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  KANHERI City of Caves “There were palace like buildings, images, houses, pillars, and water-cisterns. It was a city carved in rock that could hold seven thousand people” – Don Joao de Castro Kanheri – Location and origin   Kanheri (19°13’ N; 72°55’ E), the Kanhasela, Krishnagiri, Kanhagiri of ancient inscriptions, is located north of Mumbai. Kanheri is located in the island of Salsette and 6 miles from Thana. The caves are excavated in volcanic breccia, the hills rising at places to 1550’ above mean sea level. Kanheri is credited with the largest number of cave excavations in a single hill. To the west is the Borivili railway station and across the creek is the Arabian Sea.  Kanheri, large group of caves (109 not counting the new discoveries) located north of Mumbai excavated out of volcanic rock formation breccia, at a height of 1550’ above sea level. One of the oldest and largest numbers of cave excavations in a single hill. Located on the old trade route, start...

  From silence to the sound of recitation After a period of “silence”, the anadhyayana period starting from Kartigai Kartigai, Thirumangai Alvar’s birthday temples would reverberate with the recitation of Nalayira Divya Prabandham the scared text of Sri Vaishnavas, the compilation of 4000 songs of the Alvars from Margazhi when the Adhyayana Utsavam starts. Today (14-12-2020), a day ahead of the beginning of Adhyayana Utsavam across Vishnu temples, sounds of Thirunedunthandakam would fill the Santanu mantapam, when Araiyars start the festival in front of Periya Perumal. The 21-day Adhyayana Utsvam is unique in that it is a complete celebration of a text and its recitation. For hundreds of years it has continued, keeping the text and the tradition alive. The days prior to and ten days following Vaikunta Ekadasi is celebrated as Adhyayana Utsavam, when the first ten days the first two thousand of the 4000 is recited during the day time literally called “pagal pathu” utsavam, and after...

  It is heartening to see so many posts today on Subramania Bharati.  It reminds me of my elementary school days. There was not an Independence Day or Republic Day that passed without singing Bharati’s songs. In that small school, the flagstaff was just outside the compound and we would stand there and sing “thaayin manikkodi paareer”. There would be singing and dancing to his “aaduvome pallu paaduvome”, “vetri ettu thikkum etta kottu murase” etc., Our headmaster at that time would teach all of us to sing Bharati’s songs. I got introduced to almost all the Deshbhakti songs of Bharati at that time. “paarukkulle nalla naadu”, “bharatha samudayam vaazhgave” and many others. We used to have a collection of his poems at home, printed in some poor, dull paper. I didn’t know music, I didn’t know the ragas that are printed alongside some of the poems. But I used to sit near the window, and keep humming something. I used to even try the “eesan vandhu siluvayil mandan” trying to imitate...

  I have been an intermittent blogger, and engage in social media platforms regularly. One of the topics on which I have been consistently posting has been on Indian textiles, especially sarees. Many a times friends ask me seriously, as well as sarcastically as to how many sarees I own. Hardly does anyone me ask how many books I own. I do post on books regularly, sharing reviews, books bought, read, books encountered at the library. While saree posts sometimes get a decent traction, book posts are generally overlooked. During Deepavali when my friend asked me about the Hindu festivals, economy and the interconnectedness, one book came to my mind. It is about food, the Indian concept of anna, donating food anna dana – Annam Bahu Kurvita by Jitendra Bajaj and M.D.Srinivas. It is not a book that I have read cover to cover, but read through pages, passages, shlokas and their meanings given there from time to time. It is a book that has had a deep impact on me. It is also a book which I...

  Kalamkari’s problem of plenty  Copies, fakes, imitations may be inevitable part of life. But, in the field of art the disruptions created by imitations have a long term impact. More the merrier, but not in the case of screen printing or block prints imitating the hand drawn pen kalamkaris. Srikalahasti’s pen kalamkari, the hand drawn, hand filled paints on fabrics has been flourishing having been resurrected twice in the last century. First the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya’s art revival lifted it out of extinction in the 1950s, and later in the century when it moved out of being a wall art to adorning the sarees and later fabrics. Today it is a problem of plenty for Kalamkari. There are many trained artists involved in the craft at Srikalahasti, a small town around 40 kilometers from Tirupati on the banks of river Swarnamukhi. Business has been good, visibility as good as it can ever be, but threatened by the fake printed version that has proliferated from the oth...