Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

Sittannavasal Frescoes-III

By M. S. Sundara Sarma, B.A.

BY M. S. SUNDARA SARMA, B.A.1

Now to the subject-matter of the paintings:

First let us take up the two dancing figures which face one when standing in front of the cave before entering it.

"This charming dancing girl," writes Prof. Dubreuil in his leaflet about the paintings in the cave, "is a devadasi of the temple, for in the VII century the Jains and the Buddhists had come to terms with God in regard to the introduction of dancing girls into their austere religion."

There you have a typical example of the only ridiculous way in which alien Christian writers on Indian Art could speak without knowing exactly what they are talking about! To think and say that a nation which has contributed to the world the greatest of the living philosophies, would have thought of a simple portrayal of devadasis for the sake of portrayal in their paintings is thoughtless, to say the least. Besides unconsciously superimposing the corruption of modern devadasis on these dancing figures, the Professor has entirely ignored the symbolic nature and the spiritual content of Art in India. Indian Art, real Indian Art, has ever been transcendental and has always tried to suggest conceptions which could not be ordinarily perceived. The philosophy of life which had saturated the minds of the people in India showed itself out both in their art and literature. The two ran on parallel grooves instead of the one illustrating the other as in other countries. The form of a woman has ever stood in Indian Art as symbol of Mula-Prakriti or primordial matter. The Supreme Mother-Nature is indicated thereby. Creation and the consequent Evolutionary process are conceived of as but a dance of this Prakriti at the sight of the Supreme Purusha or spirit. It is this dance of Prakriti that is suggested by the dancing figures in this cave as elsewhere. The two dancing figures, looking out of the cave and facing the visitor, really speak to us the true outlook of the Rishi-artists who had painted and lived in the cave here. Besides indicating to us this perpetual dance of Prakriti which was and is the Evolutionary outlook of India, these two figures tell us something more about that process. It will be observed that the right hand of both the dancing figures is held in what is called the Abhaya Hasta, which simply means the hand that says ‘fear not’. This amounts to saying that in the Evolutionary process there is nothing to fear, indicating thereby the optimistic attitude towards life of the ancient Indians. The left hand of one of the dancing figures is held in what is termed the Danda Hasta, which means the rod-hand. The rod is not the rod of jurisprudence which is behind all man-made laws but is that magnetic rod of power which holds in sway the members of the visible Universe both in space and time; which keeps, for example, the Earth pointing towards the same direction; which keeps in order every single visible or invisible atom. Danda Hasta is the hand that indicates to us the firm conviction of the ancients of this land in the justice and truth of the inner government of this world. It is the certainty of this inner rule that made the people of this land so optimistic in their attitude towards life. Such an inner rule or government is indicated by this Danda Hasta. The left hand of the other figure is held in what is called the Gaja fasta, or the hand or proboscis of an elephant. Those that have witnessed, especially in the west coast of India, how the hand of an elephant is used to lift up huge burdens will at once realise how that hand is pre-eminently a hand that lifts up. Gaja Hasta simply stands for the hand that lifts one up. In the Evolutionary process there is always a hand that lifts one up. That hand may be visible or invisible; it may be the hand of your friend, foe or neighbour, or one whom you least expected. There is always that hand to lift one up; but that hand is not to be sought after nor will it come at one's bidding. It is there and it knows best as to when and how to help. Such is the Gaja Hasta and that is what the other dancing figure stands for. So that the two figures together tell us about the Dance of Creation in which we are to be optimistic because of the certainty of the justice of the inner government and because of the ever-ready invisible hand which unfailingly lifts us up in cases of real need. That indeed was the outlook of the master painters of this cave at Sittannavasal.

The painting on the ceiling is in fact a bird's-eye view of a lotus tank or pool in blossom wherein fishes, birds, animals and men wade through, gathering lotus flowers. The lotus leaves are beautifully disposed of to form, as it were, a halo round the heads of birds, animals and men depicted in the picture. Besides, they are also made to be at the ground of every blossoming flower. Two bulls and three elephants are to be seen along with three men, two of whom are together, while one of them is apart. All of them are holding the stem of lotus flowers. The way in which the water is indicated is more conventional but the other things are natural, beautiful and yet simple. The fishes and geese play about the pool here and there, and the happy way in which the geese with out-spread wings are placed side by side with the blossoming lotus flowers shows the close relationship of the two kingdoms of nature indicating clearly how the one merges into the other and illustrating the multiple unity in the single being of life.

To understand well the full significance of this picture of the lotus pool one should have thorough understanding of the Indian conception of the Universe. Professor Dubreuil, however, dismisses the panel with a surmise that it may be a Jain story which he is not aware of, not realising that such guesses from a responsible professor like him pass off into assertions in the hands of less worthy men.

Three sentences from the chapter on Creation in the Vishnu Purana will here be quoted, thereby giving a glimpse of the Indian conception of the Universe. Says the Vishnu Purana:

"Thus eulogised by Earth, that graceful one, the holder thereof began to roar in Sama accents. Then heaving up the Earth with his razors from the deep, the mighty Boar, having eyes that resembled blown lotuses and himself like unto lotus leaves, rose up like a gigantic dark blue mountain."

Again we have:

"Sananda and others with delighted hearts and with heads bent, hymned the holder of the Universe."

Yet again we have:

"Raised on thy razor ends all this Earth, O! Lord, seemeth like a lotus leaf besmeared with mud on the tusk of an elephant that hath plunged into a pool of lotuses."

The italics are mine and the careful reader will note how in these three sentences we have the idea of the picture shown on the ceiling. The lotus pool, the men with their heads bent down, the elephant heaving up the lotus leaves and flowers, and the lotus flowers themselves are all there. It was no wonder that the ancients in India thought of the Universe in terms of a lotus pool. If one can imagine the visible Universe from somewhere in space one can easily get at that picture. Just think and picture to yourself the Universe from our knowledge of the present-day astronomy. Every star being a sun, will be in the centre of concentric orbits of its own planetary system; if then every star be a lotus flower its surrounding system will form the lotus leaf. If you place these stars with their systems side by side, as indeed you have it, you have really the picture shown on the ceiling of the cave at Sittannavasal.

Thus did the master-painters of this cave conceive and depict their notions of the Universe. They had it over in the ceiling so that such a conception was really floating over their heads during their moments of deep contemplation in the secluded cave.

With such notions about the visible Universe, and with such outlook on life as depicted by the two dancing figures, the Rishi-painters of Sittannavasal have handed down to us their pictorial conceptions of them in this unique cave.

The other portions of the paintings, that are lost to us for ever, might have given us some more details about these conceptions. But what we have is enough to show us the fundamental conceptions of the artists who have carved ancient cave.

Now a word about the five seated figures carved on the walls of the cave may not be out of place here. All the five alike are in the immemorial seated yogic pose thereby indicating to us that the real goal of human life is to be realised only through such deep contemplation in quiet surroundings. The number five has a reference to the number of times humanity had, so far, to do so till now. It has reference to the five races of humanity that have passed so far; we Aryans being the fifth. The three later races are represented by the three carvings inside the cell, while the two that preceded the three are depicted outside by the two figures placed on either side of the cave.

Thus, it would be seen that the cave at Sittannavasal contains really a wonderful and unique record of Indian Art. The sculptural and pictorial technique is superb, handing down to us a worthy record of a worthy past in the history of the country. We have no certain clue as to the date of the cave or its paintings. Surrounding lithic records point to a date not later than the sixth or the seventh century A. D. There is nothing to show that it may not be earlier. The paintings are truly Indian both in conception and technique and prove to us beyond doubt how widespread the art had been in this ancient country. They enable us to imagine what the chitra salas or picture galleries should have been like, in this old land. The art of painting must have gone through at least some centuries of previous handling before it could have flowered into the mature and definite style of the Sittannavasal frescoes. These paintings in fact open a new page in the history of painting in India and efficiently put an end to all that is being talked about foreign influences on the art of Indian painting. Here in this cave we have an example of a purely indigenous Indian painting which should go a long way to really help the true revival of the art of painting in this country.

Sittannavasal is indeed a sacred spot to us moderns, well worthy of receiving the homage of every true lover of India and its Art.

1 This is the last of the writer's interesting series of articles on the Sittannavasal frescoes, which he was among the earliest to copy. The first and second articles were published in Vol. II., No.6 and Vol. II, No.1 of Triveni respectively. We regret the long delay in giving to our readers the concluding portion of Mr. Sarma's thesis. But by a fortunate coincidence, we are enabled to publish simultaneously his note on the newly-discovered frescoes at Kanchipuram.—Editor, TRIVENI.

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