Dakshinachitra - Where traditions are alive in a changing society

Change is inevitable and so in a dynamic  world everything from art, culture,cuisine,couture and architecture changes. As people on the move in a changing world, we learn to adapt ourself to  the new environment and move on in life. And we move at such a grand pace that we lose track of our fading heritage.

 At times like these, it is nice to stop at places where culture and traditions are alive. One such place where traditions are preserved is at “Dakshinachitra”  meaning picture of the south. Dakshinachitra is the brain child of Deborah Thiagarajan an American who married an Indian and was mesmerized by the culture of India.

This place which is 30 kms from Chennai on East Coast Road  exhibits, promotes and preserves the art, culture and architecture  of the diverse people of India with more emphasis on the southern states.

It was  my wish  for more than 7 years to see this place. But unfortunately my flying visits to Chennai only allows me time to hop from one relatives house to another or attend weddings/functions. This time I ensured we would visit, come what may and I am glad I visited it now than before. My grown up children enjoyed it better now by clicking the place to glory. This place is also a photographers delight.

 A great place to be especially if you, like me  cross paths  on connecting with art & culture .  Set in idyllic village surroundings  with a sand river meandering by, you walk over  bridges,  sandy roads and not on asphalted roads .  As you hop on from one organically constructed  home to another, you experience  and feel the simple ,  unstressful  life of yore.   Perhaps the reason why lifestyle diseases were unheard of in bygone times.

Here You have replicas of potters house, weavers house, agriculturists house, merchant house, Syrian chrisitan house, the kuthatukullam house(kerala) , an ayyanar shrine,  chettinad house(TN),  a chickmagalur style house(Karnataka),  ikkat house(AP), coastal andhra house  and many more. Each house's architecture is specified to suit the regions climate and functionality of the community. For instance,The coastal andhra homes architecture is simple . The houses are round with a conical peaked hay roof. The coastal regions of AP are prone to cyclones and so during cyclonic storms, the wind is dispersed arount the house's round form and during floods, the peaked conical roof floats.

In some house, the real crafts like weaving palm basket,  pottery,  papier mache crafts,  leaf painting  are demonstrated  and the tourists can try their hand at these .

  There is a kaleidoscope of activities happening here like kili josiyam(predictions by parrot),playing traditional games like paandi(hop scotch), thayam, pallankuzhi( indoor games), bullock cart rides, block printing and glass blowing.

It periodically hosts fests of other states giving a peek into the culture of Indian states. When we went, a 15 day Punjabi fest was on which showcased the colorful life, cuisine and arts of Punjab .  It was not just about bhangra but other dance forms of Punjab like Gidha, Sammi , Luddi, Jhoomer and many more which I never heard of before. In the central space there was a open air market selling handicrafts at reasonable places.

 This place is a charming throw back to the past connecting you to the vernacular architecture. Especially if you are one of those who have lived and brought up in a city seeing apartments, tudor styled villas etc.,. 

We got there on a December tea time( around 4.30), the weather was great. The swaying large trees and the organic layout  made  it a pleasure to go around. We did give a quick tour around since the place was closing at 6.

Check out the clicks below, some photos may not be in frame and lack clarity.Click on them to feel the place.

                                   A replica of a 1914 Chikmagalur house of  Karnataka.

The central courtyard of  a Chettinad style home(TN). The rooms of the house are built around this inner courtyard. The courtyard allows light and air into the house. The spout in the forefront of the photo is the rain water harvesting channel practised even in olden days. 

The chettinad women( a business community of TN)  folk playing traditional game called pallankuzhi

The tamil brahmin row homes called agraharam which has a seating platform in the frontyard  called thinnai to rest weary strangers/visitors

Brahmin homes had a vrindavan(tulsi plant) in the backyard of the home. The backyard was called mittam.

                                               The functional pitloom  machine displayed in a weavers home

a women demonstrating basket weaving with palm leafs in a weavers home

      This man's passion to smoke fire into glass and create glass figurines has brought him to Dakshinachitra. He has a diploma in scientific apparatus studies and was working with a company manufacturing scientific equipments in Kolkatta. Here he sprays fire into glass pencils and creates high precision sculpts.

                 Some of his creations, at the right side you see two or three figures overlapping and hence no clarity.

                                                The activities you can do at Dakshinchitra

A potters home, here you can try your hand at making pottery with the potters wheel

                                                            A kerala styled home

                                      A ikkat weavers house typical to the region of Warangal in AP.

Tulasankramana at Talacauvery - a travel tale from my past

It took this long for me to reach here.After the break down, the company whose car we hired in Mysore arranged for a jeep for us to travel uphill to Bhagamandala. The driver had meanwhile arranged for a jeep from Madikeri. Now to Bhagamandala also called Triveni sangam- This is famous for the union of three rivers Kaveri, Sujyothi and the Kannika. Having a dip here is considered sacred by people who have faith. The significance is that the dip in the holy river will heal you of your various  miseries and sins. The water here is supposed to have healing and miraculous powers.

8kms uphill from Bhagamandala is Talacauvery (Talakaveri) – the origin of Dakshin ganga – river Kaveri. Here I must recall my first visit to this place in the oct of 89, when we planned a visit for the Tulasankramana or Kaveri sankramana. It was an all women's gang and a religious visit. My mom and her friends with their children totally numbering 15. From here, if you ascend 350 steps  leads you to the brahmagiri peak , you reach a mythological spot where a  crow is supposed to have  upturned the kamandal of Sage Agastya. There are many legends and stories  based on this and the water from the kamandal is supposed to be River Cauvery.(That shall be another post). Atop, Brahmagiri you are in for a breathtaking view of the beautiful valley and the windmills. The entire panorama looks like an airbrushed hallmark scenic greeting card. As you are in awe of the beauty spread below you, suddenly you will be clouded with a white veil for you can see nothing. It turns scary, you would’nt be able to see who’s beside you.  It is the drifting mist playing with you hide and seek of the view. There were no viewers gallery then, it must have undergone lot of changes by now.

Descending down to the Talakaveri( head of kaveri), as the name implies it is the source of the river Cauvery. This is one of the most sacred rivers in India. This place is about 1276 metres above sea level. This place also has many beautiful temples with lovely legends . But my post will focus on the  highlight of this place, Brahma kundike or Tirth kundike(Pond).

The tirth kundike which is where the water springs on a predetermined time on tula sankramana day( app. october 17th every year)

                                 The big pond and the small shrine adjoining the kundike

 Like I said, my first trip was during the Tulasankramana( mid October)  of 89. There was a mad rush at this place as this event is as good as a mini kumbh mela. The kundike is a small square about 3X3 in front of a small shrine and adjacent to this is a big tank. The pundits were sitting on either side of the square kundike and performing puja to the water. The water was red due to the vermillion(kunkum) used in the puja and at around the predetermined time of 4.30, suddenly from nowhere there were many small water springs bubbling forth in the small kundike. The red water was replaced with clear fresh water in no time by the gush of the spring. From then on, there was total cacophony among the devotees. It was a magical sight which I still re-run in my memory, visualize and can’t get over. It never occurred to me then as a teenager, i was angry at the jostling crowd and was very bitter.That day, i told myself i would never ever visit an unorganized crowded place like this.  But now,  I realize  this is  just what the crowd was waiting for and millions of lives down South are reliant on. For this mini fountains roll down, broadens, cascades and floods over plains and hills and joins many tributaries and is the lifeline of Karnataka and  flows into the neighbouring Tamilnadu where too she is the lifeline. She also carves many beautiful riverine Islands, promotes leisure giving raise to many picnic spots, water falls, dams,festivals etc., and she is the reason for the world's ancient engineering marvel and the world's first hydroelectric project.  If not  for her, the whole of Thanjavur region which is hailed as the granary of South India would have been a barren dry land.

She is called the 'Jeevanadhi' , who throws open an entire civilization, many lifestyles and is the source for many lives ,culture, beliefs and tradition. There are many legends associated with this river and prominent among them is the Coorgi styling of draping saree. I’m not very sure about this story. However, it is said the gushing water moved the pleats of the Kodava women’s sari to the back and hence the pleats are not in the front as the regular Indian sari in Coorgi style.

                                         coorgi women draped in a saree , coorgi style 

It is amazing how a small spring flows 700 kms across two states and becomes the lifeline of many people  and has been a muse for poets and artists and inspires a government run handicraft store to be named after her.  No wonder, she is revered down south like the Ganga.

My next post on an ancient city swallowed by the sea.  Would you care to name the city?

Images courtesy: Google