Victoria Public Hall, Chennai

when you get down at the Chennai Central Station and proceed towards the car parking , it would be difficult to escape a grand old building staring at you at a distance.  This building happened to be an inviting  curiosity for me even when I was a child. The need to catch a taxi to reach home quickly was so overbearing that I could never find time to go nearer to the imposing structure, except while passing by, seated in the car. Now that I have been in Chennai for a couple of months , I ventured to visit the building a couple of times with a view to gain an entry. However all my attempts were thwarted due to the Chennai Metro Rail Project. They are constructing  the underground portion of the project and the tunnelling work was in progress just adjoining the place. The area was cordoned off with corrugated tin sheets and a watchman has been posted to prevent entry to the premises. Therefore I had to satisfy myself with few snaps from outside. The building referred to is the Victoria Public Hall commonly known as the Town Hall. 

During the 1880s a need was felt to have a community hall where cultural and social programmes could be held. A meeting was organised by prominent citizens in 1882 and the participants had contributed around Rs.20,000 for the purpose. A separate Trust was also created to implement the project. The civic body i.e. the Corporation of Madras also provided land admeasuring 3.14 acres on a 99 years lease. A foundation stone was laid in December 1883 and by 1888 the construction could get completed. The architect credited to have designed this beautiful building was  Robert Fellowes Chisholm  and as with many other buildings of Madras this too was  a derivation of Indo-Saracenic architecture.  To commemorate the Golden Jubilee of queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, it was named after her.

The main building has two floors. There are four beautiful wooden staircases leading to the first floor. both floors put together has an area of 26000 square feet and every floor has a seating capacity for 600 people. Once having been opened to the public many a social organisations  jumped in. Plays were being staged every evening on a regular basis. Swami Vivekananda, Subramania Bharati, Mahatma Gandhi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel were amongst the great men of yester years who addressed public meetings at this venue. The hall was also used for screening some 10 English films in 1892 by one T. Stevenson the owner of Madras Photographic Stores. Incidentally by that time the Indian Cinema was yet to be born. The first Tamil film “Keechaka Vadham” without a sound track was produced only in 1918.

With the passage of time, the health of the building started deteriorating and by the second half of the 20th century it became critically ill due to continued neglect. There had been some attempts to rejuvenate it but they proved inadequate. For the last 45 years the hall is in a state of Coma. In between the Trust leased out the spaces around it  for commercial purposes. Taking advantage of the situation certain unscrupulous traders also made their intrusions to put up their stalls/shops. Disputes surfaced between the Corporation and the Trust when the 99 years lease term expired. Fortunately the Corporation was in a position to take over the building after eviction of all those illegal occupants. Due to continued hue and cry made by heritage lovers the Corporation sanctioned an expenditure of Rs.3.39 Crores for complete renovation/restoration of the building and work started in 2009. When the work was half way, the Metro Rail Project commenced its construction work resulting in a temporary stoppage of the renovation project. However, the Chennai Corporation has announced recently that by end of July 2013, the Victoria Public Hall would be in its original shape. At the moment we do not know whether the hall would get opened up for social/cultural purposes as was originally envisaged.

Under the Chennai Metro Rail Project, the trains are to travel over pillars and they will go underground in busy areas. As has been stated earlier, the tunnelling work is in progress near the Victoria Public Hall and they have also encroached upon the area in front of the building. A beautiful fountain which existed thereat has since been removed and moved to the right hand side of the hall. In the process some ornamentations have been broken/lost. This fountain too has a story of its own.

During the British rule, Government’s budget proposals were introduced by James Wilson in 1860 for the first time when the capital of the country used to be in Calcutta. Losses sustained during the Freedom Struggle of 1857 were sought to be bridged by taxing the personal income of citizens. Every individual with an income of Rs.200 was within the ambit of the proposed tax net. This move was highly resented and there was a hue and cry amongst the people. Charles Trevelyan who happened to be the Governor of Madras Presidency in those days, supported the people’s movement and expressed his anguish by sending a telegram to Fort William, Calcutta. As an after effect he had to compromise with his job. When Trevelyan was the Chairperson of the Madras Corporation, he made available potable drinking water for the people and also created a beautiful park in the heart of the city. A fountain was built in front of the Victoria Public Hall in his fond memory which is known as Trevelyan Fountain.

Incidentally there is another heritage building known as Victoria Memorial Hall which houses the National Art Gallery. This building too remains closed for the last 10 years or so on account of some cracks having developed inside. This building awaits restoration.

An Unspiritual Pilgrimage - Jagannath Puri

On the eastern shores of India and in the State of Odisha (Orissa) there lies an important pilgrimage centre of Hindus known as Puri or conversely Jagannatha Puri, being the abode of Lord Jagannatha. Puri is also considered as the cultural capital of Odisha. It was established by Adi Shankaracharya, the spearhead of Hindu renaissance during the 8th century CE. We went there along with our families. For the ladies, the purpose of the visit could have been a sort of pilgrimage but the men folk were there for sight seeing, fun and frolic. It was an endurance test as we needed to keep the women folk in good spirits. We made Bhubaneswar as our base camp. After our breakfast on a sunny morning we hunted and hired a station wagon kind of a vehicle and proceeded to Puri, which was at a distance of 70 kilometres.

The road led us through the country side but the rural settings of that part seemed a little bit different. Being in the coastal region there were coconut and  Areca nut palms at the far end of paddy fields. They were not as dense as we find in the western coast of India. The breeze coming from the paddy fields though had a nostalgic smell. Amidst the rural settings there was a way side restaurant (Dhaba) surrounded by shady trees. We thought of replenishing our tummies and parked our vehicle inside. The food, after some deliberations/consultations was settled for and duly ordered. Tables and chairs were laid out beneath the trees and we rested for more than half an hour by which time the service started. The quality of food was better than what we expected.

My nephew Girish checking up in front of the restaurant

When our lunch was over, we stayed for some time more and then proceeded to our destination. Around 2.30 pm we were at Puri. Our stay was pre-arranged at a holiday home of a reputed Bank but when we reached there, the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. The women looked tired and decided to enjoy a nap in the sofas at the reception. On our part we started hunting for the caretaker. The gentleman arrived after some time and we were at our wits end when he announced that no rooms have been booked for us. Immediately we contacted the local officials of the Bank over our cell phones. Hearing us speaking to the higher ups in the hierarchy, he offered to provide the much needed accommodation but in the meantime he too received phone calls which made him to apologise offering some alibis. We got three Air-conditioned rooms which were quite up to the mark. The holiday home itself has a beautiful building very close to the sea. We rested in our rooms till 7.00 pm in the evening and then proceeded to visit the Jagannatha temple for which Puri is famous.

My niece Gouri imitating Kate in Titanic on the terrace of the holiday home

Since that was not my first visit, I cautioned all to refrain from conversing with or entertaining the Pandas (the priests) and that I shall take care of them. My apprehensions were not ill-founded. Soon thereafter Pandas started playing their tricks. They exploit the gullible. They offer to conduct special rites/rituals very close to the deities. In the process the innocent devotees are made to part with heavy sums of money in the name of pleasing the lord thereat. Since I am conversant with Oriya, the local language, I made it very clear to them that we have done that 6 months back and do not intend to have anything performed on our behalf at this juncture. After freeing ourselves from those lechers we proceeded to the Sanctum Sanctorum which is otherwise quite large. We met with the symbolic idols of Balbhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra made of jack wood timber which do not have any semblance with Gods of Hindu pantheon. Some of the Pandas were seated very close to the deities as if they are there to provide salvation. After coming out we also went around the temple which has a huge campus with lots of smaller shrines. Since it is an 11th century temple, the sculptures are really beautiful, but then one is not allowed to take a camera or a mobile phone inside. After this courtesy call on Jagannath & Company, we returned to the holiday home where our dinner was waiting. Before going to bed we had decided to visit the beach before sunrise next day.

Although before the day break, we had our bed coffee but since our rooms were apart, it took some time for all to get ready. The Sun God obviously can’t wait for us. We ran to the sea shore. The Sun was quite above the horizon still the cool sea breeze was very comforting. A small boat was lying in the sands. Children pulled it nearer to the waters and by that time the owner turned up. The kids including the grown ups could negotiate a deal with the boatman and he was too willing to take them to some distance. The ladies started agitating and shouted at them. They were dissuaded from venturing into the sea. While we were walking towards our children, we came across a beautiful piece of sand art,  probably the creation of a sand artist, Sudarshan Patnaik. Puri is also famous on that count. Sudarshan Patnaik is acclaimed internationally. He has exhibited his talent in several countries and won several awards.

 

Poor Mumtaaz - Who could have made her a Shurpanakha

The art piece stated above was the portrayal of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (creator of Taj Mahal) and his lady love Mumtaaz Mahal. A small replica of Taj Mahal made of marble was also placed behind symbolically. Seeing all this my brother got excited and started his own creation. With effort he could build something looking like a fort. Finding him sitting in a ditch his wife queried as to what is he digging up. He retorted “a grave for myself”. His wife continued “and what about me”. Sensing trouble, if this continues, I requested his wife to desist from further questioning.

There is a legend about sand art at Puri. There used to be a great poet named Balram Das who lived in the 14th century. He was the author of “Dandi Ramayan”. A car (Chariot) festival takes place at Puri around July every year. Balram Das, during one such festival, tried to climb up the chariot to pay his obeisance to the lord but he was abused by the Pandas and made him to climb down. He was grieved and with a heavy heart headed for the sea front (known as Mahadadhi). There  working with the wet sand, he created the images of the three deities namely Balbhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra and started praying whole heartedly. It is said that all the three deities who were being carried in the Chariots during that particular festival just vanished and were so pleased with the devotion that they appeared before Balram Das live. People believe that the sand art form has its roots there. Anyway we may dismiss this simply as a myth. After all we do come across children exhibiting their creativity whenever they find time to play with sand. Yet another legend is that of Lord Rama, who at Rameswaram created a Shiv Linga out of sand and prayed.

A child playing with sand - He has made a Buddhist Stupa

After enjoying the sea breeze for some time, we started returning. The women folk were insisting to have a morning audience with Lord Jagannath. We had to succumb but again with an advisory with regard to the Pandas. We spent our time loafing around the market. Fortunately they joined us after an hour or so. Perforce we had to give them company for their marketing needs. Primarily there were several kinds of handicrafts on sale. There were brass/bronze items on sale. A tall lamp interested us but the cost seemed prohibitive. After finishing off the shopping spree, we straightaway headed to a hotel to have some breakfast.  Thereafter to our holiday home as the warmth was becoming unbearable. We all were perspiring profusely. After lunch we returned to Bhubaneswar visiting Konark Sun temple en route.

KANDY – CRADLE OF BUDDHISM

हिंदी में यहाँ देखें

Kandy is the cultural capital and also the second largest city in Sri Lanka. It was the Kandyan Kings who nurtured and propagated Buddhism together with this town. According to a belief, Buddha’s tooth relic was smuggled from India  so as to protect it from the so called evil kings. They believe that the tooth relic brings in prosperity to the land where it is kept.

Tamil is the official language in addition to Sinhala and most of them converse easily in English or Tamil. We were advised in the beginning not to engage in conversation on controversial issues with the natives. There is some amount of mistrust between the Tamils and Sinhalese. At the same time we also found many of the temples being renovated even in lesser Tamil dominant towns.

Sri Lanka has a very good road network through out and reasonably good rail connectivity, of British Era, between major cities. We wanted to feel both the experiences and planned to take up the 3 hour bus journey from Colombo to Kandy, to begin with.

In about an hours time, the bus reached hilly terrain, leaving behind the hot and humid coastal planes. The bus was almost full. A Sri Lankan girl sitting behind me showed the point to get down to reach the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala. It was originally started as an orphanage for elephants and calves that are handicapped by landmine explosion. Now it is one of the biggest centres for Asian Elephants. She also showed us some other points of interest like the rail museum, and the botanical gardens while travelling in the bus. In between an elderly women kept her heavy baggage below the seat of our son, depriving him of the comfortable leg space. Our Son Achu wanted to convey his displeasure but I stared at him to keep quiet.

We had  booked a room in “Sevana Lodge” Kandy well in advance. It had basic facilities like airy rooms, good linen, neat toilets and  hot water shower. The owner with her family is living downstairs. She has converted the 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd floors into a Guest house.

Auto Rickshaws (Tuk Tuks) are available through out though the cheapest and best mode for local travel is the town buses.

Kandiyan people are beautiful. They are not very fair but have good features possibly due to the traditional classical dance form they practice. We got a glimpse of one such dance in Kandy. It resembled a war dance and had combination of excellent reflexes, songs and rhythm of drums.

Kandy has a beautiful lake in the middle, beside the famous Tooth Relic Temple, (Dalada Maligawa), the most sacred of all the Buddhist centres in the world. The ticket costs SL Rs.1000/- for foreigners and SL Rs.500/- for SAARC country citizens. The Structure was partially damaged once by the LTTE bombers killing eight people.

Sri Lankans are big fans of elephants. Elephant tusks (ivory) are displayed in all Buddhist shrines. The annual festival of the tooth temple (resembling the Dussera of Mysore) and the procession involving elephants and Kandiyan Dancers is world famous.

Sri Lankans have better civic sense compared to Indians. The towns and cities are kept clean. Parts of Kandy town, its junctions, roads, old buildings and sub-ways resemble some unknown town in England or Europe. Yes, the influence of the Colonial past. Unpredictable rains added to the charm.

The second major attraction in Kandy, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradenia, five miles away from the town, is the home for the rarest species of plants in Sri Lanka. Said to have set up in the 13^th century by the Kandiyan Kings, this 150 acres garden is a professionally managed centre displaying botanical wealth of Sri Lanka. The creative and scientific method of display of different species is praiseworthy. There are sections allotted for different species having different variants of same species found in the sub continent. One cannot finish the whole area in a day. We spent half a day in the garden. A must visit place in Kandy.

We also visited a hill town, Nuara Elia, located about 70 miles south of Kandy, famous for the tea plantations described as the Switzerland of Sri Lanka. Europeans preferred to stay here for the cool weather. It is also an escape for the Sri Lankans from the scorching heat of Colombo. Paucity of time and non availability of train ticket forced us to reduce the trip to a one day affair hiring a cab, which costed us SL Rs.4000/-. It was school holiday time in Sri Lanka.  The hill station has under it a vast area of tea gardens and associated processing centres. A very big lake and a beautiful garden are the major attractions.

We found here a temple dedicated to Goddess Sita (Sita Elia). According our Ramayana, this area should have been Ashok Van. The priest showed us the footprints of Hanuman who landed here in search of mother Sita sitting below a Ashok Tree.

It was great to witness the expertise and professionalism with which the PWD people work here. It took only an hour for them to clear the road block caused by a landside in the Nuwara Elia- Kandy Section. JCBs were being put to use to remove the earth and big cutting machines removing the fallen trees.

While returning from Kandy, we opted for Train Journey. Only 3^rd class tickets were available, obviously the cheapest. Train journey offers most of the panoramic view of the hill country. Excellent Sri Lankan Tea and some snacks were provided to us in the train. Overall, the two and half hours train journey from Kandy to Colombo was the highlight of our trip.

Authored by: PN Sampath Kumar,
                  Cochin Shipyard, Kochi.
Second of the Series

Sigiriya (Sri Lanka), A Palace in the Sky

A Guest Post by:

P.N. Sampath Kumar,

                                  Cochin Shipyard, Kochi                                  

हिंदी में यहाँ देखें 

I heard of Sigiriya, the historical monument in Srilanka for the first time while surfing internet in 2004 when my colleague in the office entrusted me with the job of planning his vacation in Srilanka. Considering the risk of travelling too much deep into that country due to the turbulent political situation and also the difficulty in climbing the number of steps for his ailing wife prompted him to opt out that option. But those inputs initially saw the seeds of curiosity and longing to visit this place at an opportune time.

Magestic Sigiriya Rock

For SriLankans “Sigiriya” is more than what our Taj Mahal is for us. Derived from the root Sanskrit name Sinha Giri (meaning Lion Mountain) this city used to be the capital of the 5^th century King “Kashyapa”(479 – 497 AD). The Story goes that King Kashyapa, the son of Dhatusena (King of Anuradhapura – 50 KM north of Sigiriya) and half brother of Prince Moggallana killed his father fearing that his half brother would be appointed as the next king. He shifted his capital from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya and created this beautiful city in a span of, they say, 7 years. Sigiriya provided an ideal place for a fortress as it was in a difficult-to-approach remote area. His half brother Dhatusena though fled to India fearing for his life, came back stronger after few years and defeated his brother Kashyapa in a war. It is said that Kashyapa committed suicide by cutting himself, not wishing to die at enemy’s hand. The site became a monastic refuge after his death. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it served as an outpost of the Kandyan kingdom but later went into ruin and was rediscovered by a British archaeologist Mr. H.C.P. Bell.

 

All these in the backdrop of my mind, we included this site in our itinerary during our vacation to Srilanka in mid April 2011. We were staying in Kandy, in central Srilanka. It was a Sunday morning, after breakfast (we came across a couple of south Indian restaurants run by Tamils in Kandy) we proceeded to Sigiriya by a hired cab on a one day trip. Our Driver ‘Tamura’ from ‘Kandy Cabs’ was a nice boy who understood little Tamil and English. As advised by Ms Shakuntala, the owner of the hotel where we stayed, we got sufficient sandwiches, flavoured milk packets and bottled water parcelled for the journey. Itinerary included visit to Dambulla cave temples also en-route.

Kandy has unpredictable weather. We feared rain en-route as it was playing hide and seek for the last two days in Kandy. After a few miles (it is all miles and yards in Srilanka) alongside the Mahaveli River, and later through the reserve forest, we reached Matale town. We took a break there to have a cup of Srilankan tea and later walk around the big goddess temple (Muthu Mari Amman) in the middle of the town. I was told that Mahatma Gandhi has once visited Matale in 1927 and laid foundation stone for one school here.

 

Mariamman Temple at Matale

We furthered our travel through paddy fields and coconut plantations. The journey through the unknown land was pleasant. Paddy fields are getting ready for sowing. Farmers ploughing the land with buffalows is a usual scene. Air smelled mud. Occasional scenes of houses resembled the Malabar Coast in India. The tiled houses there are the most suitable for the rainy whether. On both sides of the road, there were shops selling bananas, fruits and vegetables and tender coconuts. Tourism is becoming a serious business. It was nice to see big Banyan trees on both sides of the road. Thanks to the conscious effort on the part of the government. Banyan trees are great source of Oxygen and even prevent depletion of ozone layer, they say.

Huge Buddha at Dambulla base

Dambulla Caves - Outside

The reclining Buddha

Buddha

Mural

Mural

Dambulla town is also the home for the most impressive cave temple in Asia, dedicated to Lord Buddha. Situated on top of a rock, the five caves are said to have been continuously occupied since it was established in 3^rd Century BC. There is a functioning monastery. Dambulla is famous for murals, mostly Buddhist themes. They also run down below a good museum detailing the Jataka and other stories related to the Tooth Relic.

 

A Chaitya

Though entry for the Sri Lankans is free, foreigners including Indians are charged SL Rs.2200/- (1 SL Re= In Rs.0.45). Despite being funded by UNESCO, and liberally supported by Buddhist countries like Japan and Burma, they charge such huge fee from the foreign tourists. Elsewhere, in Srilanka, SAARC member country citizens are allowed 50% discount on entrance fee. (We availed this discount in Sigiriya and in Kandy Tooth Temple).

Dambulla is a lovers’ paradise too. Roadside shops selling lotus flowers, incense sticks, souvenirs and eatables are aplenty. On a whole, this place somehow did not impress me. This was my first encounter with a Budhist Shrine outside India. They have reduced it to being only a pilgrim centre, run by a group of ritualists catering to the needs of the poor locals.

Sigriya seen from Dambulla rocks

The view around Dambulla rock is enchanting. Sigiriya fortress seen at a distance of 13 miles was inviting us. In the next half an hours travelling through difficult village mud roads (the main road was under repair) we reached Sigiriya. SL Rs.1650/- was the ticket charge per person. We hired a certified guide (paid him SL Rs.500/-). We bought a bottle of cold water and followed our guide Perera. He gave us a very good brief introduction on the city of Sigiriya beginning from King Kashyap till the end.

 

Main entrance - A moat at the foreground

Old brick work

The city is about three kilometres in length and one kilometre in width surrounded by huge wall and an outer moat filled with water for added protection. Creatures like lizard monitors are in abundance. Their predecessors would have helped the intruders and thieves to climb the fort those days. A notice board cautioned the visitors against loud noise which could disturb the wasps on the big trees. Hornets attack is common here.

 

The water gardens

Experimenting with a fountain

The well-organised and landscaped gardens around Sigiriya consist of pleasure garden, water gardens, fountain gardens, boulder (stone) gardens and terraced gardens. The water garden, as it is called, particularly consisting of a number of symmetrical ponds and countless fountains on both sides of the main pathway welcomed us to the fort. Some of the fountains in the water gardens are still operable during rainy seasons. Our friend Perera demonstrated it by exhaling air into one of the holes to show water gushing out from the other fountain.

 

The king's summer palace was also located close to the water gardens, which are amazing constructions for those early ages. The gardens of Sigiriya are said to be the oldest such constructions in Asia and one of the first in the world. Excavations (by UNESCO) are still incomplete and a lot more need to be done.

Ruins of the Palace

The Lion Gate

Halfway through lion gate

The royal palace was built atop the rock while other buildings and gardens were built around the rock. Only the foundations of these structures remain now. At one time, a gigantic brick lion sat at one end of the rock while the climb to the top started with a stairway that led between the lion's paws and into its mouth. Although the lion is no longer there, the paws and the first steps are still visible. The stairway built around the rock leading to the summit is astounding.

 

The highlight of Sigiriya trip is the wall paintings (frescoes) of 5^th Century AD period. From over 500 paintings only around a dozen paintings only are seen. Rest of it would have been destroyed by vandals or Budhist monks who would have thought that these paintings might distract them. These frescoes would remind one of the Ajanta cave paintings in India. Some believe the women depicted in these paintings to be ‘apsaras’. On a closer look, one can easily make out that these women were from different races. These beautiful women resembled, Indian, Chinese and even African faces. The quality and the bright colours speak volumes about the artists of bygone era and the techniques they used.

Graffitti on the mirror wall

A mirror wall beside the main stairway to the rock is another wonder. It is coated with a mirror-smooth glaze and continues to shine despite being exposed to rain, sun and winds for centuries. The graffiti on the wall is believed to have been written between the 6th and 14th centuries by the many visitors who were delighted by the splendor of the rock.

 

Pool at the summit

King's Assembly area

A throne at the summit beside the pool

At the summit an archaeology enthusiast can spend hours looking at astonishing features of such an architectural wonder. The remnants of the swimming-pool, pools providing drinking water and pipes leading off from them are still visible. Meeting places, stone seats, courts and sentry posts are nearby.

 

View from the summit

Farm Lands

We stood there admiring the surroundings, looking at the dense forest on the one side which would have been hunting place for the kings in search of wild elephants to be used in wars and the far reaching fertile paddy fields on the other side which provided them abundant wealth of grains. Somewhere beyond those fields in the north is Anuradhapura, King Kashyap’s birth place. Towards East, 80 miles away is the famous Trincomalee, one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. And in the south-west about 100 miles away is our temporary base in Srilanka. We had to leave as it was already 5 pm in the evening. Sayonara Sigiriya ....