map through a series of walks.

Tahaer Zoyab, architect and co-founder of Madras Inherited, said a project to document the old houses of Mylapore came as an eye-opener to the vanishing heritage in the city. “The character of the interior lanes is fast changing and we wanted to share the stories with people before residential buildings disappear and also document the rich legacy,” he said.

The team has so far documented architectural designs of about 50 houses in Mylapore. “We have traces of Neoclassical, Gothic and Art Deco styles in structures across the city. We can still find traditional vernacular architecture in some of the Agraharam houses of Mylapore, Tiruvanmiyur and Triplicane,” he said.

Classic example

George Town, one of the older settlements in the city, presents a classic example of a confluence of different styles. Dare House in Parrys Corner, for instance, is designed in the Art Deco style in which there is an emphasis on vertical lines and the distinct design of a ‘sunburst jaali’ for ventilation, Mr. Zoyab pointed out.

Such intricate details imbibed in residential and private building architecture will be documented and shared with heritage enthusiasts in the city. Madras Inherited will focus on cultural tourism and heritage education and management through a series of interactive events like photo walks in historical areas. The initiative will be launched on June 16 with a walk through the lanes of Royapettah, where participants will get to decode the architectural history of the area. The walk that starts at 6.30 a.m. will cost adults Rs. 700 and students Rs. 450. Participants get to take home a bag of custom-made souvenirs, ranging from coasters to bookmarks.

The locality has a range of styles from Agraharam houses, traces of Gothic design and Islamic-style houses. The proceeds from these walks will be used to fund the mapping and documentation of city’s heritage structures. There are plans to expand to areas like Periamet, Vepery and George Town after September. For details on the walk, send an e-mail to mail@madrasinherited.in or contact +91-8939135048.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai – June 15th, 2018

Here is the world’s highest pop-up restaurant!

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

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Two chefs set up the highest altitude pop-up restaurant in the world

Chennai-based Soundararajan P, Corporate Executive Chef at Mahindra Resorts and Holidays, India, and Sanjay Thakur, Chef at Etihad Airways, called their mission Project Triyagyoni (which translates to organic Nature in Sanskrit) and it was was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s highest pop-up restaurant at 5,585 metres, the first record of its kind. Set up on May 30, the pop-up was certified by the Guinness authorities on June 2. An aerial survey was done by the representatives of the Guinness World Records to assess the pop-up and its height.

“Sanjay Thakur, had already done an 80-kilometre trek up the Himalayas, and when we met at one of the Club Mahindra Resorts at Naldehra in Shimla, we took Thakur’s idea of cooking on the highest altitude on earth a step further, and Project Triyagyoni came into being,” says Soundararajan.

The pop-up was set up at Imja Tse (popularly known as Island Peak), tucked away up the Chukkung valley, flanked by the stupendous Lhotse/Nuptse South Wall to the north and Baruntse to the south, making it seem like an actual island amid the gigantic mountains. At a temperature between three and five degrees centigrade, it took the team all of eight hours to set up, and three hours to cook. The meal was served to trekkers who were scaling the Himalayas to get to Imja Tse and the higher peaks.

They reached there after a choppy and nerve-racking helicopter flight from Lukla to Kathmandu, before proceeding to climb. The chefs and their team of seven foraged the scattered Himalayan flora and fauna on their way to their destination to supplement what they had bought at Namche Bazaar, a small town in Solukhumbu district. They collected mint, oregano, small green chillies, green onions, yak cheese and Rhododendron flowers amongst other things. The fresh unadulterated ingredients heightened their experience of cooking in the Himalayas. The team ensured that it was a zero-trash project, and kept the meal, the cooking, the dining area and even the furniture eco-friendly and left nothing behind on the mountains.

Their menu included traditional Indian recipes as well as dishes borrowed from Nepalese cuisine. “We cooked a total of seven dishes, including shisno mousse with mushrooms that we had foraged locally, and basa fish with wild spinach,” says Soundararajan. They also made daal bhat arancini stuffed with nak cheese, which is made from yak’s milk. The cheese is pressed to get rid of the water and then dried over a wood fire which gives it its smoky taste. The dish is served with herbal lemon tea. And on the menu for dessert was yak milk panna cotta.

Soundararajan says he worked hard on his physical fitness before the mission. He had been practising pranayama, and also began to walk 10 kilometres a day. The pranayama helped him with his breathing in the high altitude.

Even so, he says he doesn’t clearly remember a lot of the trip, as people get forgetful, thanks to the drop in oxygen supply to the brain. It also made the cooking process more challenging: the food took longer than usual to cook.

Nepalese lore has it, that sometime in the 90s, there was once a famished Australian, by the name of James Scott, who had to wait for 43 days — lost in the Nepalese Himalayas — to be found and fed. Wouldn’t stumbling upon a pop-up like this have been heavenly for the poor man?

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Rajashree Das / June 13th, 2018

A century-old pop-up book on mysteries of machines

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

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The work by a French engineer explains mechanical concepts vividly

The mention of ‘pop-up books’ often has one conjure up images of three-dimensional colourful pictures popping up out of children’s classics when opened.

A French book published nearly 105 years ago had used the technique to graphically explain mechanical and electrical concepts for students.

With over 2,500 illustrations hidden in layers, the book, which now needs careful handling, depicts complex concepts of machines through its movable layers.

‘Grande Encyclopedie Pratique-de Mecanique et d’Electricite’, which translates into a comprehensive guide to mechanical and electrical machinery in English, was authored by Henri Desarces, a French engineer.

The book belongs to Gayathree Krishna, a Chennai resident.

“My father, C.R.Narayanan, who was a mechanical engineer, bought the book in Puducherry that was a French colony in 1950s. I discovered it in our parental house in Puducherry recently and was fascinated that a pop-up book was published a century ago.”

She handed it over to historian K.R.A.Narasiah to be preserved for posterity.

Heritage value

Mr. Narasiah, who is also a mechanical engineer, said: “This book helps readers unravel the mysteries of machines that were relatively new then through its movable layers. Nearly 14 engineers assisted the author in publishing the book in 1913 in Paris.”

Mr. Narasiah said: “SS France, a ship that sailed a century ago, has been depicted intricately — from its exterior, cabin design, passenger spaces to boiler rooms to machinery spaces.

“There are a total of 25 plates in the book. Some of the other fascinating illustrations include an antique rotary dial telephone, Bleriot aircraft, steam turbine engine, motor cars, locomotive engine, balloon airship and submarine.

The book used different printing techniques, such as halftone, blueprints and chromolithographs, as early as 1913. A copy of the book was recently auctioned in London for $586 by Christie’s.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai – June 09th, 2018

Meet India’s fastest Ironman Triathlete Raghul Sankaranarayanan

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

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An Ironman Triathlon is an extreme form of the Triathalon and consists of a 3.86-km swim, a 180-km bicycle ride and a 42.2-km marathon run, raced in that order and without a break. I

It was a warm evening in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; the sun had just begun to sink over the horizon. Raghul Sankaranarayanan vaguely remembers the crowds lined up across the last kilometre cheering the weary contestants on. What’s clearly etched in his mind is the pain — the pain from having swum 3.8 kms, cycled 180 kms and run 42.2 kms without a break in the last 11 hours.

With each thud of his shoes on the asphalt, he felt an electric pain shoot up from his ankles to his knees. There was a spasm on his right hamstring, which was close to locking up. He crossed the finish line and looked at his watch: it read 10 hours, 56 minutes and 59 seconds.

Raghul was speechless. He had just broken the Indian record of 11 hours and 3 minutes jointly held by Kaustabh Radkar and Akshay Samel. He was now officially the fastest Indian Ironman.

An Ironman Triathlon is an extreme form of the Triathalon and consists of a 3.86-km swim, a 180-km bicycle ride and a 42.2-km marathon run, raced in that order and without a break. It is widely considered one of the most gruelling one-day sporting events in the world, with a limited time of 17 hours to complete the race.

Sankaranarayanan recalls that day — April 15 — at Port Elizabeth. He says, “Everything started off badly that morning. The ocean was a bit choppy and I exceeded my goal by 2 mins, which for a swimming leg is quite a lot. To make matters worse, the aerobar on my bike broke loose at around 20 kms.”

“The aero bar is where the cyclist leans and places his elbow on, and this position helps cut wind resistance,” Sankaranarayanan explains, “I had to ride the remaining 160 kms in more of an upright position, causing me to slow down a bit and also causing my right hamstring to become a bit sore.”

“As I got off my bike at the 180-km mark, my right hamstring cramped up and the organisers had to carry me off to the side. I sat on the side of the road for a couple of minutes, wondering whether to continue or not. I still had a full marathon to run. But thankfully, after walking for a couple of kilometres, the hamstring eased up and I was able to start running at my normal pace,” he says.

The accidental athlete

Sankaranarayanan was not a born athlete. He played no sport in school and his first exposure to exercise was when he was doing marine engineering in Pune, where it was compulsory for the students to go for a 3-km run every morning. After moving to Chennai for his job, Sankaranarayanan started trekking with the Chennai Trekking Club on weekends in the hills and forest areas of Tamil Nadu and nearby states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. In March 2012, the club organised a mini triathlon, which consisted of a 750-metre swim, a 20-km cycle ride and a 5-km run. Though he struggled to finish the race, he was buoyed by it. He started training seriously, taking part in triathlons organised by the club, including a half Ironman in August 2012.

He participated in his first official Ironman in Malaysia in 2014. After completing the race in 15 hours, he was officially recognised as an ‘Ironman’ for the first time.

Sankaranarayanan says his plan for the future is to continue participating in triathlons across the world for the next 10 years. What drives him to push his body to the limit? “I’ve discovered that it’s in pushing myself beyond my comfort zone that I learn more about myself. When people talk of Ironman, they associate it with the body being as strong as iron,” he says, “But what it means to me is the strength that comes from overcoming the things I thought I couldn’t. Endurance training has taught me that true strength is not the iron of the body, but the iron within.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Fitness / by Reji Varghese / June 11th, 2018

Two Indian kids to be Official Match Ball Carriers at FIFA World Cup

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Sunil Chhetri, Manohar Bhat (Head - sales & marketing, Kia Motors India), Nathania John K., and Rishi Tej.
Sunil Chhetri, Manohar Bhat (Head – sales & marketing, Kia Motors India), Nathania John K., and Rishi Tej.

Ten-year-old Rishi Tej of Karnataka and 11-year-old Nathania John K. of Tamil Nadu will be two of the Official Match Ball Carriers (OMBC) at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia.

One of them will carry the match ball during the Belgium vs Panama game while the other will get a chance to get onto the pitch before the Brazil vs Costa Rica match.

India captain Sunil Chhetri conducted the trials — as part of the Kia Official Match Ball Carrier (OMBC) programme — in Gurugram last month.

As many as 1600 children participated in the programme, with 50 short-listed for the final selections.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Football / by PTI / New Delhi – June 11th, 2018

The Indian who docked at Osaka

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion
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