Sad Condition of South Indian Temples

[Jodhpur2]

In rajasthan most heritage things are being conserved thanks to the tourists... the gov realised long ago the money they bring in so did the former maharajahs and now I see a lot of things being conserved and new projects being released.. the local media also plays part by telling the people about the importance of these structure or bringing the attention of authorities to a damaged site...

[TdotTdot]

Originally Posted by Marathaman

Hey. I created the thread, not him.

[p2p4]

maaf karo Marathaman-ji hehehe

[barrykul]

All ancient monuments in India are a treasure and there should be movement to restore these precious relics of the past. Now finally, a good move by the Karnataka Govt to address the problem of decaying temples, 200 temples to be renovated in Karnataka

Bangalore (PTI): Karnataka government has decided to launch a 100-day programme to renovate 200 neglected temples in the state, Minister for Religious Endowment and Housing V Somanna said on Thursday.

Under the programme, which would be launched by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on August 15, it has been proposed to identify 200 temples and renovate them with an expenditure of about Rs 20 lakh, the minister told reporters here after chairing a meeting of the Muzrai department.

The government has also directed all temples coming under Muzrai department to hold morning prayers by 6 am "for the welfare of the people of the state and the country", Somanna, who was inducted into the ministry recently after he quit Congress and joined BJP during the Lok Sabha polls, said.

[Marathaman]

Meenakshi temple, recently renovated, which means paint every stone surface yellow or with red-white stripes, and put up those ugly metal arches that look completely out of place, not to mention those hideous blue lamps.

Those stripes make me want to kill myself.

image hosted on flickr

[Jodhpur2]

do these colours and lines have religious meaning? cause i see them at nearly every south indian temple... if they don't they should be scrapped cause man they look fugly....

[Marathaman]

Check out colonial engravings of these buildings - no stripes here;

[Marathaman]

or here:



or here

[Fusionist]

Originally Posted by Marathaman

Check out colonial engravings of these buildings - no stripes here;

what stripes are you talking about?

[Fusionist]

malaysian temple..

image hosted on flickr


sri lankan temple..



and ofcourse the REAL temple to many South Indians..



we love red stripes

[Marathaman]

^Here's an old photo with fewer stripes - looks so much better than the current hideous version:

[Fusionist]

seriously though I would guess the red stripes might have somethnig to do with Colonial religious policy etc. The revivalists who tried to intervene and create a 'Hinduism' based on Christian values possibly might have picked up on some old culstoms and made them 'laws' to come up with such standardised 'colour' schemes to codify religion and religious places of worship. Such a shame, it does look hideous.

or.. I could be completely wrong.

[Marathaman]

^Well it hardly matters. The stripes are so clearly not a part of the original decoration of the temple. They clash so utterly completely with the architecture, its not even funny.

I mean, this building is supposed to be one of the most important heritage sites in India. It should be on the freaking UNESCO list, but here we have it gloriously painted with Chuna. Its a crying shame.

For contrast, look at the way Mughal era monuments in Delhi are preserved. I don't see them being painted in random shades with cheap paints.

The Gopurams are painted beautifully though:

image hosted on flickr


Contrast that with the hideousness of the pond:

image hosted on flickr

[India101]

For some reason when I see those red-white stripes it reminds me of some kind of Buddhist temple in the Himalayas.

[Arul Murugan]

This is one of the best picture... The temple car is looking marvelous... Thiruvarur the biggest temple car in the state.



Dinakaran

See the Ramco cements ad!! Poor ways to mint money by TN gvt!!

[Arul Murugan]

Originally Posted by Marathaman

^Here's an old photo with fewer stripes - looks so much better than the current hideous version:

[/IMG]

One cannot see those red/white stripes in the big temple of Thanjavur - Brahadeshwara temple compound wall.

And FYKI, the TN temples gopurams were never painted with color until 1950's.. It all started after the independence!

Still some of the temples just use white color, Thiruvanamalai shiva temple gopuram still have white color.

[Marathaman]

Originally Posted by Arul Murugan

One cannot see those red/white stripes in the big temple of Thanjavur - Brahadeshwara temple compound wall.

And FYKI, the TN temples gopurams were never painted with color until 1950's.. It all started after the independence!
Still some of the temples just use white color, Thiruvanamalai shiva temple gopuram still have white color.

What? Really? Are you sure? - I think they were always painted!

Its the stripes that appeared after Independence IMO.

[Arul Murugan]

As far as my knowledge, Meenakshi temple gopuram was painted with colours to differentiate the different deities/sculptures/statues in the gopuram.

Most of the old temples gopuram in Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam are still not painted, this clearly shows the color painting started in 20th century only.

[Arul Murugan]

Originally Posted by Marathaman

What? Really? Are you sure? - I think they were always painted!

Its the stripes that appeared after Independence IMO.

Even the gopuram paints started after Independence only.... Mostly Chola temples are not painted at all.

Imagine the Pyramid with colour.

Tanjore temple:



Thiruvanamalai temple:

image hosted on flickr

[Marathaman]

^I always loved Tiruvanamalai, but IMO The Meenakshi gopurams are pretty magnificent.

Some temples have a two-toned colour scheme which looks pretty awesome too.

But Arul, I still don't buy your assertion that gopuram painting started after independence. Whatever I have read about temple architecture (its not a lot, but a reasonable amount) always seemed to indicate that painting was as old as the hills.