Karunanidhi – the Aurangazeb in action, demolishes a temple mantap

Karunanidhi ordered for demolition


: It is not at all surprising that Karunanidhi, the hidden Aurangazeb has been in action acting against Hindus in his present reign[1]. Under the guise of renovation, a temple mantap was demolished in Kancipuram. What is surprising is that it is not all reported in the media, though it started in April 2008. When a 1000-pillared mantap was demolished at the Tirumala, at least some people objected to it, though the historians, archaeologists and other monument experts, saviours and protectors were sleeping. Now also, the same thing has happened, but for Dr. R. Nagaswamy[2].

500 years old monument demolished


: The mantap with carved sculptures braved the vagaries of nature for 500 years, but now, human hands are bringing down the massive mandapa situated in the famed Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu[3]. Built by the Vijayanagar king Achyuthadevaraya around A.D. 1530, it was known for its few hundred pillars covered with beautiful carvings of dancers, musicians, floral motifs and gods. All these are now smashed to pieces with crowbars. The demolition, which began in April, has picked up pace with a bulldozer being pressed into action.

“Uliyin Osai” in reverse – Sastriyar







[4]







behaves differently




: The Kalainjar was planning for “Uliyin osai”, the sound of chisel – carving sculptures out of stone, but, in action, he ordered to demolish such sculptures. Note, how iconoclasm works against iconogenesis! Hussian painted Hindu Goddesses and Gods in the name of expressing artistic talent of expression, but he actually tried to demolish and blaspheme Hindu Goddesses and Gods with the perverted psyche. The Mohammedan demolition frenzy acted psychologically, as in the cases of Khiljis, Malik kafur, Aurangazeb, Tipu sultan etc. Karunanidhi, the moder-day manipulators does it in his 83 years age.

Rennovation or demolition?


Temple officials said it was “not a demolition but dismantling of the mandapa” to assemble it again to house vahanas (vehicles) of the deities. “A donor” was apparently financing “the project” to “dismantle and re-assemble” the mandapa so that the “vahanas can be displayed openly”. The temple comes under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Tamil Nadu government. However, no details are known to the public. In fact, the Christian Rajasekhara Reddy also gave similar apologia for his renovation carried on in front of the Tirumala temple.

Dr. R. Nagaswamy says it is total destruction


: However, Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department, called it “a thoughtless act of destruction and renovation“. The mandapa could have been cleaned easily, conserved and preserved.

“What is happening now is total destruction. They are not dismantling it. They are smashing it with a bulldozer,” he said. The temple was earlier subjected to a bout of vandalism when the murals of Vishnu, Lakshmi and other gods in the Hindu pantheon were whitewashed. The surviving paintings have faded or peeled away. They have not been preserved. Thus, the atheist government may be working in a phased manner, but these devils are posing as savious of Tamil culture and so on! Better, the Tamil lovers, Tamil protagonists and others at least now recognize the iconoclasts and act so that whatever left could be protected.

Demolition carried with the instance of DMK government


: These demolitions are done at the instance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in the State[5]. Many times, our Dravidian and Tamil friends used to accuse or even shout at me for always attacking “Karunanidhi”. But, note my dear friends, what has been happening. As now our Maharaja or Chakravarti has been Karunanidhi, as a citizen, I could blame only my ruler. I cannot complain to the ruler of Pakistan or Afganisthan! Therefore, they should not pretend hinding the truth or the heinous crimes of the ruler of Tamilnadu, misusing his status.

The origin of the Mantap and temple


: The origin of the Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kancheepuram goes back to about 1,200 years. Nagaswamy, who is also a scholar in Sanskrit, calls it “the most beautiful Vishnu temple at Kancheepuram”. The temple originally consisted of an image of Narasimha at the foot of a small rocky boulder. Later, a standing form of Vishnu was installed on top of the rock. It was then called Arulalar temple. The village was called Athiyur because there were a number of “athi” trees around. The temple began to gain prominence in the 11th century, during the period of the Cholas. Kulotunga Chola encased the rock and built a structural temple around the standing Vishnu circa A.D. 1100. The temple expanded with the construction of several shrines, prakaras (corridors) and gopurams. Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadevaraya built the present sanctum sanctorum, the vimana above it and covered it with gold sheet around A.D. 1525, said Nagaswamy. He also rebuilt the sanctum of Thayaar (Vishnu’s consort) and the vimana, and covered this vimana also with gold. Krishnadevaraya’s successor Achyuthadevaraya built the kalyana mandapa on the left side beyond the western entrance to the temple. This mandapa is known for its several hundred pillars with intricate carvings of horse-riders, dancers, musicians, and gods and goddesses.

Act and Rules violated – the principles of archaeology forgotten


: On the right side, “as if to strike a balance”, he built another mandapa with a few hundred pillars, all hewn out of granite. This was used for conducting temple festivals in the past. Later, it was used as a goshala, or cow shed. It is this mandapa that is being pulled down now. It originally encased a central mandapa with carved pillars. This has already been demolished. Broken pillar-members, some of them numbered, lie in a heap. “The entire mandapa is in good condition…. The walls are in perfect alignment. It has survived for 500 years without tilting or developing cracks. Except that it has not been cleaned, it is in good shape,” said Nagaswamy, adding that it could have been easily preserved without demolishing it. No technical report on the mandapa’s condition was prepared before the demolition began. Although some of the pillars that have been pulled down are numbered, it would be impossible to reassemble the mandapa because they are lying in a heap in different places and in broken pieces, he said. Temple officials claimed they would rebuild the mandapa with original pillars as a gallery to house the temple’s vahanas. They claimed they were using the bulldozer only to remove the lime mortar on the ceiling of the mandapa. They would replace the ancient lime mortar with cement mortar. However, the use of cement mortar would be a blatant violation of the canons of conservation, asserted archaeologists[6]. These are the photos of demolition squad in action[7].

Why historians, archaeologists and others are keeping quite?


The proverbial, phenomenal or tactful silence maintained by the present-day historians, archaeologists of all categories, secular, progressive, eminent, elite and what not – is understandable. As they expect benefits from the Maharaja Karunanidhi, they do not ask whatever he does. In fact, with sycophancy, they may prise for his sound or nise of chisel that has demolished the monument! As the conferences of TNHC, IHC, APHC, SIHC etc., are coming in the order, let us see whether these people have any guts or sense f their profession to pass any resolution etc., or the K. Veeramanies, Ramasamies and other oldmen would be invited to talk nonsense.

VEDAPRAKASH

29-07-2008

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