Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts

Tuesday 18 September 2018

Amazing Rock-Temples of Mahabalipuram (Part 1)

Mahabalipuram on the south-eastern coast of India is a city with some of the most amazing temples cut into granite rocks. Its name (Mahabali or the strong man + Puram or city) refers to the ancient Hindu legend of Bali and his son Banasur.
Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

This first part of the post explains the history of rock-cutting for construction in India and some rock-temples located in the park around the area surrounding the rock-sculptures known as Arjuna’s Penance. Part 2 of this post looks specifically at Arjuna's Penance itself.

History of Rock-Temples in India

Humans had inhabited natural rock-caves since prehistoric times. With their primitive tools they had started creating niches in those rocks. For example, in Bhimbetaka caves near Bhopal in central India, you can see some of these pre-historic man-made rock niches called "cupules" (image below).
Rock cupules in Bhimbetka, MP, India - Image by S. Deepak

Since finding natural caves in rocky areas was not always easy, the next step was man-made caves in the rocks. In India, the earliest man-made caves are from around 2nd century BC, made by Buddhist monks (many of them include many Hindu deities as well), such as those in Ajanta (Aurangabad) and Kanheri (Mumbai) in central-west India. These caves were used as habitations and temples (Kanheri caves in the image below).
A cave temple in Kanheri, Mumbai, India - Image by S. Deepak

Over the next centuries, the idea of cutting rocks to create temples spread across central and south India. 5th to 8th century CE was the golden period of rock temples in India. In this period, a number of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist rock-temples were built in different parts of India – Rashtrakutas and Yadavs built Elephanta and Ellora (Maharashtra), Jain monks built Udaygiri (Madhya Pradesh), Chalukyas built Badami (Karnataka) and Pallavas built Mahabalipuram (Tamilnadu).

Building rock-temples required a lot of resources - to pay the skilled artisans who knew how to cut and mould the rocks over a period of years. Thus, each area of rock temples mentioned above, had a rich empire around it during 5-8th centuries CE. While there must have been some exchange of knowledge and skills between the artisans working in different parts of India, generations of artisans must have grown up and spent all their lives working the rocks in each of these places. Each of them developed their own specific styles. The rock-temples of Mahabalipuram are in what is called the Pallava style.

Process of Rock-Cutting Used in Mahabalipuram

Cutting the boulder must have been a long and hard work, requiring a knowledge about veins and planes of the rocks so that artisans knew where exactly to cut it. There are many other unfinished cut rocks in this area where you can see the process of cutting a rock and making rock-temples. For example, the image below shows that steps were cut in the rock and 3 niches were marked for making of statues, but the work was left unfinished.
Unfinished temple, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

Similar unfinished rocks show how they cut such a smooth surface on the huge granite boulders. They first made holes in a line on the rock surface as you can see in the image below.
Rock-cutting, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

The next image shows a cut boulder with markings on the upper edge showing the places where holes were made.
Rock-cutting, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

However, the holes do not seem to be very deep. So how did making holes in a line, divided the boulder in two parts with smooth surfaces? Did they have one deeper hole where they pushed in an iron rod to act as a lever? Did they use water in some way to force the separation?

Do you have any ideas how they did it - If so, please share them in the comments below.

Kinds of Rock-temples in Mahabalipuram

In Mahabalipuram there are four kinds of rock-temples:

(1) Open-air Bass-relief temples: Figures were sculpted on the rock surface.

(2) Temples in rock-caves: Caves were cut in the rock and then inside those caves, statues of deity in bass-relief or full sculptures were placed.

(3) Monolith temples: Big rocky boulders were taken and cut from the top-to-bottom, creating temples. In Mahabalipuram these are called “Rathas” (chariots).

(4) Built temples: Blocks of rocks were cut and then places one over another to create the temple.

Mammallapuram - Mahabalipuram: Myths & History

The original name of the town comes from the mythical king Bali, who was a very strong and powerful king. The legend says that Bali’s son was Banasur, who had imprisoned Anirudha, who was Krishna’s nephew and in love with Banasur’s daughter. Banasur was killed by Krishna. The town is also linked with the five Pandava brothers from “Mahabharat” and thus, different temples of the town are dedicated to them.

The rock temples of Mahabalipuram were built by the Pallava kings, who had their capital in Kanchipuram, 70 km away to the west, and who used Mahabalipuram as their port to export spices and silks as far as the Mediterranean and Romans.

The first temples of Mahabalipuram were built under king Mahendra Varman (580-629 CE). His son Narsimha Varman 1st, was a strong wrestler (Malla) and gave another name to this place – Mahamallapuram or Mammallapuram. His son Mahendra Varman 2nd, who ruled only for 3 years (668-670 CE), has his name inscribed in Adivaraha temple, where the town’s name Mahabalipuram is also mentioned.

The Ganesha Ratha temple was built under Parmeshwara Varman (670-690 CE) while Rajasimha (690-728 CE) was responsible for the shore temple.

Arjun’s Penance Monument Park

The main rock temples of Mahabalipuram are located in three areas, of which two areas are next to the sea – the shore temple and a group of five temples known as “Pancha Rathas”. This post does not touch those monuments.

The third area is a little away from the sea, where a granite hill is surrounded by a grassy land and this is known as the Arjun’s Penance area. Apart from the 1,500 years old temples, it also includes a light-house built in late 19th century under the British. It is very rich in monuments. This post is about some of the monuments of this area.

Trimurti Temple & the Round Water Tank

I entered this park from its north entrance, towards the Mahabalipuram bus-stand side. The first temple I saw was the Trimurti temple, which is a rock-cave temple with bass-relief statues of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Trimurthy temple, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak
The sculptures of this temple are not very finally chiselled. At the same time, while Vishnu’s statue was recognisable, those of Shiva and Brahma did not have the distinctive features that we normally associate with their iconography. For example, the image below shows the Shiva sculpture from Trimurti temple – it is only the lingam in the foreground that identifies it as Shiva.
Shiva temple, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

Outside the rock-temple, there is a circular water-tank cut into granite. It does not have steps for going inside, so it was not built as a usual temple-pond for the pilgrims. While cutting the rocks, a lot of water is needed to cool the surface. So, I wonder if they had created the circular tank to store water for the artisans, both for drinking and for rock-cutting? It is too well made in a perfect circle, to be used just for storage, so its purpose could have been two-fold – storing water while constructions were going on and then to remain there as a symbol of beauty in front of the temple.
Water tank, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

Krishna’s Butter Ball

Between the Trimurti temple and the rest of the park, there are some huge granite boulders and the starting of a ridge that goes up towards the hill. As I walked on this ridge, I came across “Krishna’s butter ball”, a huge round boulder with its top surface cut smooth, that seems to be resting precariously on the rocks.
Krishna's butter ball, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

It is the most popular tourist spot in the park, with people vying to get their selfies all around the boulder.

When I saw it, I asked myself if there was a story behind this boulder? Was it cut and then left in that place deliberately because it was visually striking? Or was it a work in progress which was left incomplete because of some external event like some war or lack of funds?

Ganesh’s Rath

This is a monolithic temple chiselled out from a single big boulder like a sculptor sculpts a statue. It is located a little to the south on the grass-land below Krishna's Butter Ball, along a rocky path that leads up to another granite hill.

It looks like the wooden temples on the chariots used for the annual functions in the temples when deities are taken out in processions. Perhaps that is why such temples are called “Rath” (chariot).
Ganesh's Rath, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

Since the sculptors start with these constructions from the top, their top parts are much more elaborate compared to the bottoms.

Rayar Gopuram

The path going uphill from Ganesh’s rath leads to other constructions on the top, with a raised platform and pillars, including an entrance gate, which could have been somewhat like a Gopuram, that became popular in the temple architecture some centuries later.
Gopuram, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

Other Rock Temples

As I walked around this area, I saw different rock-temples. Some of these had inscriptions, such as the one in Adivaraha temple in the image below, which I was told, includes the word Mahabalipuram. It would have been nice to have some boards outside showing the translations of the inscriptions.

The area has many epigraphs whose meanings are not clear and it is likely that some of those were used by the temple-planners and builders as their annotations.
An epigraph, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

The sculptures at the top of this hill are older and more finely made. For example, look at the image below showing the Vamana story when Vishnu assumed giant form and in three steps covered the whole universe, from one of the temples. This story is based in Mahabalipuram because in the myth, Vishnu had come as a Vamana to the Asura king Bali and tricked him into donating his empire. I loved this sculpture – it has Vishnu in the vamana form at the bottom and also in the giant form with his left leg raised up to an impossible yogic angle reaching out to the universe around him.
Vamana story, Rock temples & sculptures of Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India - Image by S. Deepak

I also suspect that the 3 figures shown sitting at his feet include the king and some other important persons of that period – probably the king is the one sitting close to the right leg of Vishnu. However, it does not show the mythical king Bali.

Conclusions

This first post about Mahabalipuram shows the richness of iconographies and rock-cut sculptures from 1,500 years ago. If you are interested in art, history and archaeology, you can spend hours in each of the temples described above and discover new things.

The area known as Arjun’s Penance Monument Park has a large number of monuments - too many for one post! In this post I have limited myself to the northern and western parts of this area. The eastern and southern parts of this area, including the beautiful rock sculpture known as Arjuna's Penance  will be the subject of my next post.

*****
#rocktemplesofindia #rockcutting #ancienttemples #hinduism #india #mahabalipuram

Monday 24 October 2016

Discovering Mumbai: Kanheri Caves

Few persons visiting India’s commercial capital Mumbai have heard of the Kanheri caves. Even less seem to have visited it. This post is about this forgotten jewel of Mumbai that deserves to be seen.



Kanheri caves are rock-cut Buddhist caves in the Borivali suburb of Mumbai. References to king Yajna Satakarni in one of the cave inscriptions shows that its oldest parts date back to at least 2nd century BCE. It was one of the most prosperous Buddhist monk communities, functioning actively for a period of more than a thousand years.

Modern Mumbai is composed of 7 islands that were merged together through land reclamation in the 19th century. Before the merger, Borivali and the Kanheri caves were part of the Salsette island.

Rock-cut Caves in India

Carving rocky hills to create caves for human dwellings in India started about 2,500 years ago. One of the oldest rock-cut caves in India are at Udaygiri near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, dating back to 5 century BCE. Among the twenty caves of Udaygiri, 1 is dedicated to Jainism while the remaining 19 caves are dedicated to Hindu Gods. Some other rock-cut caves, such as the Pandava Caves in Panchmarhi, also seem to be equally old.

Other caves in India older than the rock-cut caves, such as the prehistoric Bhimbetaka caves near Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), are natural caves.

The rock-cut caves were carved mainly for Buddhist and Jainist monks. They were built over periods of centuries. On the other hand, rock-cut structures linked with Hinduism are usually temples, such as the temple complex in Mahabalipuram in eastern coast of south India dating back to about 700 BCE. This could have been because Hinduism mostly has individuals or small groups in search of God and spirituality, while it lacks centralised monastic orders and therefore, did not need a large number of caves in one place for the monks.

Many Hindu temples contain “Garbhgriha” (Womb caves) where the deities are placed. In many old temples, like in the Kamakhaya temple in Guwahati (Assam), such Garbhgrihas are rock-cut structures. Though the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was created in 1861 under the British colonial rule, it has not been able to carry out precise dating of most of these structures. Thus, usually the information available regarding these ancient rock-cut caves is based only on myths and popular stories.

Buddhist Caves in Maharashtra, India

The tradition of carving out caves in rocks and hills for creating Buddhist monasteries probably started after the death of Gautam Buddha. Except for the Saspol caves in Kashmir, all the other well-known Buddhist cut-rock caves are located in the state of Maharashtra in central-west part of India. These include the famous Ajanta and Ellora caves from 3rd century BCE.

A total of 27 significant Buddhist caves have been identified in Maharashtra.  Five of these caves are in Mumbai – Elephanta (Gharapuri), Jogeshwari, Mahakali, Mandapeshwar and Kanheri; while another 8 caves are close to Mumbai, going towards Lonavla and Pune - Bhaja, Karla, Bedse, Ghorawadi, Lenyadri, Shelarwadi and Shirwal.

The presence of these caves in Maharashtra indicates that from 5th century BCE till about early medieval times, there were a lot of flourishing communities of Buddhist monks in this part of India. These seemed to have close relationships with the seafaring trading communities.

Why did rock-cut Buddhist monasteries remain circumscribed only to central-western parts of India? Why there were no similar Buddhist monasteries in other parts of India? Was it linked to the coastal trade routes from the west coast of India? Was it a geological issue that other parts did not have rocks suitable for making caves? Was it because the artisans involved in making the caves were concentrated only in this part of India? Perhaps some experts can answer this question.

Reaching Kanheri Caves

Kanheri Caves can be reached easily through the public transport of Mumbai. Borivali local train station is just a couple of kilometres away. From the train station, a 20 minutes walk or frequent buses bring you to the entrance of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the wild-life park of Mumbai. A shuttle bus service connects the entrance gate to the Kanheri caves, around 6 km away inside SGNP.

If you come with your own vehicle you have to pay the vehicle entry fee at the entrance gate while the tickets for entering the Kanheri caves are sold near the caves-entrance.

Kanheri Caves

The name Kanheri comes from two words - Kanha or Krishna (Black) and Giri (mountain). The name refers to Kanha hill with the dark coloured basaltic rocks common in this area. Basaltic rocks are formed from volcanic lava. The darker coarse grain basaltic rock, as found in Kanheri, is also called Gabbro or the Black Granite.

There are 109 rock-cut caves in Kanheri. The earliest caves date back to 2nd century BCE while the most recent caves are from 1000 CE. It seems that these caves were part of a thriving learning centre, where student monks came to study the teachings of Buddha. It was also used as a resting and storage point for the seafaring traders.

Most of these caves were used as living rooms for individuals. These are mostly small caves without any specific adornments and have a rock platform to be used for sitting and sleeping. The area also has some bigger halls closer to the entrance, which were used for prayers and meetings.

The first cave close to the entrance has pillars similar to those found at Elephanta. However, this two storied cave was never completed, probably due to some defect in the rock structure. (Image below)



The second cave is divided into three parts, each hosting a stupa. Each of these stupas is accompanied by rock-cut sculptures of Buddha, almost all of them in the Vyakhyana mudra. For example, the sculpture near the first stupa has a sitting Buddha in Vyakhana mudra, holding a lotus and with two lions at his feet. Two guards stand behind him along with two flying gandharvas. One of the walls has a large beautiful statue of Avalokiteshwara form of Buddha. (a part of Cave 2 in the image below)



The third cave from the entrance is the most beautiful. It has an entrance gate with guard-sculptures.



Entrance leads to a courtyard and then a covered anteroom with giant Buddha statues on the two side walls.



The anteroom walls also have sculptures of some couples, who probably donated money for the construction of this temple. These were rich merchants of the area and thus, these sculptures give an idea of local society of that period. Both men and women seem to be given equal importance and both are wearing loin clothes and jewellery while upper parts of their bodies are uncovered. They all wear a head-gear and they have something on their shoulders connected to their head-gear, perhaps for holding a clothe covering their backs? They are not wearing any kind of footwear. (image below)



The main hall of the cave temple is spacious - 26 metres long, 12 metres wide and 15 metres high, with pillars on the side walls. The roof of the hall shows the signs of the wooden rafters, which covered it originally. A 5 metres high stupa stands closer to the deep end of the hall. An inscription found in this hall explains that the hall was built in 2nd century BCE.



Another important cave is cave 11, located at a higher level above the entrance caves. It is known as Darbar cave. Around 20 metres wide and 8 metres deep, it has rows of low rock-benches.



Some persons believe that this was a teaching area and thus consider Kanheri as a learning centre. Others think that it was a meeting room, perhaps used for a Buddhist council meeting. It has a covered verandah with 8 pillars and two cisterns on the sides. 

When I saw it, I thought that it resembled a hostel mess. But it also has some beautiful sculptures on its walls, and I think that an eating room was unlikely to host beautiful sculptures. So I don't know if it could have been an eating place, with kitchens and store rooms around the main hall and the two water cisterns. To confirm it we need to check if there are signs of fires in the rooms used as kitchens.

One of the Buddha sculpture has Buddha shown sitting with his feet on the ground - I had never seen a similar statue of Buddha before. (In the image below)



Recently (January 2016) another group of 7 caves was discovered not far from the Kanheri complex in the forest surrounding it. Further excavations of this area is awaited to understand the role of these caves.

Inscriptions in Kanheri Caves

There are more than 70 inscriptions in Kanheri. Three scripts have been used in these inscriptions – Brahmi, Devnagari and Pahlavi. The inscriptions provide information about local rulers such as Vashishtiputra Satakarni, about the supervisors, artisans and artists who worked here, and general information such as a list of local birds. Most common inscriptions are about the gifts of caves and cisterns by the rich merchants of nearby towns such as Sopara and Kalyan.

One of the caves has an inscription about a “Tooth cave”. It is thought that this cave temporarily hosted a tooth, a relic of Buddha, which was later placed in a big stupa near the great temple hall. More recent excavations of this stupa did not show any tooth, though a brass plate was found. It is thought that the tooth was removed from the stupa in some earlier excavations. It is not clear if this tooth relic was in any way related to the famous tooth relic in a stupa in Sri Lanka. According to some experts, the brass plate found in Kanheri refers to 494-95 BCE and thus propose it as the oldest rock-cut Buddhist caves in India.

The image below shows one of the epigraphs near the Darbar hall (cave 11). Close to the epigraph is a bass-relief showing a strange figure which reminded me of the bull horns. I wondered if it was linked to Pashupati Nath (Shiva) worship or if it could be linked to the Pashupati seals found in Indus valley (image below).



Water Collection and Conservation Systems of Kanheri

A water stream flows between the northern and southern hills of Kanheri. One of the inscription mentions the construction of a dam for the collection of water. However, the caves are on the higher parts of the southern hill and thus going down to collect water from the stream must have been difficult. For this reason, as well to answer the water needs of a large number of persons, a detailed water collection and conservation system was designed in Kanheri including a network of canals and cisterns, as shown in the image below.



I visited Kanheri around the end of the dry season and was surprised to find that many cisterns of the monastery were full of water. This traditional knowledge of water collection and conservation seems to have been lost from many rural communities of India which face regular droughts and water-shortages.

Some Specific Things to See in Kanheri

There were a few other things in Kanheri caves which struck me as interesting. These included the numerous steps carved in the rocks for going from one place to another. Some of these were very long. These seemed like snakes winding on the rock surfaces.



Another curious find were small holes in the surface of rocks on the top of the hills, as shown in the image below. When I saw them I thought that they were holes above the cisterns for a ritual use similar to the stepwell of Santa Cristina in Sardinia island of Italy. However on closer look, these were not deep holes and were closed at the bottom. I wondered if these holes were made for fixing the bamboo umbrella stands to avoid the sun or may be for fixing poles for hanging out the washed clothes for drying.



Views of the Borivali high rise buildings from the top of the hills, behind the dense forests surrounding the Kanheri rock caves, were beautiful.



Conclusions

I have been to the more famous Elephanta caves on an island near the Gateway of India. It has a beautiful Trimurti scultpure. However, Elephanta does not have the rugged beauty of Kanheri. I was really surprised by this visit because I was not expecting to see such a vast and imposing structure with such beautiful sculptures.

I have not yet visited the other three rock-cut Buddhist caves in Mumbai and and if they are half as beautiful as Kanheri, it will be worthwhile to go and look for them. 

The large number of caves in and around modern Mumbai also means that this area was already inhabited many centuries before the British came and developed the city of Bombay in the 19th century.

If you live in or are only visiting Mumbai and are interested in the rich Indian cultural heritage, do visit Kanheri.



Acknowledgements

I found some useful archaeological information about the caves in an article by Saurabh on the Indian History and Architecture website.

***

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Open air art - Art in the square

City spaces can be used for open-air art exhibitions. Art  in public spaces can serve as a catalyst to stimulate the cities in different ways, as well as to improve the quality of life of people.

This photo-essay is about the transformation of one such small, ordinary city square in Bologna (Italy) because of the art displays. It is also about this has influenced my personal experience of appreciating art and photography.

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak
THE CITY SQUARES

Why do cities have squares - those open spaces between the buildings?

Medieval towns in Europe, and probably, all over the world, were characterized by closely knit houses, with narrow winding streets. Often such towns were surrounded by high walls with city gates, watch towers and armed guards. Rich persons in such towns had open spaces inside the houses, where behind high walls, there had courtyards and gardens. However for the poor people, there were only cramped dark rooms, where large number of persons lived in small spaces.

Squares were built in the medieval towns as places where markets, fairs, executions and other public events and meetings could be held. They also had a central square, close to the city palace or the power-centre of the city, where the rulers could organise their public ceremonies. The central squares were usually seen as the symbols of the wealth, status and power of the rulers, and therefore, cities tried to make them bigger and better.

Usually when people in Europe talk about the city centres, they are talking about the medieval central squares close to city’s palace and other important institutions. Modern cities are different – they are bigger and more spread-out with suburbs, and tend to have many “centres”, especially near the shopping areas and malls. However, since Europe has conserved its medieval towns, even with more spread-out modern cities, their “city centres” remain in those older medieval parts of the city.

Other countries in Asia and Africa, where cities developed differently, they may not always have a “city centre” as it is understood in Europe. For example, in Delhi, till 20 years ago, city centre usually meant Connaught Place (CP), a shopping area with large open space in the middle, not very far from the national parliament, built by the British in early 20th century. However, today with 16 million persons, Delhi is more like a conglomeration of small towns, each with its centre. Thus, cultural and shopping centres are usually fragmented in dozens of different places.

Medieval towns in Asia and Africa did not always have "squares" but sometimes the same role was played by temple or mosque courtyards, or maidans (open grounds used for fairs and sports).

IV NOVEMBER SQUARE OF BOLOGNA

Piazza IV Novembre (4th November square) is a small, ordinary square in the old medieval part of Bologna city in Italy. In almost 3 decades of living and working in Bologna, I don’t think that I had ever thought about this square till 2010.

Medieval part of Bologna has its central square called Piazza Maggiore (literally “the biggest square”) in front of the Accursio Palace where the Prince Bishop, the governor of the city, used to live. Today this place has different historical buildings including the cathedral and the city’s covered market (Sala Borsa) which now hosts the central library. It is no longer the governing centre of the city as mayor’s office has shifted to a new modern building some kilometres away, but it remains the cultural centre of the city.

IV November square is to one side of the Accursio palace, a small space that you pass through for going to the passport office, bus stop or the public toilets. It had a historical hotel, but was otherwise it was a nondescript kind of place.

I am not sure when they decided to put the public displays of art in this square. I noticed them for the first time in 2009. I had developed interest in photography a few years earlier. In 2009, I had clicked a few pictures of the sculptures displayed in this square, without really thinking about them as something very special. In fact, I do not know the name of their sculptor.

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

The same year (2009), around Christmas, after a particularly heavy snowfall, while going towards the bus stop, I had paused in IV Novembre square, struck by the beauty of snow that had settled on those sculptures, making furred coats and caps for the “statue people” shivering in the cold night (in the two images below). I think that was the first time that I had consciously thought about sculpture displays in that space.

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

ART IN THE 4TH NOVEMBER SQUARE

Some time in 2011, while rushing through the square towards the bus stop, I had stopped again, realising that the sculptures were different. This time, I could see that all the statues had the same “style” and were the work of the same sculptor - they all had tall and slim women with long graceful bodies.

I had loved those art works, they reminded me of paintings of Modigliani and B. Prabha, an Indian painter that I had loved as a child. So, this time I had looked for the sculptor’s name - she was Mirella Guasti, a sculptor from Milan.

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

A few days later I had gone back to IV Novembre square to photograph those sculptures. And then over the next few months, I had gone back many times, to look at those sculptures from different sides, to click their pictures from different angles and at different times of the day.

I had thought that there must be some art gallery or an art shop nearby which was putting up these sculptures in the square, as a kind of publicity to get people to visit their shop/gallery.

It was only in 2013, when Mirella Guasti’s sculptures were replaced by airy, languid works of Leonardo Lucchi, that finally I had understood that the square had been turned into an open air sculpture-exhibition space.

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Tourists visiting Piazza Maggiore, saw the glimpses of these sculptures and curious, came to the IV Novembre square to look at them. Often they clicked pictures, sometimes selfies, and sometimes with their hands around the provocative parts of the statues, laughing loudly or turning red with embarrassment about their daring.

In 2014, the new display had the works of the sculptor Sergio Únia.


Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak

By this time, I had become more aware of the impact of art in public spaces. Thus last year, I went to visit the sculptures of Sergio Únia many times.

Now I am curious about the other artists whose works will be displayed in the IV Novembre square. Next month, when I will go to Bologna, I am planning to check if they have put the works of another artist and what kind of works are they?

So if you are visiting Bologna, remember to go and check the sculptures in this little unassuming square, behind the more famous Piazza Maggiore.

ART IN PUBLIC SPACES AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Ever since my first digital camera in late 2004, I have slowly discovered my passion for photography. This passion has changed the way I react with the world and also with art. In this transformation, the sculptures displayed in the IV Novembre square have also played an important role.

I had always been “artistic” – as a child, I loved painting and looking at paintings and sculptures. My parents had taken me to see many art exhibitions. However, till I learned to look at art through the lens of my camera, my relationship with art was  different - it was at a more superficial level. I had the aesthetic pleasure of looking at beauty and the emotions of the art, but there was some distance between me and the art.

Digital photography changed that relationship. By looking at sculptures from different angles, appreciating the way the quality and colour of light changes the textures and shadows, wondering about how different backgrounds influence my perceptions about colours and lines - all these things changed my connection to the art. Now when I look at sculptures, after an overview for their emotional and aesthetic impact, I focus on different parts. I can appreciate small details, and I can think about the hidden meanings of the gestures. I feel that now because of photography, I relate to the art more deeply. 

I also think that taking pictures of art in open spaces is very different from looking at them inside museums. In Europe, you can take pictures in almost all museums except for the works of some really famous artists or sometimes in some special exhibitions. Thus, I have been taking pictures of art works inside museums for a long time, but the feelings I get doing photography in open spaces like in the IV Novembre square, are completely different. Perhaps this is because museums are serious places and you can’t really behave inappropriately with those art works as if they are your friends?

In 4th November square, I do not have to worry about my behaviour, I can be as irreverent to those sculptures as I wish. If I want to sit underneath and focus on the buttocks, no one is going to frown on me – may be persons passing by will smile knowingly, shaking their heads at the “dirty old man”, but that does not really matter. Perhaps you can't look at art inside museums in that way? And, may be that is why I like the public sculptures so much?

Sculptures in Piazza 4 Novembre, Bologna, Italy - Images by Sunil Deepak
CONCLUSIONS

I don’t know whose idea it was of turning 4th November square into an open-air art exhibition space? Whoever it was, I think that it is a wonderful initiative. I hope that it will be emulated by other cities and other squares.

Improving the quality of life of their citizens is, or should be, a key goal of all cities. Art can touch our deepest parts and make us live the human experience in new ways. Most of us in developing world are hardly ever taught about art and art appreciation. For example, most museums in India are usually stuffy places where things are displayed behind glass cases and screens, and there are signboards prohibiting photography, videos and making noise. They are usually not the places of joy and pleasure in learning and experiencing, rather they are places to “teach” us something.

Art in the public spaces, can overcome all these limitations of museums.

Today countries and cities worry about economic growth, they are not so much bothered about art and culture. But I think that art and culture are a fundamental part of humanity, to lose them will be like losing an essential part of ourselves. And, economic growth without art and culture, would be arid and limiting. We live and work better if we are surrounded by beauty and creativity.

So I support the movement for placing art in public spaces!

***

Monday 9 March 2015

Around the world in 30 fountains (Part 1)

Recently, while admiring a picture of a beautiful fountain, I started thinking about the most beautiful fountains that I had seen during my travels around the world. This post is a result of that reflection. This first part has fountains from countries that start with "A" to "G", that means from America to Germany.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - New York, USA - Images by Sunil Deepak

The criteria for selecting the fountains presented in this post were different such as beauty, expression of quirky ideas, quality and materials of the sculptures and the quality of images.

While I searched for the images of fountains in my image-collections, I realised that in some countries, especially in Asia and Africa, fountains are not very common, while Europe seems to be full of them. From some countries, I did have a few images of fountains, but they did not inspire me. So many countries are missing from this post.

Fountain 1 – America, New York

I will start with 2 fountains from New York, America. The first fountain is from the Central Park and is shown in the image above.

It has an angel, who is shown as an 18th century young woman with short curly hair, wearing a long dress and holding some flowers in her left hand. It seems as if she walking in a mountain area, her feet ready to wade in the waters of a gentle torrent.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - New York, USA - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 2 – America, New York

The second fountain from New York is in front of the Lincoln centre. This one does not have any sculptures, it is about thick streams of gushing waters surrounded by a round black ring. The colourful posters on the front of the Metropolitan Opera building form its background.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - New York, USA - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 3 – Austria, Vienna

Next there are 3 fountains from Vienna, Austria. Vienna is full of baroque marble sculptures and there are many fountains.

The first Viennese fountain is from the old part of the city. It has a young royal looking woman sitting on a high chair in the centre of a pond, slightly turned to look behind her, while there are baby angels on the sides of her chair. On the outer walls of the pond, there are figures of men and women, inspired from Greek mythology.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Vienna, Austria - Images by Sunil Deepak

In this fountain, I especially like the sculpture of the young Neptune, using his trident for fishing in the pond. I love this kind of irreverent attitudes expressed by the sculptors and artists, refusing to take themselves too seriously.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Vienna, Austria - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 4 – Austria, Vienna

The next Viennese fountain is from a park near the opera building. It is inspired from the Roman mythology and depicts the abduction of the Sabine women. If you have been to Florence (Italy), perhaps you have seen the more famous sculpture of Gianbologna on this subject in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Signoria square? However, here the water gushing out of the man’s mouth, makes him look as if he is vomiting and takes away the seriousness of the subject.

Perhaps it is the depiction of actors doing rehearsal of a play? Or it is something more sinister, as if the man spitting out water is a way to express how he is going to ravish the kidnapped woman. What is your opinion?

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Vienna, Austria - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 5 – Austria, Vienna

The third and the last Viennese fountain of this series is placed just outside the Austrian parliament. Underneath a goddess with a Roman soldier’s headgear sit serious looking old men and chubby angels, inspired from the Greek mythology, while water gently falls down into round pans placed on the heads of young muscular male figures, bent under its weight like Atlas holding the earth.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Vienna, Austria - Images by Sunil Deepak

However if you look carefully at those young men, you can see that they are actually mermaids with fish-tails. I am not very knowledgeable about the fantasy world of mermaids, but, I find the idea of placing muscular but dainty male mermaids in the fountain, mildly subversive – a way of questioning our ideas of masculinity. (Looking at this image, I can almost feel a pain developing in my neck, in sympathy with the boy of the sculpture!)

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Vienna, Austria - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 6 – Belgium, Brussels

The fountain from Brussels is almost a non-fountain. It is a tiny fountain placed in the middle of a lake, out of which a tiny stream of water comes out so if you don’t look at it carefully, you can easily miss it. I loved this lake surrounded by lush green vegetation. It is difficult to imagine such a wonderful place so close to the centre of the city.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Brussels, Belgium - Images by Sunil Deepak

Those of you who have been to Brussels, might ask why I have not included the famous “peeing boy” fountain (Manneken Pis) in this post. It is supposed to be one of the landmarks of the city and the souvenir shops of Brussels are full of tiny statues of that boy. However, I was a little disappointed when I had seen it and thus, I have decided to not to include it.

On the other hand, I love another icon of Brussels, the comic book boy hero Tintin. The souvenir shops of the city were also full of his statues. I am sure that if the city had a Tintin fountain, I would have included it here!

Fountain 7 – Brazil, Bahia, Salvador

I have chosen 4 fountains from Brazil for this post. The first one is from the Digue do Torero lake in the Baixa part of Salvador city in Bahia state. Salvador is also the focal point of those who believe in Orisha gods, the religion of Yoruba, brought as slaves from Africa.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Salvador, Brazil - Images by Sunil Deepak

This lake is very beautiful but the fountain is nothing special. However, since it is next to the statues of dancing Orisha gods standing in the lake waters, it has a wonderful backdrop and that is why I have included it in this post.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Salvador, Brazil - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 8 – Brazil, Bahia, Salvador

The second fountain from Salvador is from old city centre of Pelorinho in the Alta part of the city situated on the top of a hill.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Salvador, Brazil - Images by Sunil Deepak

The last time I was there, it was the sunset time and I was mesmerized by the clouds tinged pink and orange against a blue sky. It was a small fountain in a park near the church. I really love this picture.

Fountain 9 – Brazil, Goias, Goias Velho

The third fountain from Brazil is from Goias Velho, the old city in Goias state in the central part of Brazil. Like the fountain from Pelorinho, even this is an unassuming fountain from the Portuguese colonial part of Goias Velho. It has a Portuguese peasant woman standing demurely facing the cathedral. The picture is made special by the dramatic colours of the sky behind.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Goias Velho, Brazil - Images by Sunil Deepak

I think that without the dramatic evening colours of the sky, these last two fountains would not have found a place in this post.

Fountain 10 – Brazil, San Paulo

The fourth and the last fountain from Brazil is from San Paulo, from a park near the opera building in the old city. This part of the park and this fountain were built by the Italian immigrant community of San Paulo to highlight their contribution to the city.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - San Paulo, Brazil - Images by Sunil Deepak

The galloping horses of this fountain remind me of the Trevi fountain in Rome (Italy). The violent graffiti on the sculptures and the walls surrounding this fountain, adds to the sense of urban decay and abandonment of this place, making it look like a noble family fallen on hard times. Looking at this fountain, I could almost smell the rancid beer and feel the sleepy looking eyes of drug addicts, sitting nearby, checking me.

Fountain 11 – Britain, London

The next two fountains are from London, another city that has many beautiful fountains. The first image is from the Trafalgar square taken with a simple Kodak camera in December 2005. That day there had been a big explosion and fire in the city, so the sky had turned black with dark smoke clouds, making for a dramatic background to the Christmas tree with lights.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - London, UK - Images by Sunil Deepak

The second image taken a few years later, shows a detail from one of the fountains in Trafalgar square. It has a boy mermaid with the two fish tails (like the rubber fins that people sometimes put on for swimming), riding on a dolphin, with a stream of water gushing out from his mouth. It makes me think of children vomiting due to motion sickness.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - London, UK - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 12 – Britain, London

The second fountain from London is from the Hyde Park, near the Mable arch entrance. It has been designed wonderfully. The couple holding each other are balanced on the back of a dolphin that rises up from the centre of the pond, making them look as if they are floating in the air. On the four corners of the pond, four boys are jumping as if they are frogs, startled by the sudden appearance of the dolphin with the couple from the depths of the waters.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - London, UK - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 13 – Czech Republic, Prague

The fountain of blindfolded musicians and dancers in the old part of Prague is a personal favourite. I love going back and looking at the images of this fountain. It reminds of one of the reasons of my love for photography – the possibility of stopping, looking at the details and discovering new things about things and people.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Prague, Czech Republic - Images by Sunil Deepak

Each sculpture of this fountain is so exquisite, expressing the joy of music and dance. They seem to be flying in the air. These sculptures are by the Czech artist Anna Chromy.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Prague, Czech Republic - Images by Sunil Deepak

Fountain 14 – Germany, Munich

The last image in this first part of the post about fountains from different countries is from Marianne platz in old part of Munich, near the cathedral. There is a ball like round fish at the top with water coming out from its mouth. Water also comes out from three small pipes near the top. Finally, a gentle flow of water comes out from the vases held by 3 Peter Pan kind of boys who look lost in day dreams. With lovely blue water in the lighted pond, this fountain looks very harmonious.

Around the World in 30 beautiful Fountains - Munich, Germany - Images by Sunil Deepak

Conclusions

Preparing this post I had a lot of fun going through lot of images of fountains and deciding which ones to keep and which others to exclude. I have chosen a mix of fountains that evoke different emotions and are not just about beauty.

I hope that I have made you pause, see these fountains in the way I see them, and think of different ways of appreciating beauty and art. Often when we visit places, we see things but usually we do not stop to really look at things and to understand their details and think about their significance. I hope these pictures have helped you to see some of those details.

Part 2 of this post will continue the remaining part of this journey.

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