Significance of the Pudukkottai district; Importance of preservation of Sittannavasal monuments; state of its paintings; aims od Project Sittannavasal – building a replica od cave shrine and designing pavilions to showcase development of paintings (Chitram), temple architecture (Mandiram) and Indian scripts (Aksharam) and Jaina contribution to Tamil culture. A presentation by Prof. Subramanian Swaminathan

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2. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL By S. Swaminathan (sswami99@gmail.com) With Murugapandian & MV Kiran

3. PUDUKKOTTAI occupies a significant place as a cultural centre With its wealth of temple archaeology, sculpture and painting, it is of interest for the historian, the archaeologist and the connoisseur in the field of art.

4. Pudukkottai is famous for its cave temples and those in Sittannavasal, Kudumiyamalai, Tirugokarnam and Tirumayam are cultural monuments

5. Pudukkottai region has a great Jaina tradition It was one of the most important Jaina centres in Tamilnadu, in the past There are a number of Jaina vestiges found scattered throughout the district The district can boast of having the highest number of centrally protected Jaina relics/monuments in Tamilnadu

6. SITTANNAVASAL World-famous for its mural paintings in a Jaina cave temple Next to Ajanta paintings, these paintings hold an important place in the art history of India These are some of the earliest frescoes in South India and only examples of early Jaina frescoes

7. Originally, the entire cave temple was plastered and painted, except the floor But today, we can see only patches, here and there Even these arebarely visiblenow thanks to the ravages wrought by time and nature and vandalism

8. The most painful fact is that most damage was man-made and in the last 50 years or so. Here is a photograph of the painting taken in black and white in 1940s. Now, only traces remain Then

9. The complex can boast of Tamil Inscriptions from 3rd century BC to 13th century AD Man made markings have obliterated many of the precious inscriptions and marred the rest

10. If this rate of decay continues, these priceless treasures, which withstood for about 1200 years, will be completely lost for ever in the next few decades.

11. We, the inheritors of a great heritage, need to protect ours from further deterioration We also need to create awareness among people

12. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL is conceived towards this.

13. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: Objectives The project aims at building a full-scale replica of the cave temple with its painting recreated to its original state to offer an opportunity to appreciate our lost glory and to preserve the monument, particularly the paintings, from further damage by keeping the original cave under controlled conditions

14. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: Objectives And, building thematic pavilions around the recreated Arivar Koil that highlights those features of Indian heritage for which the Sittannavasal monuments are famous for to improve awareness of our heritage among the public

15. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: Objectives Also, setup in the complex a Centre for Jainology for undertaking research, documentation and publication

16. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: Objectives And, incorporating features for attracting tourists cultural troupes and corporatehouses

17. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View Recreated Arivar Koil

18. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View In-door pavilion

19. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The recreated temple and the pavilions

20. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with the recreated temple Recreated Arivar Koil

21. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with Our-door pavilions

22. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with the recreated temple in-door and out-door pavilions

23. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with the recreated temple in-door and out-door pavilions Chithram – In-door pavilion

24. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with the recreated temple in-door and out-door pavilions Gnanam – In-door pavilion

25. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: An Artist’s View The complex with the recreated temple in-door and out-door pavilions Souvenir Sales

26. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex Recreated ARIVAR-KOIL Recreated Arivar Koil, with its paintings done as much as possible true to the original

27. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex Thematic Pavilions Mandiram: Temple Architecture Pavilion for Arival Koil is a link in this Chithram: Indian Paintings Pavilion for the cave temple houses one among the precious paintings of the country Aksharam: Indian Scripts Pavilion for the complex contains inscriptions from the 3rd century BC to the 13th century AD, a unique feature Gnanam: Jain contribution to Tamil Culture for this aspect is scarcely appreciated and Sittannavasal is an appropriate focus

28. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex MANDIRAM Temple Architecture Pavilion Tracing the development from cave temples through monoliths to structural temples Exhibits in bold relief, in stucco on granite blocks positioned in open air along a winding path

29. Temple Architecture Pavilion; Bold Relief and Model Cave Temples Lomas-rishi Ajanta Tirugokarnam Monoliths Mamallapuram Ellora Structural temples Mamallapuram Kodumbalur Thanjavur

30. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex CHITHRAM Indian Paintings Pavilion Exhibits forming a rich pageantry of paintings from rock-art till date Representative specimens laminated, framed, mounted and put up in-doors

31. Indian Paintings Pavilion Kanchipuram(Pallava/ 7c-9c. AD) Sittannavasal (Pandya/ 7c-9c. AD) Pre-historic rock-art Ajanta2c.BC-6c.AD Moghul15-19c. AD Thanjavur(Chozha/9-13c. AD) Lepakshi14-17c. AD Bengal School20c. AD Nayak17-18c.AD Jain miniature paintings on palm leaves (11-15c. AD)

32. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex AKSHARAM Indian Scripts Pavilion Tracing the history of Indian scripts from Indus Valley through Brahmi, to scripts for modern Indian languages and many Asian languages Samples written in stucco on granite block with suitable legends organised as an open-air pavilion

33. Indian Scripts Pavilion BrahmiSamudragupta BrahmiAsoka Indus Script BrahmiSittannavasal NagariPallava Southern Brahmi/Battiprolu GranthaMamallapuram TamilTirugokarnam BrahmiBhattiprolu VattezhuththuAnaimalai

34. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex GNANAM Jain contribution to Tamil Culture Focussing on the theme through suitable means arranged in-doors

35. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex Incorporation of A CENTRE FOR JAINOLOGY for research, documentation and information equipped with library, DTP, reprography lecture/talk/meditation halls office boarding-lodging

36. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL: The Heritage Complex Development of such a heritage complex along with tourists attractions like heritage garden camping and picnic areas retreats for corporate houses and cultural troupes arranging heritage tours souvenir sales is expected to make the project commercially viable

37. PROJECT SITTANNAVASAL The Project Sittannavasal is to be executed jointly by Research Foundation for Jainology, Chennai, an organisation of the Jaina community, which is assisting research on Jainology and spreading the message of the Faith and Sudharsanam, a Pudukkottai-based centre for arts and culture that is documenting the legacy of Pudukkottai and offering opportunities to the youth in appreciating Indian culture.

38. Thank You

39. A presentation by… Sudharsanam A centre for Arts and culture 2 Palace Nagar Pudukkottai 622005 Tamilnadu, India. Tel:+91-4322-230666 www.pudukkottai.org www.sudharsanam.org sudharsanam@pudukkottai.org