Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Who knows how to build a temple? religious and secular, tradition and innovation, in contemporary South Indian sacred architecture1

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 27; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1479027042000236643

1479-0270

Graeme MacRae,

Religious Tourism and Spaces

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes A. Appadurai Worship and Conflict under Colonial Rule: A South Indian Case (Cambridge, London, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981), p.1. This paper is based on a ten‐week visit to Tamil Nadu in 2001–02 funded largely by the Massey University Research Fund. This project originates in conversations with Sam Parker during our work in Bali in 1999 and owes much to his subsequent comments on drafts of this paper. While my argument is based largely on contemporary materials from Tamil Nadu, the historical context is that of the Madras Residency which incorporated the present states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as well as Tamil Nadu. The practices referred to likewise spill over these same state borders to a considerable extent as may the argument. Repectively, C. Fuller, Servants Of the Goddess: The Priests Of a South Indian Temple (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984); B. Stein, ‘The Economic Function Of a Medieval South Indian Temple’, in Journal Of Asian Studies, Vol.19, no.2 (1960), pp.163–76; D. Schulman, Tamil Temple Myths; Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in a South Indian Saiva Tradition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980); N. Dirks, The Hollow Crown: The Ethnohistory Of an Indian Kingdom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987); J. Heitzman, ‘Temple Urbanism in South India’, in Journal Of Asian Studies, Vol.46, no.4 (1987), pp.791–826; S. Kramrisch (photographs by Raymond Burnier), The Hindu Temple (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976); A. Hardy, ‘The Hindu Temple: A Dynamic Microcosm’, in E. Lyle (ed.), Sacred Architecture in the Traditions Of India, China, Judaism and Islam (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992); and M. Meister, ‘Symbology and Architectural Practice in India’, in E. Lyle (ed.), Sacred Architecture in the Traditions of India, China, Judaism and Isla. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992). One striking exception is Joanna Waghorne's study locating the temples of Madras city firmly in its historical political‐economy. See J.P. Waghorne, ‘The Diaspora Of the Gods: Hindu Temples in the New World System 1640–1800’, in Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.58, no.3 (1999). For a discussion of the division of labour in temple design/construction and particularly the role of sthapati, see the work of Sam Parker, especially ‘Contemporary Temple Construction in South India: The Srirangam Rajagopuram’, in Res, Vol.21 (1992), pp.110–123; and ‘Making Temples/Making Selves: Essentialism and Construction in the Identity Of the Traditional South Indian Artist’, in South Asian Studies (2003, forthcoming). On the relationship between textual and practical knowledge see J.F. Mosteller, ‘Texts and Craftsmen at Work’, in M. Meister (ed.), Making Things in South Asia: The Role Of Artist and Craftsman (Philadelphia: Dept. of South Asia Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1988). Stein, ‘The Economic Function Of a Medieval South Indian Temple’. G. Michel, Architecture and Art Of Southern India: Vijayanegara and the Successor States. The New Cambridge History Of India Vol.I:6 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p.73. S. Bayly, Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society 1700–1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p.44. Appadurai, Worship and Conflict under Colonial Rule. F.A. Presler, Religion under Bureaucracy: Policy and Administration for Hindu temples in South India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1987), p.45. Ibid., pp.15–22; V. Rajashrikaman, HRCE Act 1959 (Madras: 2nd ed., 1971), p.3; and A. Good, ‘ “Mamul” and Modernity in a South Indian Temple’, in Modern Asian Studies, Vol.35, no.4 (2001), pp.821–70, 849–51. The institutional predecessor of HRCE during the colonial period covered the entire Madras Presidency, which is now divided into Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Presler, Religion under Bureaucracy, pp.45–7. ‘Management and Preservation of Properties of Religious Institutions Rules’, GOP No.1837, Revenue (10 July 1964), quoted in V. Rajashrikaman, HRCE Act 1959 (Madras: 2nd ed., 1971), p.14. S. Kramrisch, Exploring India's Sacred Arts: Selected Writings of Stella Kramrisch, B.S. Miller (ed.) (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 1983), p.60. Meister, ‘Symbology and Architectural Practice in India’, pp.5–6. See for example Michel, Architecture and Art Of Southern India, p.74. Waghorne, ‘The Diaspora Of the Gods’, pp.648–86, 657. Rajashrikhaman, HRCE Act 1959, p.30. There are exceptions, the famous Nataraja temple in Chidambaram being the most notable. Ibid., p.32. There is not a specific restriction on applicants from other states, but as Tamil is the medium of instruction, and there are similar institutions in other southern states, very few outsiders apply. Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Mamallapuram, Information Bulletin 2000–2001 (Chennai: Dept. of Arts and Culture, 2001). Government Sculpture Training Centre, Mahabalipuram, Calendar (Dept. of Technical Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, 1975), p.2. Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Mamallapuram, Calendar 1989–90 (Directorate of Technical Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, 1989), p.5. This section is based on Ganapati's own account, but no one to whom I have spoken substantially disagrees with it. Government Sculpture Training Centre, Calendar, p.2. They received Rs60 per month, which was roughly equivalent to the wage of a semi‐skilled hotel or restaurant employee. Government Sculpture Training Centre, Calendar, p.6. Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Calendar 1989–90, pp.5–8. My knowledge of the College is based on several visits between 2001 and January 2002, conversations with staff and students, past and present, and especially the present principal, Prof. M. Gunasegaran, and Prof. J. Rajendran, lecturer in Traditional Architecture, to both of whom I am especially grateful. For information about these workshops I am grateful especially to the proprietors and employees of Kamatchi Amman and Ranjith workshops. One of a series of classic images of the Buddha at successive stages on his path to enlightenment. According to a personal communication from Sam Parker, this form only occurs in ‘the more anatomically correct Greco‐Roman tradition’—hence the unaccustomed Gandhara style. By this time Baskaran was so frustrated with the whole process that he refused and the job was given to another carver. But this carver as unable to complete the work and once again Baskaran was persuaded to do it. See www.victorsway.com. There is another parallel story to be told, but in another forum, about the development of modern architecture in India, beginning with its place as the site of some of Le Corbusier's major works, the extraordinary role of expatriate British architect Laurie Baker in developing an appropriate low‐tech domestic architecture in Kerala, and more recently the international practice and reputations of architects from the sub‐continent, especially Charles Correa. V. Ganapati Sthapati should not be confused with S. Ganapati Sthapati who occupies a similar position in the official sthapati hierarchy in Andra Pradesh and who is the elder brother of Muthia Sthapati, the present head sthapati of Tamil Nadu. All three are prodigious designers and builders both within India and overseas. My representation of Ganapati Sthapati's ideas is based on three long conversations with him at his workshop near Mamallapuram and his home/studio near Chennai in December 2001 and January 2002; reading of his writings, the opinions of his peers and former students and the additional knowledge and insights of Sam Parker. The term ‘community’ here refers more or less to what in older discourse used to be known as castes—endogamous kin‐based groups usually associated with hereditary occupational skills, obligations and privileges. For an account of Ganapati's methods of work during this period see Mosteller, ‘Texts and Craftsmen at Work’. The quote is from V. Ganapati S. (ed.), Vastu Purusha: A Journal Of the Vaastu Vedic Research Foundation, Vol.1, no.8 (2002), p.4. In fact the height is approximately equalled by the tallest of the French gothic cathedrals, as well as the stone portion of St Paul's cathedral in London—and is considerably exceeded by the towers of Lincoln Cathedral and even more so by the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. He is not the only one doing this. The HRCE Honorary Chief Sthapati, Vaidyanatha's student and Ganapati's rival, Muthiah Sthapati, also has such a transnational business if anything larger than Ganapati's, as does Muthia's brother, also confusingly named (S) Ganapati S. Several other less well‐known practitioners also operate internationally. Ibid., p.5. The point about the solidity of images comes from a personal communication from Sam Parker. V. Ganapati Sthapati, Contribution Of the Visvakarmas to the Science, Technology and Culture Of Indian Origin (Chennai: Dakshina Publishing House, 2000). The quotes are from, repectively, pp.13, 16, 20, 11, 6. For a more complete collection of Ganapati’s writings see Building Architecture Of Sthapatya Veda (Chennai: Dakshina Publishing House, 2001); and his website, www.vastuved.com. The analogy with the Renaissance was my suggestion, with which Ganapati agreed. It is worth noting, however, that unlike in Europe, the artistic identity celebrated is a collective rather than individual one and the forms created are based on traditional rather than new knowledge. There are some echoes of the so‐called ‘Bengal Renaissance’ of the nineteenth century, perhaps, but the Bengalis celebrated literature and rational thought rather than science per se. For a more general discussion of the politics of Visvakarma identity, see S. Parker, ‘Text and Practice in South Asian Art: An Ethnographic Perspective’, in Artibus Asiae, Vol.63, no.1 (2003). P. Bourdieu, ‘Structures, Habitus, Power: Basis for a Theory Of Symbolic Power’, in N. Dirks, G. Eley and S. Ortner (eds), Culture/Power/History: A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), p.173. Waghorne, ‘The Diaspora Of the Gods’, p.657. I am grateful to Solomon Raja and R. Venkatraman for much of my knowledge of these temples. Waghorne, ‘The Diaspora Of the Gods’, p.650. Bayly, Saints, Goddesses and Kings, pp.20–7. The Tamil Electronic Library lists 137 Hindu temples in the United States [www.geocities.com/∼kalyan.geo/temple.html]. Another site provides an ‘incomplete’ list of 22 Tamil temples in Canada [webhome.idirect.com/∼krish/temple.html]. For my knowledge of this temple I am grateful to the New Zealand Thirumurugan Temple Society and especially its president, Mr. V. Singham. Mahakumbabhiseka Commemorative Issue 17 June 1999 (Sydney: Sydney Murugan Temple, 1999), p.23. For information on other Tamil temples in Australia see Kandiah, ‘Murukan Worship in Australia’. A. Kandiah, ‘Murukan Worship in Australia’ (n.d). See also www.murugan.org/research/kandiah.html. Mahakumbabhiseka Commemorative Issue 17 June 1999, pp.23–4 Ibid., emphasis added. Ibid. Ibid., p.36. Ibid., p.24. The consultants involved were Fletcher Associates, Mr A. Krishnar, and FEL Consultants, and the local authority was the Town of Richmond Hill. A local Tamil engineer, T.Vignarajah, also contributed to key technical aspects. Maha Vimana Kumbabishekam Souvenir Issue (Hindu Temple Society of Canada, 1992). See also Tamil Electronic Library, ‘List of Hindu Temples in USA’ [www.geocities.com/∼kalyan.geo/temple.html]; and ‘Tamil Temples in Canada’ [webhome.idirect.com/∼krish/temple.html]. Maha Vimana Kumbabishekam Souvenir Issue. Most of the information on the Iraivan project presented here is from the official website [http://www.saivasiddhanta.com/hawaii/iraivan]. Although, as Sam Parker has pointed out, it is precisely the strictness of their adherence to tradition that provides the basis of their distinctive ‘brand’ in the global marketplace of architectural styles. Waghorne, ‘The Diaspora Of the Gods’, p.653, original emphasis.