Ancient temples face neglect
By Ramesh K. Dhiman

AMONGST the lesser-known temples of Himachal Pradesh, the ancient Radha Krishan temple at Dada, on the Dhaliara-Ghati road under Dehra tehsil of Kangra district is perhaps the most neglected one. Nestling 6, 15 and 20 km, respectively, from another prominent pilgrims’ destinations Chanaur Thakurdwara and the shrines of Ma Sheetla and Chintpurni, the temple commands a breathtaking view in the backdrop of a hillock, with the calm and quiet Beas offering a glimpse of its eternal bond with the towering hills.

Built in 1831 Vikrami samvat by Ram Singh, an erstwhile ruler of Dada, the conical-shaped temple has a golden dome, minarets and five outer doors, winsomely blended with mystifying flower motifs. The elegant silver door of the sanctum with exquisite engravings depicting variegated folk themes speaks volumes for the typical contemporary temple architecture. The main entrance to the temple is heavily reinforced with pillars. The inner view of the temple offers a peep into the life and times of all prominent Hindu deities in their myriad manifestations, which indeed is a visual treat.

A philanthropist and deeply religious-minded person, Ram Singh, a descendant of king Gobind Singh, built this temple with its main entrance door opening westwards, contrary to the conventional temple architecture of the times with the door opening eastwards. The temple has been raised in such a typical style that it offers an uninterrupted view of the imposing palace nestling in the distance. The king is believed to have built this temple to invoke the boon for a child. He had no progeny from his two queens.

One of the inner temple walls has varicoloured frescoes depicting Krishan Lila, wherein the gopis and the Lord have been captured in the immortal frolicking mood. Some other prominent deities too feature in these timeless creations in their multifarious manifestations. The local floral and faunal themes too have been beautifully depicted in some of these invaluable paintings and folk patterns adorning the outer wall. Yet another temple wall painting depicts the holding of the king’s court with the lathi-wielding “dwarpals” guarding it.

The ancient temple where devotees from far and near converge to pay obeisance on Janamashtami Shivratri and Durgaasthmi is flanked by a minuscule Shivalingam on its right side and the idol of god Surya on the left. These are housed in small cabin-like structures. The original “asth dhatu” (eight precious metals) icon of the Lord is reported to be missing.

The temple has been raised on an elevated platform. Sources reveal that the typical “Nanakshahi” brand of bricks of pure red sandstone carted in on horsebacks from Jaipur have been used. Incredibly though, lime and “urd” flour have been used instead of cement in the construction of the king’s palace and the temple. Times were when professional artistes from Vrindavan and elsewhere were invited by the king to perform “Ras Lila” here, which would be a big draw. A small stream used to flow through the temple premises, with the sweet-scenting “Molshree” adding to its divine ambience.

Facing the Radha Krishna temple at handshake proximity is the Ma Chamunda temple which houses the ancient marble images of the goddess and Ma Durga, flanked by a mini “havan kund”.

It is a matter of concern that the entire outer top portion of the temple has turned black with the layers of sooty substance covering it. The luster of its original colour coat is fast fading out. Certain portions of this holy structure are virtually eroding and call for care and proper upkeep to check further decay.

The Department of Languages and Culture, HP, for a brief while, had toyed with the idea of restoring the sheen of ancient frescoes and paintings after consulting experts. But the exercise had to be abandoned half way through as the fresh coat of paint applied to give these priceless possessions a facelift, spoiled the original colour arrangement, according to sources.

Mr Inder Singh Chandel, one of the two officials deputed as caretakers, feels, “If the seepage that is gradually devouring the ancient miniature paintings, frescoes as also the temple building is not taken serious note of, Dada would be deprived of a fair share of its rich cultural heritage.” the views aired by Mr Chandel were endorsed by Mr Krishan Kumar, a retired head master and a regular devotee to the temple.

The slate-roofed temple serai too has fallen on bad days. The broken slates at certain points have paved the way for rain waters to enter into it. Its wooden doors have been partially eaten away by termite and call for immediate repairs. The local Panchayat has been going the hole hog for its renovation at various levels but to no avail. An estimate of Rs 70,000 was presented to the authorities concerned on the demand of the ministry concerned. But no follow-up action has been taken so far”, says the Panchayat Pradhan.

Painting, his life-long passion
By Ghanshyam Gupta

Om Chand Sharma, 66 lives at Gohar, a small hamlet in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. He is a retired Himachal Government employee. Painting and photography are in his blood.

Recollecting his childhood days Sharma says, "As a child I spent my childhood at my maternal uncle’s home at Naggar (Kulu). Roerich became a source of inspiration to me. The year was1944. As a child I used to peep into the Roerich Villa. There were some bushes near the villa. I used to observe him creating paintings”.

Sharma has devoted 40 years of his life to art. He has also tried abstract art. But now he only makes paintings which can be apprehended and appreciated by lovers of art. Even at this ripe age he does not sit idle. Some of his paintings are now the private property of the royal family of Mandi. And some of his landscapes are in the possession of Indians living abroad. He has created about 400 paintings till now. But at present there are only about 30 paintings in his collection.

Commenting on the process of creation Sharma says, “This experience is similar to labour pains. When the fit of inspiration is on,the artist becomes oblivious of his surrondings. He transcends time and space. Creation is akin to meditation . Sincerity and commitment are the pre-requisites of art.”

Sharma has also photographed the mesmerising beauty of Himachal Pradesh. He has about 300 rare photographs of Himachal taken from artistic angles.

He says, “The place of art and the artist in Indian society is deplorable. Only a few lucky artists get recognition in their lifetime . An artist has to struggle much in life. Much patience is required in this field. If he makes it his profession, he has to starve at times. I want to guide those who are interested in painting.”

Sharma uses oil paints. He has also been selling his works. His paintings are in the size of 18”x24”, 36”x48” and 24”x36” He says, “In my youth I used to complete one painting in four days. Now I take a fortnight”.

The main subject which Sharma has treated in his paintings is the bewitching beauty and feelings of a woman His paintings have no captions he says, “The painting itself is a caption.”

In his paintings Sharma is very particular about the ratio, colour scheme and depth. In one of his paintings there is a storm raging and Sohni is carrying a pitcher in her hands. She is running madly and is in a hurry to cross the river on the pitcher. She is wearing red bangles and her dress has been painted in contrasting colours. Purple colour is dominating in this painting.

In another painting he has painted the beautiful landscapes of the Khajiar forest of Chamba. The deodar trees and the rows of the hills behind have been painted with the masterly strokes of the brush.

Sharma is a lover of solitude. He loves Dhrot (5,000 feet), a small village in Mandi district. This village is 60 km from Mandi town. He wants to establish his cottage-cum-studio in this wilderness. He feels inspired in the midst of nature. He is a source of inspiration to those who think that after 60 man becomes useless. And Sharma has yet to create his best work.

Audioscan by ASC
Remixes galore

KUNWARA (Tips): The current trend is that the album of every new film has one of the songs in a “remix” version also. This is a lazy way of souping up a song with a faster beat. But the cassette under review creates a record of sorts. Here not one, not two but as many as four songs are presented in two versions. The only difference between the standard variety and the remix one is that the latter are a little noisier.

Composer Aadesh Shrivastava begins on a promising note with Na heera na moti …. (Hema Sardesai, Sonu Nigam) in which Hema tries out some verbal gymnastics but after that the songs take a band-baaza shape. The cassette is a major break for Sonu Nigam who gets to sing some six songs of different varieties. The one thing constant about them is that they have been included in a David Dhawan film and so carefully avoid any resemblance with quality.

In this mad world, the real zany one is Sun mere sasure … by Sonu Nigam and Vinod Rathod. It is a hilarious take off on Shankar Mahadevan’s “Breathless”.

Lyrics are by Sameer.

TIMELESS HITS (Venus): Compilation of any singer’s previous hits is not a very good bargain because every listener has his own choice of favourites , which does not coincide with the list of the record company. In any case, the companies usually try to include songs of which they have the copyright. This album of Jagjit Singh also includes some songs which cannot be called timeless hits by any stretch of imagination. In fact, they have been rarely heard. Among them are Dono ke dil … with Lata Mangeshkar and Kaise kaise haadse. …

Several others do qualify to be called hits. The claimants are Apne honton per sajana chahata hoon …(Qateel Shifai), Chaak jigar ke see lete hain …. (Nadeem Parmar), Tum yeh kaise juda ho gaye …. (Nida Fazli), Kabhi khamosh baithoge …. (Nazeer Banarasi).

SHALOK BHAGAT KABIR JI (HMV): As the title makes it clear, this prestigious cassette released by HMV presents shlokas of Bhagat Kabir. These have been culled from the Guru Granth Sahib and have been rendered in typical Punjabi fashion.

Bhai Balwinder Singh Rangeela first recites a shloka, then presents its meaning and then sings it again. The spiritual essence of the immortal lines is a treat to savour.

ANGOORI (Venus): There are two sides to Sapna Awasthi. When she gets to sing in films, which is not very often, she manages to land such songs as the superhit Chal chaiyyan chaiyyan …. with Sukhwinder. But when she presents private albums, she stoops to the level of semi-vulgar “folk” songs like Jeeja chhedo na hamko akele mein, jeeji dho dengi tumko tabele mein…. In this album, numbers of both kind are included; so you can take your pick.

In between, there are also some authentic traditional songs like Hariyale banne … and Jhankaro jhankaro … (with Udit Narayan). 

Sight & Sound
by Amita Malik
Still learning to laugh

It was somewhere in the sixties. I was on a visit to New York and was having tea with Saeed Jaffrey, who normally bubbles with high spirits. When I asked him why he looked so downcast, he said he had just been sacked from a radio programme sponsored by Air India. Saeed, as everyone knows, is a famous mimic and he had just done a sparkling imitation of Nehru making a speech-just a spoof on Nehru’s style of oratory. Next thing he knew, he was sacked. Why? Because some bureaucrat at the Indian Consul-General’s office had heard the programme and considered it heresy poking fun at the Prime Minister. So, off with Saeed’s head.

It is a curious anomaly of Indians as a nation, that while regional humour sparkles-the Tamils are said to have the wittiest jokes around town, Calcutta’s cockney humour, as it is affectionately called, enlivens everyday life from football matches to addas on the rock and Jyoti Basu jokes spring up every day and Jaspal Bhatti has shown us boisterous Punjabi humour at its funnies, but poke fun at a politician on the media, and that means the end of some unfortunate humourist’s career. Although one must concede that Calcutta DD let a famous Bengali comedian get away with his answer. “Sorry for The interruption” when asked which was the programme he watched most on TV. Star News also gets away with a lot during election time, when politicians are forced to smile at everything.

Perhaps this is the reason why one’s count of famous Indian humourists on the media (and I admit I am unable to cover the regional languages with which I am not familiar) hardly goes beyond the fingers of one hand. There is Ashok Chakradhar, wonderfully straight-faced as he rattles off his delectable couplets about everyone, including politicians. Jaspal Bhatti is of course in a class apart, cutting circles round Doordarshan, the police, dog lovers, lorry drivers, motor cycle mechanics, bureaucrats, culture-vultures, the lot. He is brilliant at spoofing institutions as well as professions and, of course, the evergreen socialite. He is one of the biggest assets at the new Tara Punjabi channel, for that matter, any channel.

And so we come to Shekhar Suman, who is being roundly attacked by, of all people, the Indian film industry for poking fun at some of its members. The President of the Association of Motion Pictures and TV programmes, Pahlaj Nihalani, has not only taken umbrage at Shekhar Suman taking a dig at film people, he goes so far as to ask him “To be more respectful to the sentiments of his “seniors” (lucky he didn’t add “betters”). Is this a film director talking or a babu in the secretariat or a member of our benighted censor board? No wonder there are very few genuine comedies in the history of the Indian cinema and that what passes for comedy in our commercial cinema is nothing but coarse horseplay.

Let us contrast this with what happens in other sophisticated countries. The last time I was in Paris, French TV was having a ball caricaturing their President. One programme depicted him as a bloated frog. British TV never ceased poking fun at Margaret Thatcher even when the Iron Lady was having pot shots at the BBC. The programme Splitting Images remains a classic of its kind. So when Shekhar Suman makes fun not only of Rabri Devi and Laloo Prasad, but does not spare Atal Behari Vajpayee (who, I am sure, can take a joke, unlike Indira Gandhi) all power to his elbow. It is time we learnt to laugh at ourselves.

The two best interviews of the week were Tim Sebastian’s not-so-Hard Talk with Amitav Ghosh about his book, The Glass Palace, his father, and much else besides. The second was Sunil Mehra who did a splendid in-depth chat with Farrokh Sheikh (lucky I got DD’s News channel for a brief spell) including some rare excerpts from Garam Hawa.

TAILPIECE: One day after my column appeared, I stumbled by accident on to the French Open on DD Metro. DD’s PR, if there is one, should take time off from giving a puff to the CEO and put prominent inserts in the sports pages of papers, on DD’s other channels and even enter into a mutual exchange agreement with other sports channels for announcing such events, just as channels exchange sports items, just as channels exchange sports items by courtesy in their news bulletins.

Colours of Kerala
By Abhijit Chandra

WHAT the viewer must appreciate about Padman’ oil and canvas works is that they are not a series of unintelligible shapes that pass for art these days.

There is a perceptible sense of movement in “The Race” which depicts three steeds in full gallop — the dust rising from their hoofs. The great seafaring stories of English authors come to mind when one sees a galleon in the quiet waters with the sun in a cloudy firmament. That’s “Calm Before the Storm”.

An exhibition of paintings by P. Padmakumar, alias Padam, a 36-year-old artist from Kerala, was on view at the Capital’s habitat centre on December 23 and 24.

Another work of his, “Colours of the Life”, depicts rural existence — two men, a woman and girl in a couple of canoes about to set off to sell their produce.

“January Morning” has divine rays from the the sun coming through trees in a forested area — a soothing sight for urbanites in concrete jungles. “Storm on the Seashore” gives a remarkable impression of the wind’s movement through the palms.

Paintings had been Padam’s obsession since childhood. “Even as a boy he would use chalk to draw on the rough floor of our home,” says the artist’s sister, Padmaja P. Kumar. She resides in Delhi and, after obtaining Padman’s consent, has displayed seven of his works. The process from the sale of the paintings was to be given for cyclone relief in Orissa.

Kerala, with the Western Ghats on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, is famous for its coconut groves, serene backwaters, evergreen forests, teeming wildlife, ancient temples and a rich array of performing and ritual arts.

No wonder, some have named this land “God’s own, country”. And God’s own country seems to have inspired Padman. Dabbling in colours and lines since age two, he had a stint at the Ravi Varma Institute of Fine Arts at Mavelikkara in south-central Kerala.

“I think his best from among those on display as “The Scholar”, says Ms Padmaja. The painting shows an old man absorbed in manuscripts in a traditional Kerala home. She draws attention to the background, which includes a wooden door with a very bolt. “Such bolts make a ringing noise when somebody uses them,” she says.

The gentle sway of palm fronds in the moonlit night, the ferocity of the monsoon’s thunder, the beautiful backwaters amid the foliage and the playfulness of light and shade on a fishing village have not escaped Padman’s observation of nature in its moods. — UNI