Ravaged Murals

"Some exquisite mural paintings that adorned Tamil Nadu’s Temples are lost thanks to neglect and state-sponsored vandalism. These treasures, belonging mostly to the Vijayanagar and Nayaka periods (14th - 17th century), have been whitewashed or sandblasted in the name of Temple renovation or kumbhabhishekam (a consecration ritual). Officials of the State Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department have allowed the whitewashing or sandblasting of murals to present a clean surface to devotees, claiming that devotees do not like to see faded paintings."

For two earlier posts on sandblasting on Arunachala Grace, go to this link here and this one here. (Sandblasting is a process intended to remove oily substances or whitewash from statues and/or paintings. In the process sand is sprayed at high air pressure on sculptures, walls and pillars. It is now banned in many Temples in India.)

Mural depicting Nataraja, Kalakkad Temple

"In some cases, it is ignorance that has led to the neglect of these works of art. Soot from oil lamps settle over the murals; electrical cables and switchboards are installed over them; or cracked ceilings allow water and sunlight to seep in and spoil the murals.

In what conservationists describe as a classic example of ‘murder of art’, these paintings are reportedly repainted by signboard artists who merrily use modern poster-colours to re-create them. The State Archaeology Department use artists unfamiliar with the conservation or restoration of ancient murals to repaint murals found on the ceiling of some Temples wth the result, that the murals now dazzle in bright colours."

Modern artist's repainted mural

The Temples where the few surviving murals have been mindlessly whitewashed include the Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai and the Meenakshi Temple, Madurai amongst others. Palaces, forts, colonial bungalows, monasteries and churches in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa face similar defacement.

Dr. David Shulman, an Indologist who has studied mural paintings of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, says: “The problem is very urgent. If action is not taken immediately treasures of Tamil Nadu, which are part of the National Heritage, will disappear.” Very often Mandapams housing mural treasures of South India paintings are being used as godowns (food storage), or filled with junk, logs, rusting nails and even dead rodents! Experts in Fine Arts suggest organisations such as the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage should consult tradition-oriented artists before taking up conservation of existing murals.

A four-day international seminar titled “Painting Narratives: Mural Painting Traditions in the 13th -19th centuries”, held near Chennai from January 23th to 27th, focussed on the magnitude of the problem. Attention was also drawn to the existence of hundreds of painted, wooden sculptures in Temples and Village deities (Ayyanars) and their Vahanas (mounts) being painted in garish rich colours.

Brightly Painted Vahanas at Pachaiamman Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Experts explain why it is important to preserve these paintings: “Mural paintings are not only great works of art but serve a historical purpose by throwing light on contemporary society through dresses, ornamentation, hairstyle, musical instruments, arms and armoury, and a host of other details depicted in them. Some of the murals are about actual historical events such as battles, trading and missionary activities, although the great majority of them deal with mythological themes, including the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Bhagavatha. A comparative study of the styles and techniques in different periods can take us through the process of development of the art of mural painting at different stages in the past.”

Repainted Mural at Varadarajaswamy Temple, Kancheepuram

Sometimes the vandalisation of murals take a different turn: first, they are copied, the walls whitewashed and then “artists” engaged to repaint the murals on the walls. At some Temples, ancient murals have been lost because of sandblasting for the purpose of cleaning the surface on which they were painted.

Officials of the Arunachaleswarar temple at Tiruvannamalai whitewashed exquisite paintings at Ezhuthu Mandapa depicting stories from the Ramayana and Kandapuranam, and whitewashed and sandblasted murals about Krishna Leela on the ceiling of a corridor.

How can ancient murals be preserved? Experts believe that the key to the solution lies in creating an awareness among Temple officials and the devotees on the value of these exquisite mural paintings.

[With thanks to T.S. Subramanian]

Sandblasting Ban

Further to a sandblasting posting early on this Blog, and to give more information about the previous process used for Temple renovation and cleaning at Arunachaleswarar Temple, the following is a history of the current sandblasting ban in affect in South Indian Temples.

In 2002, concerned at the incalculable damage done to priceless and ancient sculptures and the structural stability of various Temples, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department placed a blanket ban on sandblasting which hitherto had been adopted to clean icons and walls. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department declared that finer aspects of sculptures and idols were getting damaged or flattened after sandblasting. In this respect they issued a directive as a sequel to objections raised by conservationists, historians and culture-lovers in the context of sandblasting work done at Meenakshi temple, Madurai.

Intended to remove oily substance or whitewash, sandblasting is a process of spraying sand at high air pressure on sculptures, walls and pillars. Though it gives a "clean look" immediately, delicate features of the sculptures such as face, nose or lip gradually become flattened. Inscriptions also get obliterated and sandblasting also wears out bas-relief sculptures and removes the skin of granite stones on walls, leading to cracks. The stability of a structure is affected through the process of sandblasting and leads to gaps between stones which encourages the growth of fungus and vegetation.

Serious sandblasting damage has already been observed at the Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram, the Vedapureeswarar Temple, Vedaranyam, the Parthasarathy Temple, Chennai and the Thyagarajaswamy Temple, Thiruvarur.

Experts have advised that expediency cannot be a decisive factor in dealing with historic monuments such as Temples. In this respect currently replacing sandblasting, is the use of diluted chemicals for cleaning sculptures. Besides using chemicals, traditional poulticing methods such as sandalwood paste and ‘vibhuthi’ for sculptures in interior parts of Temples and application of fermented rice-flower paste for the rest can be adopted, advise experts.

Sandblasting

During the recent visit of a team from Chennai to Arunachaleswarar Temple in regard to the setting up of a Temple Museum, the specialist group saw first hand damage caused to Temple artifacts due to the sand blasting of sculptures and bas-reliefs.

In the above photograph you can see evidence of the bad results of sandblasting, which in this picture has resulted in a cracked pillar (and then cemented) in the Arunachaleswarar Temple's Thousand Pillared Hall. Also included in spoiled artifacts are: a badly damaged bas-relief sculpture (in front of the Big Nandi) in the Mandapam, a granite stone in the base of the Gopuram on the North Side of the Temple and also damaged inscriptions.

The Chennai team have since learnt that the ban on sandblasting Temple artifacts has been re-imposed and the preferred method of cleaning with liquid ammonia, which is amenable to mechanisation and reasonably priced has been reintroduced.