CHENNAI: Throughout history, people have captured culture and mythology in sculptures, carvings and reliefs. These works give us a glimpse into their lives, traditions and tell us about the legends of the past. Some even make us wonder how it was achieved with limited technology at the time. If you’re curious about it, head to Mohan Hariharan’s lecture today on his findings about open air, single stone/rock cut bas-reliefs at the Madras Literary Society.
An architect who graduated from Alagappa College in 1965, Mohan worked with the well-known architect KN Srinivasan for 16 years, mostly on movie theatres and factories. He says, “I am not a historian or a research scholar. I use the knowledge from my travels to share my thoughts on bas-reliefs.”
Mohan is from Arni, Tiruvannamalai district, which has a history of Marathta brahmin rule of over 300 years. “My interest in heritage piqued at Arni where the 300-year-old palaces are deteriorating against which I have appealed to INTACH through my movement, Save Arni’s Palaces,” he shares.
Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term is derived from the Latin verb, ‘relevo’ meaning ‘to raise’. In bas-reliefs the sculpted elements are just barely more prominent than the background. This retains the natural contours of the figures, allowing it to be viewed from different angles without distortion.
“When you browse the internet for world’s largest open air single rock/stone-cut bas relief, the results point to ‘Arjuna’s penance in Mamallapuram’ measuring 96 ft long by 43 ft high. But the truth is the world’s largest open air single rock cut bas relief is the Stone Mountain in USA, carved between 1920 and 1968. It measures a whopping 800 feet in length and 400 feet in breadth and was made as a tribute to the heroes of the civil war,” he explains.
Explaining the equation 1:1000:1,00,00,000-1, a topic in his talk, Mohan says, “It may look like a mathematical equation, but it represents the bas-reliefs that I have chosen in my talk. 1 stands for Arjuna’s Penance, since the penance was done on one leg. 1000 stands for Kbal Spean in Cambodia which is also known as ‘The valley of 1000 lingas’ and 1,00,00,000-1 stands for Unakoti in Tripura which means one less than a koti (crore) in Bengali.
It was created between the 9th and 10th centuries and cannot be compared to any other sculpture in India. The legend says that Shiva, travelling with 9,999,999 devas to Kasi decided to rest at Unakoti. Early morning, next day, Shiva woke up to find all of them fast asleep and continued alone on his journey, leaving them one less than a crore.” Why bas reliefs for his talk? “I look for life in the bas reliefs. I have only picked the one that brings your imagination to life.”
Mohan Hariharan’s talk, A Sculptural Equation - 1:1000:1,00,00,000-1, will be held today from 10 am onwards at the Madras Literary Society. For details, call 28279666