Back to Bangalore

I got back to Bangalore.

Feels like I have come back home.

My awesome flatmate still has a room free for me, so hey, I am back in the same old house with the same old flatmate, in the same old city.

And wait that's not all. After trying so hard to get a job in random, inexplicable areas of interest, and then getting back to my earlier field and visiting every possible advertising agency big and small, my old job comes a'calling. I have no clue why I did not think of that first.

So yes, back to where I was working, where I was living, with who I was living in my favourite city.

Buddhist leanings

Just when I thought I was almost agnostic... I learn more about Buddhism. One of my professors was Buddhist, but he did not preach Buddhism at all. Two of my friends research on iconography in Buddhist art and Buddhist settlements for their final project.

My ex roomie from Bombay visited me. She gifted me a book called 'The Buddha in your Mirror'. I am enjoying the book. And I can feel myself leaning towards the Buddhist principles and thoughts.

Moreover, I like the colour symbolism in Buddhism. The Buddhist colours are red, yellow, white, black, green and blue. (blue and black are sometimes interchangeable in Buddhist colour symbolism)

Wayanad

All women's trip to Wayanad.

Me, my mom, my friend and her mom (who happens to be my mom's friend)- deadly combination.

Took ages to reach the place we were staying at, but it ended up being an awesome place. Treehouses, lots of greenery, on the waterfront, many animals walking all around the property and great food for all meals.

We visited Edakkal Caves- the much talked about caves with one of the oldest carvings and paintings in the country. The climb up was strenuous but totally worth it.

Meenmutty Falls were also beautiful, especially in the monsoon weather.

I recommend a trip to Wayanad to all those who love green and blue :)

Saying Goodbye to Chennai

The one year break that I took was so great that I seriously considered staying on in Chennai.

But then some things didnt work out, and I wondered if I was ready to make that shift, and if I really wanted to do that.

Finally I bid adieu to a very sweet and loving bunch of people who studied with me for that one year. And to a few others I met along the way.

I gave up the place I was staying at. I said bye to the rude, intrusive, mean landlord and landlady. I went to the Barista facing Elliot's Beach one last time. I gave away a few of my things to those who might like it. I walked around Besant Nagar one last time.

I boarded a train and went back to Kerala.

Living in the hospital

A strange turn of events.

My father was hospitalised for a record 72 days. He is much better now and back at home.

But those days spent in the hospital were hmm... lifechanging to say the least.

You feel different about everything.

Waiting outside the ICU, making friends with fellow bystanders of patients, talking to the security guards and nurses, going for long walks around the hospital, taking turns with my brother, and learning the various routes to get in and out of the hospital were all that we did.

I finished reading an entire book on Greek Mythology as I waited outside the ICU.

My brother drew, clicked snaps, and wrote a lot.

After many days my dad got shifted to the room. Then there was a change in our daily routine. We came up with new games to play, to entertain my dad, to get him to talk, blah blah.

I became friends with a few of my relatives, who I hated earlier.

I understood the importance of the support system of a family.

I realised the major role that contacts in high places plays in getting a room in the hospital, and in getting space in the ICU!

I found out how helpless people are when you can do nothing but put your entire trust in the medical authorities and just hope that they know what they are doing.

I smile when I think of how unconditionally my cousin helped us out.

I am amazed at how efficient and grounded my brother is :)

Well those days went on and on... very slowly.

But yes, it finally ended when my dad got discharged from the hospital after 72 days, much thinner, much dazed and on a very strict diet and medication plan.

Brainstorming for Museum Revamping in Kerala

I was part of an interesting group of people who got together to brainstorm on ideas for revamping and contemporarising museums in Kerala.

Met some very knowledgeable people- a History professor, Benny Kuriakose- one of the most sought after architects around, a phd student, a museum curator, a journalist, a college principal, a member of the tourism department, and many more. The discussion happened in the Kerala Tourism Guest House in Cochin and it went on for the entire day.

An interesting day, as I heard a lot of them discuss myths, historical facts, museum design, budgets and marketing ideas.

Panchavarna- the 5 colour principle in Kerala

Working on the final project for the completion of the one year course.

I have obviously fallen in love with 'Colours' in the past one year. In the stories behind colours. In the stories that colours tell. and in the stories that define the usage of colours in different parts of our world.

I studied 'Colours in Kerala- Past, Present and Future'. Traveled to different parts of Kerala. Met various artists, experts and academicians. Analysed about 20 art forms of Kerala, from the point of view of colours used in those.

The Kerala Mural Paintings introduced me to the concept of the Panchavarnas- or the five colours- black, white, red, yellow and green. These are the only colours used in this style of painting. The surprising element here is that blue is not part of the colour scheme, even though in most theory or studies about colours and paintings, blue is included as one of the primary colours. Primary colours are those that cannot be created from mixing any other colours, therefore basic or primary. Red, Blue and Yellow are the primary colours. Then why is Blue not used in one of the most amazing styles of painting in the country. And the interesting part is that blue raw material is used to form the colour green to be used in these paintings, but blue is never used as is.

Taking the study further, I realised that the same 5 colours are used in all the art forms in Kerala.- Kathakali, Theyyam, Mohiniyattam, Kalaripayattu, Koodiyattam, and many more. There is an absence of Blue. If at all blue is used, it is in later additions in stage, costume, etc., and not in the character defining makeup or symbolisms.

The strange absence of blue and the reasons for it were explored.

There were different theories for the usage of the five colour system as well.

Political, religious, social and cultural colours were explored. The major political party flags also do not use blue. Except for Judaism, where blue is significant, there is not much emphasis on blue in the other religious symbolisms that exist in Kerala. The traditional attire of Kerala has white, gold (yellow) which is often used along with green, red or black. Blue is not so common.

With the advent of the paint companies to Kerala, the beautiful character that was originally present in the brown and white houses of Kerala went for a royal toss. There are psychedelic blots that dot the neighbourhood. Bright orange, parrot green, candy pink- you name it you have these ugly colours for home exteriors and its almost painful looking at these, and highly depressing to know that this is what has come of the old world charm of the architecture with so much character in Kerala.

In short, with the media clutter, logos of multinational and national brands fighting for space, and confused preferences as a result of globalization, Kerala too is moving towards a postmodern almost kitsch colour scheme.

Aandhi by Gulzar

Aandhi is a novel by Gulzar. The foreword to the novel explains that it is a screenplay or a scenario that is presented to the readers. This is a movie directed by Gulzar starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen.

It is about how J.K. a hotel manager and Aarti Devi, an establish politician, meet after years of being separated from their marriage. Flashbacks narrate their story, and a few events in the present bring alive the tensions and the affection that is still alive between them.

An easy read, this scenario, as he chooses to call it, is moving and thought provoking. I have not seen the movie, but it is almost there in my head- the descriptions are so real that I feel I have a movie running in my head, probably my own version of Aandhi, and till I see the director's version of it, this is what remains as Aandhi for me.

Which brings me to, is it better to make movies of books? Or the other way round? For me reading a book gives a very different experience than watching a movie. And not even a single book I have read and loved has been the same when made into a movie. Probably because, while I am reading, I create my own characters, fall in love with them, cry with them and laugh with them, and suddenly when I see them in a movie it is someone else who has imagined them and given them life. This someone else's imagination is most often jarring, as it is dissonant from my imagination. So I prefer the books. And if it is a movie, I prefer a movie which does not exist as a book.

Basheer

Went for a Blossom Book Fair in Cochin and bought 19 books for 1000 bucks! And part of that steal was a whole lot of novels by Vaikom Mohammad Basheer. Malayalam novels. I had read a few Basheer novels many years back, now I have gotten hooked to it. He has a distinct style. A conversational way of telling stories. And each story unfolds beautifully while you flip through the pages, and while you reach the end, you become witness to a stark reality. An almost disturbing metaphor to certain events or feelings in life. The metaphors are what make his novels endearing.

I read Mathilukal (meaning 'Walls'), a story about a person who is in the Central Jail. A person who gets renewed hope and energy in his boring life when he starts interacting with a female voice from across the walls, from the women's jail. Finally when he is free to go to the world outside the walls, and he wonders if that world outside is a bigger prison. This novel was later made into an award winning movie by Adoor Gopalakrishnan starring Mammootty.

Ente Uppappakku Orana Undayirunnu (meaning 'my grandfather had an elephant') is another novel about living in the past glory and wealth which is now lost and long gone by. The ridiculing of past glory, and of changing times has been brought alive by Basheer in this novel which is told in the north Kerala/ Muslim dialect of Malayalam.

I have about 8 more of his novels to read...

Introduction to Sangam literature and Tamil religious beliefs

After Sanskrit, Tamil is the next oldest language and it is still in use.

The Sangam period literature can be summarised as below:
Ettuthokai (8 compilations) 3rd Cent A.D.
Pathupattu (10 songs) 3rd Cent A.D.
Tolkappiyam (work on grammar) 1st Cent B.C. to 1st Cent A.D.
Pathinenkeezhkanakku (18 classics) 5th Cent A.D.
Silappadikaram 5th Cent A.D.
Manimekalai 5th Cent A.D.

The Ainperumkappiyam refers to the Five Great works

Silappadikaram
Manimekalai
Valayapathi
Kundalakesi
Tolkappiyam

The Ettuthokai talks about Aham and Puram.
The 5 Thinais or types of landscapes are much talked about here. Palai, kurinji, marutham, mullai and neythal referring to wasteland, mountains, agricultural land, sylvan tracts and littoral tracts respectively. There is a god associated with each thinai, a season, a time of day and so on. The heroines of poetries are also to follow these thinais, each thinai rules over a type of heroine or love-behaviour- separation, union, variance, patient endurance, pining, etc.

The primordial Tamil religious beliefs included spirits, ghosts, nature worship, ancestor worship, divinity being inherent to a specific place, descent of the divine into humans (possession), etc.

The prominent Gods were Maal or Mayon identified with Vishnu.
Shiva gained importance later on from the earlier nomenclature of Rudra.

These two gave rise to Vaishnavism and Shaivism much later on.

From Fire Worship to Temple Worship

Though the lecture came a little too late in our course, precisely 4 days before it was getting over, this was a session we really found interesting.

Starting from 'Animism' (attributing soul to inanimate objects and worshipping them), to 'Anthropomorphism' (visualising the inanimate objects with souls in a human form), to 'Henotheism' (atrributing creation, preservation and destruction to one God) the religious beliefs came a long long way.

The Vedic pantheon of Gods were different from those that are worshipped today. Indra, Agni, Rudra, Surya, Varuna, etc., most of these Gods were formed from elements of nature. Rudra later was given soumyata aspects and came to be known as Shiva. Fire worship was popular at this time and ritual sacrifices were often carried out. The head of the people was known as Narapati, and later a person called Bhupati became the head of the land (property was not a determinant earlier).

The Rig Veda dates back to 1200 B.C. Each Veda has a Samhita section, a Brahmana section (800 B.C.) Aaranyaka section and Upanishads (600 B.C.)

The priests appointed the Kings to be the rulers of the people, and thus they were above the kings themselves technically. and this was also the reason for a nexus between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. By around 500 B.C. the priests fade in importance when the kings emerge stronger and doubts were cast on the efficacy of the rituals and sacrifices. More important was atmayajna, and this was the emergence of the Upanishadic thoughts. The questioning of the fire sacrifices came from the Kshatriya caste. Kings built huge temples as places of worship, and thus the shift from fire worship to temple worship.

It was during the Period of the Epics that talk of temples or tirthas (place associated with water for prayers and offerings) first emerged. kshetra was also a new term which referred to 'potent spaces'. As opposed to this Vedic literature has no mention of a public place of worship and there was no sanctity attached to a specific place.

Between 1st cent B.C. and 1st centurey A.D., acculturisation processes resulted in the Gods being given totem symbols and tribal symbols- like the cobra, turtle, lion, etc. These became vehicles of Gods, or symbols associated with Gods.

The priestly clan found new roles for themselves within the temples. there were hotirs who culled out verses from the Rg Veda, udgatirs who were specialists in the Samaveda and sang and chanted during rituals, advaris physically handles the ritual processes, and brahmanas were the experts in all the vedas and they supervised the entire ritual processes.

The other interesting point made was about how with improved connectivity, opening up of trade routes and newly acquired wealth, Vaishyas and Sudras also had money, but no status in society. They found solace in newer heterodox religions like Jainism and Buddhism.

The Bhagavad Gita itself was a later addition to the Mahabharata, for the common people. It was to help the common people battle out the Kurukshetras in their daily lives. As Jainism and Buddhism was about renouncing the world, Bhagavad Gita was pitched at another group, those common people who might not want to renounce, but want to carry on with the simply daily lives.

The Godfather Trilogy

I had read the novel years back, and the first part of the movie as well. But I didnt quite remember much of the movie. So I got the 3 in 1 dvd and immersed myself in the world created by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. I read about it, watched the three parts and watched the documentary.

Most people told me they did not like the third part of the movie, except one person. Surprisingly I thought the third part was quite nice. I really liked it. I loved the way it reached the crescendo. How each character evolved and came face to face with a set of realisations, confessions, emotions and coming to terms with their lives. And I also think making a tough character emote inner conflicts and feelings is more difficult than get him to play the tough guy.

I enjoyed each part in its own sense. Totally.

Between reality and dream

Haruki Murakami's novel 'After Dark' takes place between reality and dream. A series of characters grapple with their little deep dark secrets and worries. They are all running away from some problem or the other. They all seek comfort in the hours after dark. They find peace at night in different ways. Each one is in their little island of loneliness. Alienated. Far away from the people in their lives.

Murakami's 'After the Quake' also dealt with people who were struggling with the effects of the Kobe earthquake and how they each felt alienated and troubled in their own ways. His novels are simple, too simple, but deep and almost morbid.

The Age of Reason

Jean Paul Sartre's novel, The Age of Reason, leaves you numb.

Through a simple sequence of events and actions that take place during three days wherein a man tries to gather money to pay for an abortion for his mistress, he brings out the inane motives of people, and the insane pointlessness of life in general. The meaning of freedom is explored in various ways, and the fact that the more one tries to be free one gets pulled back into the trap of conforming, is drilled into the reader's minds.

There is a moving speech by the protagonist's brother, where he is told that for all practical purposes he is just another man in the conformist society, though he tries to believe otherwise. That everyone has his or her ideals in youth, but sooner or later, they have to give them up, because there is no real choice, because there are responsibilities, because there are needs, and it is just a matter of time before we all accept that we have attained the age of reason. Whether we like it or not, we attain the age of reason!

Traveling Wilburys

We traveled quite a bit in February.

Mysore.
H.D. Kote on our field trip.
Nagarhole Forest... jeep ride that I would not want to do again.
Kabini... crossed the river. beautiful coracle ride.
Wayanad... lovely food. very very short trip to the border.
Somnathpur... Hoysala temple architecture.
Bylakuppe... Golden Temple, monastery, Tangka paintings, Buddhist flags.
Bangalore... stop over to catch my breath.

Back to Chennai.

Colour Thandava Part II- Seminar & Panel Discussion on Colours

We, Good Earth and DakshinaChitra Arts Management Interns, organised a seminar and panel discussion on Colours on 13th March, 2010.

The morning session had the speakers give a short lecture on colour in their respective fields.

The speakers were:

Mr. G. Venketram (reknowned photographer) on Photography
Mr. K. Hariharan (national award winning director & head of L.V. Prasad film academy) on Cinema
Mr. Prakash Dharmarajan (President, Ogilvy & Mather, Chennai) on Advertising
Ms. Yamuna N.S. (reknowned theatre personality) on Theatre
Ms. Sharan Apparao (Owner, Apparao Gallery & Art dealer)on Art
Ms. Rehane (Fashion Designer) on Fashion
Ms. Visalakshi Ramaswamy (Textiles expert) on Tradition Textiles
Ms. Vasantha Muthiah (Faculty, NIFT, Chennai) on Textile Design
Ms. Leela Samson (Dancer & Director, Kalakshetra) on Dance

The afternoon session was a Panel Discussion moderated by Mr. Sadanand Menon, journalist and cultural critic.

Piet Mondrain

During the class on Design Movements, we came across Piet Mondrain and the De Stijl design movement. I found Mondrain's work truly amazing.

He believed in geometric shapes and line, only horizontals and verticals- which signified the female principle and the male principle. He used bold bright colours, mostly the primary colours- blue, yellow and red- which stood for ether, sky and earth. The manner in which he distributes the colorus and the shapes gives a strange sense of balance.

The Schroder house is one house that he designed during his career and it has all the elements of the De Stijl movement and his own characteristic style.

He also designed furniture and this chair above is a classic example of how the design has evolved from the De Stijl elements.

Some interesting people I came across

The Pelican Man and The Elephant Man

Two people I happened to meet while in H.D. Kote...

Manu, who calls himself 'the pelican man', is a naturalist. He has been involved in saving the endangered pelican species in India, and many other such endangered animal and plant species. When I met him he was involved in bringing theatre to the Jenu Kuruba children's school. We even watched a skit that was put up by these kids after a workshop they had with 'the pelican man' and his group.

Surendra Varma, is a person who I call 'the elephant man'. He works in the Ecology Dept. of IISc, Bangalore. He has been studying elephants and human interaction for the past two decades or so. On the last day that we were there, when we were all dead tired after an all nighter, he managed to keep us all glued to his powerpoint presentation till late night... where he shared a lot of information about elephants, the whys and whats of their behaviour, some statistical analyses about them and many anecdotes and trivia about elephants.

:)

The Jenu Kurubas

As a part of our Cultural Studies course, we went for a field trip to H.D. Kote off Mysore. As a team we visited the National Folklore Support Centre's Digital Archive centre and also many tribal settlements or haadis. Our professor, M.D. Muthukumaraswamy had already given us an overview of the Jenu Kurubas or the 'honey gatherers', a forest tribe, who lived in the forests/ the forest peripheries of Karnataka and northern Kerala.

Before we started on the field trip we read a book written by Mr. Ksheerasagar, who had worked extensively with the Jenu Kurubas. The book was titled, 'Playing with the Children of the Forest'. It talked about how the children of this forest tribe had various games and toys which were intertwined with the forest itself. Their life and outlook on life was deeply rooted in the forest itself.

We were introduced to Dr. Peter Claus an anthropologist and folklorist from the Fulbright Academy. He showed us a short film called the Rabbit Proof Fence, with the tagline 'If you were kidnapped by the government, would you walk the 1500 miles back home?', as a mood setter for our trip to H.D. Kote.

Once we reached H.D. Kote, we spent our days meeting tribal leaders and members of the Jenu Kuruba community. These people were originally forest dwellers till the Government passed the Forest Act. After that they were forced to vacate the forests and live in the forest periphery and in the villages. They still struggle as they have been uprooted from their natural surroundings. They crave to go back to their forests. They face an identity crisis as there is an inevitable clash of living conditions. They have been given box like constructed houses by the government and the children go to village schools, while the elders are still itching for the forest.

The children took us to the forest periphery one day and showed us wild roots, and different tricks and games with plants, flowers and leaves. They cooked the wild roots and served it for us. It was quite yummy with its smoked taste. We were also given black tea with jaggery.

Somanna was another stunning character we met. He is a powerhouse of knowledge about herbs and animals. He is a tribal leader who contested in the MLA elections only to be defeated by a fake tribal candidate. He is a very simple and humble person who spent days with us explaining things to us and accompanying us on our trips to the various haadis.

Prof. Kikkeri Narayan is another expert on the Jenu Kurubars. We were honoured to have him as well with us for a few days. He showed us many documentaries and gave scholarly inputs on the Jenu Kurubars, their rituals and practices, their language composition and their beliefs.

We spent one night at a Girijan school near another haadi, where we stayed in one of the classrooms. It was a one night halt, as that particular haadi was quite a distance away from the dormitory where we were staying on the other days. We got to interact with the school going Jenu Kurubar kids the next day morning.

At the end of the 5 days, we had collected some 'life experience narratives' or 'oral history' of the Jenu Kurubars. Ours was an academic trip there, so all we did was to document what we observed, heard and experienced there. We did make a presentation and a contribution to the NFSC digital archive before we left. As we left, we realised that the Jenu Kurubars had touched our hearts in a manner that's very unique and extremely difficult to verbalise. There was one amongst our group who actually had tears in her eyes as she said bye to Somanna.

Orwell's Animal Farm

Finally I read it. I had read 1984 long back, dont know how on earth I did not pick this book up till now.
Allegory. Obvious references to events in Russia during the Stalin era.

Wonderful thought to use animals for the allegory. We are all after all animals. And so are the politicians and the leaders. And the beastly intentions reduce all grand ideals and intentions to absolute zilch... back to square one. The utopian objectives or the revolution are soon forgotten due to private agendas and shallow mindsets.

I especially loved the 7 Commandments of Animalism and also how they manipulate each of those commandments to get their way.

The best part was how it all comes crumbling down.

George Orwell, Animal Farm... short satire, yet extremely powerful in driving home the message.

i'm the catcher in the rye...

I read the book by J.D. Salinger. I was told that the book is quite pointless and goes nowhere. I think that is precisely what I liked about the book. The way the boy who is kicked out of school keeps thinking different thoughts, that have absolutely no connection whatsoever to anything worthwhile. And the way he calls everyone around 'phony'. He wanders, he does not understand the purpose of having serious to the point discussion, or acting all intelligent and having a point of view on inane subject. He really does not say much in the book about ideas that change the world or about the world economy or any such.

Its just the way the mind goes. The way we wonder why a lot of things are the way they are. I dont know if there is a catcher in the rye for everyone, but I sure know that I am pretty close to one. I have not been expelled from school, but on many other counts I find similarity :).

Loved the last page of the novel.

"A lot of people keep asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school next September. It's such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you dont. I think I am, but how do I know. I swear it's a stupid question. "

and the last thing he says is that "I'm so sorry I told so many people about it (all the people and things that happened in the book). About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about.... It's funny. Dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

:)

Colour Tandava!

What kept me busy in November and December?
Colour Tandava- an exhibition on Colour Concepts in South India. We researched, conceptualised and created the exhibition which was on for a month from 23rd December, 2009 till 20th January, 2010. It was an absolute fun journey right through. We are proud to have Good Earth from Bangalore as our sponsors for the same.

Like words, colours create a different meaning individually and when placed one next to the other. Especially in India, some colour groups signify concepts inherent to the Indian psyche.

This exhibition presents some prominent clusters of colours and their symbolism. Meanings change depending on what colour/ colours accompany another colour. But what is consistent across these colour groups is the depth of meaning and a striving for ‘balance’.

‘Balance’ in our daily lives, in temples and rituals, in performing arts, in streetscapes and living spaces, and finally, in our contemporary lifestyle and media...Colours say it all...

A collage with the different cloths that are made from natural dyes, and a look at some of the sources of the natural dyes.

A look at some of the colour clusters...

9 colours making sense: The word graham (planet) means to grasp or take possession of. The planets are believed to temporarily seize the health, wealth and general well- being of people.

Know them all- the food for each graham, their colours, their gems and their kolam patterns.

8 colours making sense:

Ashtarasas:
Dance Drama forms of South India present an extremely vibrant show of colours. The costume and make up in all these cases are not purely for visual appeal but also play an important role in determining the nature of the character.
Characters are generally classified according to their temperament which is dominated by one particular sentiment or Rasa. As per the Natya Sastra, there are 8 Rasas – each of which has been represented by a colour.

Ashtadikpalakas:

The Ashtadikpalakas are the guardians of the 8 directions.

The God guarding each direction is represented in the exhibit by a specific colour, according to the Vishnudharmottarapurana and the Agamas.

7 Colours making sense...

Saptaswaras:

In Indian classical music, each swara has a specific colour and when in combination with each other, various Ragas are created(Samaveda has mentioned the 7 swaras, their respective colours, related god, grahas(planets) etc.). The corresponding colors of these swaras are as follows, which are known from the planet ruling that swara or tone.

Saptasvavahana:

Surya or the Sun God is known as the Saptasvavahana/ Chitrabhanu as the seven horses that draw his chariot are Sveta(white), Rakta(red), Krisna(black), Pita(yellow), Harita(green), Kapisa(grey) and Nila(blue).

5 colours making sense...

Panchabhuta:

The Panchabhutas or the Five elements, along with the sun, moon and the self are supposed to form the body of Siva. There is a system of correspondence of five colours, five symbolic shapes, the five senses, five planets, five forms of Siva, and five South Indian temples (Panchabhuta temples).

3 Colours making sense...

The Trinity and the Trigunas:

Vishnu the preserver, Brahma the creator, and Rudra the destroyer- are represented by White, Red and Black respectively.
The Matrtanta explains that the three inner qualities or triguna- Sattva(Intelligence or Brilliance), Rajas (action), and Tamas( inertia or darkness) are also represented by the same three colours White, Red and Black.

2 Colours making sense:

Red & Yellow:

Yellow (as in Turmeric) signifies intellect/ knowledge/ wisdom and Red (as in Saffron) signifies love. Usually Turmeric is mixed with Saffron as Intellect is meaningless without Love.

Red & White:

Have you ever wondered why the walls of most South Indian temples are painted Red and White?
These two colours together represent Prakriti and Purusha, the two all important concepts in the Universe. Red and White in tandem with each other represent creation through the union of Purusha (white, the male principle) and Prakriti/ Shakti (red, the female principle).

These two colours represent the Theory of Dialectics, the same concept as is represented by the Yin and Yang, the Ardhanarishwar, and many other such examples that are present in different sciences from across desciplines.

Mamallapuram

Firstly, it is not to be called by the name Mahabalipuram or 'Mahabs'- our Temple Architecture prof says with absolute scorn. It is Mamallapuram, named after the great Pallava king, Narasimhavarman who was also known as Mamallan.

Pallava architecture at its best, there are relief sculptured rock panels, cave temples, monolithic shrines and structural stone temples here.

One of the best here... Arjuna's penance panel. It is a great riddle in stone at Mamallapuram. Some say it is Arjuna’s penance, others contend it is Bhagiratha’s penance and some others believe the panel has scenes of Naga worship. It is wonderful how the same panel could be depicting one of two very prominent scenes from the epics- Arjuna doing penance to Shiva for the pashupata astra or Bhagirata doing penance to get Ganga to descend on to earth and Shiva coming down to help him Ganga descend onto his knotted locks and then to earth. The most beautiful aspect is the natural cleft in the rock panel that is used to depict the water body in the scene. When it rains, it must be beautiful to see water gushing down this cleft, bringing this whole scene alive.

The Krishna panel, depicts the Govardhanagiridhari Krishna, or Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain to save his kinsmen from the torrential rains. This is also an interesting panel as originally it was made in a way that it seems like Krishna was lifting the rock above, which is not visible in this picture. If you visit this now, there is the additional mandapa which was added by the Vijayanagara rulers, in front of this panel.

The Pancha Pandava Rathas: Firstly, the nomenclature here is misleading as the monolithic structures have nothing to do with the panchapandavas and these so called rathas do not have wheels as well. Leaving the name aside, these are a set of 5 monolithic temples, where a huge rock has been chiselled into four cuts thus arriving into 4 pieces, the bottom is the same. The pieces are named as ‘the Draupadi ratha’, ‘the Arjuna ratha’, ‘the Bhima ratha’, ‘the Dharmaraja ratha’ and a separate one called ‘the Nakulasahadeva ratha’.

The Mahishasuramardini cave Temple: This cave temple is based on the story of Durga killing Mahishasura- the buffalo headed asura. The Mahishasuramardini panel shows Durga pulling the string of the bow just about to let go of the arrow to kill Mahisha. The sivaganas are around her and her hands are holding various weapons- the chakra, the gada, the bow and arrow, etc. She is shown on her vehicle- the lion, which also gives her the name ‘Simhavahini’.

Poetry in stones, these sculptures and architectural wonders make a visit to Mamallapuram totally worth it. There are more interesting temples and panels here, but these are my favourites, so that all you get here. :)