LOVERS & ONLOOKERS - 'DROLL STORIES' in TEMPLES OF SRIBATI

Social scenes from terra cotta temples  - I : A kaleidoscope of human emotions

An onlooker indeed !The other 'peeping out' panel I have come across is 
in the hexagonal temple @ Ilambazar,Dt _ Birbhum.

Now is the time to look into the social scenes of terra cotta temples - so much about these panels have been written by Zulekha Haque ( photo of the cover of the book  titled 'Terracotta Decorations of Late Medieval  Bengal - Portrayal of a society' not avaible in the Internet. Refer to : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terracotta-decorations-late-medieval-Bengal/dp/B0000EE2RP/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284332934&sr=1-2 ) and David McCuchion.

Refer - http://www.amazon.com/Brick-Temples-Bengal-Archives-McCutchion/dp/0691040109

Sribati is avillage 15 km off  the road connecting Calcutta with Katwa.One can reach these temples by car or train/bus - vide my friend Rangan Dutta's article in the Telegraph - http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8929322336097938925.

You will find about these temples' history from Rangan's article. I shall go direcly into the specifics of my subject.The three temple of Sribati are smaller than many of the more famous of this genre - but, what I enjoyed in these temples was is the quality of story-telling I have come across not many times.

Return of the prodigal.The king wipes the tear  from the face of the queen he left behind years ago.

The onlookers have not been placed correctly on this panel - they should have been placed on the right side.

I read about a folk-tale about a  king marrying twice. The second marriage took place when he wandered away to another place .The pining and devotion of the  1st wife  forms a large of the story. The story also describes how she tharted the advance of a local powerful man to entice her to his bed. The king returns after a long time with his second wife t his kingdom. While I was going through the photos I took in the temple, I realised this panel tells the story of the return of the prodigal.

At a courtesans' boudoir.

The other panel I fell in love with depicts  a courtesns' place.  The courtesan on the lefthand side has been wooed by a man while the unsuccessful  bidder looks stands grumpily.The third courtesan is enjoying the process of wooing. The couple in the extreme  righthand corner of this  panel is engaged in a close embrace , oblivious of the people around. All these characters are placed on a very ornate band of abstract motifs.

Resting after the act ?

The above panel was not easy to find......it was nearly hidden under the cobwebs and dust. The features of the man and his lover have been ravaged by weather. The postures -  the woman staring at the face of her lover while her head rests on his lap and the lover's hand touches the thigh of the woman - is very sensuous.No onlookers here - the couple rest in privacy

I end with a panel showing an elderly couple on the bed. We see their faces and upper torsos resting on big pillows, the man trying to caress the face of his old lover,partly undressed, her face shows reluctance to be drawn to the act !

The reluctant partner.

When my wife Ruby I were ending taking photographs, the sun was at the western horizon.A panel on boats caught my notive.... but light was not satisfactory. When I 'photoshopped' the panel, I found a 'story' emerged from the same. Look at the postures of the boatmen -  don't you think they are sharing  'droll stories' ?

What are the 'naughty' stories these whispering boatmen are sharing  ?

Is he reluctant  or afraid that his wife will wake up to catch them  ?

This is a funny situation. The apparently pious husband is being wooed by a very much decked up woman, while his wife is asleep. He appears to be reluctant. Whether it is because he does not want his wife to discover  his  infiedelity or he is genuilely pious and monogamous is left to the imagination of the viewer .

KRSNA & RAMA , THE ICONS of Vaishnavites - 1

A few panels from the largest and the best

All the six temples I have mentioned in the previous blog on Timeline are temples of Krsna.......therefore under deep impact of Vaishnavite scripture and literature . The biggest two I have seen  are from Shyam-Rai and Baronagar temples.In fact , the one from Shyam-Rai temple - the one depicting Rasleela - has deep root in 10th Canto ( Dasham Skandha) of 'Bhagavat Gita' as well as 'Vaishnav Padaabalee', the poems on Krsna's childhood and adolesent life in Vrindaavan.

Rasa Mandala.Shyam Rai Temple, Bishnupur.1643 AD.

Rasa Mandala  is one of the most famous among the terra cotta panels of Bengal. Almost iconic, symbolising the art of terra cotta temples of Bengal. This large panel comprises of segments forming three near concentric circles.At the centre, we find Krsna with two Gopies .Two circles outside - sixteen and twenty four figures respectively - show Krsna dancing with Gopis in many manifestations.Krsna plays drum and dances in top coners among peacocks in slightly different postures.In thr right hand corner, the peacock has spread its tail.At  the lower corners, Krsna-Radha are playing flute. A deer in the right hand corner makes the difference.

Slaying of Kansa.Siva Temple,Baronagar ( near Azimgunj) .1755 AD.

This is the 1st panel  we see as we enter the cluster of four temples at Baronagar ( near Azimgunj) . This panel on top of the left arch of the very first temple has two scenes from  the acts of Krsna-Balaram at Kansa's court. On the left is the 1st hurdle,elephant Kuvalayapeeda . As it charges , Krsna holds it by its teeth while Balaram kills its mahout.On the right , we see Krsna killing Kansa. Kansa's headgear is on the ground. His left hand holds a shield which he could not raise. Kansa's right hand holds a sword he has been unable to use as Krsna overpowered him.

The other two panels are from lesser known temples at Surul ( near Shantiniketan) and the famous Pratapeswar temple at Kalna.

Panel above LH arch of Siva Temple  at Surul. 19th century.
(Photo taken by Ruby Chatterji)

This panel has three rows. The top two rows cover one scene each. The lowermost panel has snatches from several scenes. In the top row, we  find 'Sita's Agnipareeksha' ( Sita's Trial by fire) Four sages are around the fire. Faces of Sita and three on-lookers from Rama's party disfigured. Rama and Lakshman watch from a pavilion on the right hand side.In the central row, we find Rama's court after his return to Ayodhya.Rama and Sita are seated on the throne while adulators and visitors flock in.The lower row is divided into three parts - three phases of Sita's life.. On left hand side, we find Sita in a pavilion and a maid seeks her permission with folded hands. The cental one depicts Sita and Rama in loving embrace under a tree, presumably during the their stay in the forest. An extremely rare scene. In the right hand side, Rama enters Sita's pavilion while Sita is dressing up - her hair being combed by a servant.Beyond this panel, in the right-most corner, we find Sita left in a chariot and a sage's wife bringing a pot of water to her.

Worship pf Devi Durga at Lanka. East wall.Pratapeswar Temple at Kalna.1849 AD.

A very intricately done panel. Top row has Devi Durga at the centre - flanked by Ravana, fully armed yet pondering and Rama about to release an arrow on her two sides. The panel is filled with 'Rakshasas' and monkeys in  battling mode. Durga is not in her 'Akaal Bodhan' manifestation - but 'Mahishasura-mardini' manifestation. A serious deviation from the accepted imagery !

TIMELINE OF SIX BEAUTIES AMONG TERRA COTTA TEMPLES

Those lovely temples......not easy to choose the 'beauties' !


I am very late in starting my 3rd Blog, for the simple reason I could not decide what the 3rd blog would be about.Will it be a blog containing   a selection of wall panels with descriptions  or the Timeline ? Finally, I decided on the Timeline.... and the reader  may kindly excuse me for the error in spelling of 'Raja Ramanath Roy - one of the two patrons of Kantaji's temple.

The hesitation I had is not only because of the problem of editing an 'Excel saved-as Jpeg' file. I was wondering if I am being fare to Pratapeswar temple of Kalna and the cluster of temples of Baronagar.Well, it is very difficult to decide. Eventually, I decided to publish the Timeline I prepared 2+ years ago. It is here :

Tmeline contains temples' photos,Patrons' names and respective years of constructuin.
Please click on this Timeline for having a larger view on your monitor. 

If a person wants to cover all these temples, except for the one in Bangladesh, with her/his hub in Calcutta, s/he must have  atleeast 4 full days in her/his disposal. At least 2 days for Bishnupur and 1 day each for Antpur and Bansberia.

At  and around,Bishnupur, there are more than 3 temples worth visiting plus a very nice , though small, museum which has a very helpful Curator. Mr Chittaranan Dasgupta , a well known figure among Bishupur terra cotta's historians , often cones to the museum in the afternoon - one can visit the temple at Kotalpur       ( different from a village of the same name from in Bankura district). Ditto about Antpur. One word of warning - Photography @ Bishnupur Museum is not allowed . Couple of years ago, I found getting permission for photography at  RadhaGovindjiu's temple at Antpur was difficult too . But, for a serious student of Hindu Iconography, these temples offer rich reward.

Before I close this blog, I would like  to mention  a few specialities of Pratapeswar temple and the cluster at Baronagar. Pratapeswar temple is a Deul type construction , with a distinct style of art.The social scenes stamd out.Baronagar temples' cluster offer a grand display of mythology  and social scenes. More on these temples in later blogs.

THE BEGINNING AT BISHNUPUR :

A robbery in the Malla kingdom in 16th century changed the face of Bengal's architecture. Vaishnav guru Srinivas Acharya and two other greats, Narattoma Das and Shyamanand were taking three cartloads of scriptures from Vrindavan to Puri . The writings were priceless.....these carts contained books by great Vaishnavites Sri Jeeva Goswami, Sri Rup Goswami and Raghunath Das among others *.The dacoits knew that cartloads of great treasure were being moved from one location to another.They had no other clue. There were only ten foot soldiers 'protecting' these cartloads. The 'treasure' was easily looted during one night when all the travelers were asleep. This happened at Gopalpur village, within the territory of the Malla king.

Srinivas Acharya stayed back in Bengal determined to recover the books .The robbers' allegiance was to the local King Vir Hambir. Srinivas had a face-to-face interaction with his court's religious supremo Vyasacharya where Srinivas Acharya demonstrated his depth of knowledge regarding Vaishnav religion. King became his ardent disciple and the books were restored to Srinivas.

WELCOME TO MY BLOGS on TERRA COTTA TEMPLES of BENGAL

The amazing world

of Bengal's architecture

It was a couple of years before my retirement from professional life.... I was traveling to Delhi in a train. A Dancer from Calcutta was also traveling to Delhi in the same cubicle. She was looking forward to a performance where she would present to the Delhi audience a repertoire on dances of Bengal. While explaining her repertoire, she mentioned that some details of her presentation is based on research on the classical dance postures found on the temples of Bengal. This was revelation to me. I have visited some of the best preserved/restored temples of Bengal, enjoyed the architecture and the artistic sculptures adorning the walls, took many photographs of the same ….. but did not observe the details of the then society depicted . I was more attracted to the mythological depictions.

Slowly, a desire to revisit these temples with a camera and cover more temples at the next opportunity grew within me …. but, only after, after doing more homework. During this phase, I have come across interesting books and writings on history and architecture of the TERRACOTTA TEMPLES of Bengal .

Here I share with the visitors of this site with what I found interesting during my journey through the amazing world of the wonders of terra cotta temples of Bengal .

With time and more details, I hope, these pages will bring out more of the treasure many artistes created and bequeathed to us.......