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Kindle Notes & Highlights
The invading armies of Alauddin Khilji, led by Malik Kafur, had taken temples ten times the size of his in no time.
‘Be safe, my Lord, within this earth as long as it pleases you.’
Interestingly, the HR&CEB never documented the idols by photographing them – an error that would cost them dearly in the future.
Tamil Nadu has more than 50,000 temples under the management of the HR&CEB, which did away with the millennium-old tradition of hereditary trusteeships and is mired in a host of scams related to mismanagement of temple funds, non-collection of dues from temple lands, improper and fraudulent renovations and theft of assets. The sad fact is that even though many people believe that public funds should not be devoted to ‘rich’ temples, only a handful of ‘famous’ temples, not even 10 per cent of these 50,000 temples, have annual revenues over ₹10,000 or $150.
These were The Chola Temples series by S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, Early Cola Bronzes by Douglas Barrett and Bronzes of South India by P.R. Srinivasan.
The customs clerk’s job was the next and most vital step – examination, which technically meant he had to randomly pick a bill and physically go and examine the cargo to see if it actually matched the items listed in the shipping bill. In reality, he got up only three times during a shift – once for coffee and twice for his cigarette.
The sculptors found a unique way to bring balance to the otherwise unbalanced composition – the male form on the right, the female on the left, with the additional height of the male side causing it to tilt to the right. The master sculptors managed to offset this on the lower portion by bending the right leg, but the upper torso was still tilting awkwardly to the right. Masterfully, they brought in Shiva’s vahana, the bull Nandi, into the picture upon which Shiva rests his arm to balance out the composition.
This was the case in 99 per cent of the samples I studied. In a few rare examples, the male and female forms were switched from right to left. In such instances, the position of the bull was also changed. It was a post well received.
Most of the bronzes found in these treasure troves are without much damage. This shows the care with which they were concealed, with the intention of recovering them at a later date and restoring them for worship.
