In South India one cannot ever talk of sculptures or paintings without speaking of the Cholas! They are the holy grail of South Indian fine arts. No doubt. But often we will hear modern scholars eulogize chola art by comparing them to the later works of art like that of the Nayaks or Marattas. The truth is Chola art is incomparable. Which not only means they are extremely fine and beautiful but also that arts of other periods can’t be looked at from the same prism. The one thing I have often heard about Nayak art is how it has very garish colors and disproportionate structuring. While I am not a fine art student, I would always think there is more to the understanding of these paintings than just calling them poor cousins of their Chola counterparts etc. The Nayaks ruled the South of India for over a 150 years. They have left an identifiable mark in temple renovation, construction and specially frescoes. One look at the bright colors, large figures and the strokes one will be able to say they are “Nayak” frescoes. Therefore they must have had a method and an idealogy. The art of painting during the Cholas period was highly evolved. They had a great sense of proportion, symmetry, color and aesthetics. If the Nayaks painted over them on the inner walls of the Tanjore Big temple, they surely noticed these and yet had a reason to do what they did. So, an artiste/ painter who saw such marvellous works didn’t paint over them to spoil the originals. If that was their mindset, one of destruction or discontinuation of past glory and tradition they would have done many changes to the structure of the temple in a more obvious way and place. Instead they only added pieces of structures to accentuate the original’s awe. So then what drove them to draw over? To answer this I kept looking at the paintings of the Nayaks. As if a deep, penetrating stare will give me the answers. When you do stare at them, the way I did, you will find the characters almost staring back at you. In the art of painting there is a technique called caricaturing. The modern understanding of caricature is that they are exaggerated for an element of humor. But the elemental quality of caricature is to evoke a life like portrait image using simplistic or exaggerated ways. With larger eyes and mouths, louder colors and motifs and out of proportion images the Nayaks perhaps were trying to say something? A caricature always is to convey. It was for the immediate audiences and consumption. It was a socio-political statement. It is a next step in evolution of painting technique were the characters even when not real, were portraits of humans of their times. Even the images of Gods and Goddesses perhaps drawn with a striking resemblance to human beings. This would also explain the use of natural characteristics in actual sizes like the big nose, eyes, stalky hands, legs etc. Portrayal of acquired characteristics like finer lines, a paunch (that is reflected in the Nayak sculpture at madurai temple of the King himself in middle age. See my earlier blog for this reference). And the depiction of real colors, costumes, textures, hair styles, moustaches, beards etc reveal their evolution into depicting real people on their paintings. This was a few steps before the picture portrait era and a few more steps before the photograph era. Every Nayak painting was a a weighty portrait. It was to convey to the people of the immediate context about important people, characters, features around them. Hence they needed the spaces that were in use in the temples etc. And therefore perhaps the painting over the Cholas at Tanjore temple with the exaggerated features and proportions perhaps. The other important aspect is the thicker lines or outer sketches that are starkly different to the other finer Ajanta or Cholas paintings. The pen as a brush or stylus for lines was adapted from the persian term “kalam”. This concept of an inked pen to draw outlines filled with colors was employed from a persian influence both on cloth and walls. Just like painting on wet walls or damp walls was the fresco style of the Cholas, the Nayaks perhaps had the pen stylus painting. It was called “Kalamkaari” and was greatly patronized by the Vijayanagara Kings and therefore adapted by their feudatories, the Nayaks. You will be surprised to know that Achuytappa Nayaka gave away villages near Tanjore to Kalamkari artistes as he realised the water (cauvery) in that rock bed had natural Alum (color fixing agent) in the water!! Kalamkari was traditionally used to also say/ convey stories, legends and myth. Maybe the Nayaks who made these exaggerated frescoes had many stories and incidents to depict through their paintings (mythological and contemporary). The fact that these caricature like paintings may have been drawn with life like closeness and resemblance to actual people means, we are holding an entire visual documentation (like modern photos) into an era that we believe had not actually evolved to that stage. Their paintings of dancers and musicians means we are staring into the actual faces of our predecessors perhaps. WOW! This revelation allows me to take a closer look. And what do I see into the depths of those big eyes, fluttering pallus, bright fans, big maustaches and long breads….that’s what you will find out at FROM THE ATTIC follow us on: www.facebook.com/fromtheatticcomingsoon?ref=br_tf and visit us at www.fromtheattic.in Dr.Swarnamalya Ganesh Staring into the depth of the faces at the Attic
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